Lionsgate's Child 44 tanks worldwide

April 23, 2015 - PRLog -- Child 44 was co-financed by Summit Entertainment and Worldview Entertainment for $50m and Lionsgate, which absolved Summit back in 2012, pre-sold the film to overseas distributors, which would limit their exposure to the budget to under $13m.  Worldview Entertainment's main backer, billionaire Sarah Johnson has filed suit against the company for fraud and mismanagement and is one of four cases of litigation against the company which has stopped operating.

In an early 2015 quarter financial investor relations report by Lionsgate, Child 44 was being pushed as part of their aggressive franchise expansion model and had ambitious plans for the film which is based on a trilogy of books.  Initially planned as a wide release in the US, Lionsgate dumped the film with blink and you miss it marketing and all of 80 national TV ad spots.  Child 44 opened in 510 theaters to a dismal $621,812 opening weekend with a $1,219 per screen average.  The film will most certainly be pulled from most theaters after its second week run.  More after Child 44 finishes its US release...

Overseas, the film pulled in a poor $2.1m across numerous distributors and is scheduled to open in remaining markets throughout early July.  More after the film finishes its rollout in most territories.

While Lionsgate and the troubled Worldview Entertainment will take a loss on the film, it's risky $50m price tag has been mitigated across the dozens of distributors who overpaid for the film.  With the poor worldwide box office numbers, Child 44's prospects of reaching profit in any territory seems bleak, but the film will not post heavy losses for any one entity.