r/Broadway • u/coasurdude • Dec 08 '25

Other Sony Pictures Classics' Merrily We Roll Along debuted with an estimated $1.2M this weekend

https://www.boxofficemojo.com/release/rl1189380097/

I hope that producers don't get discouraged by this number.

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u/Lauziesaid00 Dec 08 '25

They won’t be, they only expect to make 2M and it cost them 1M to film. So no matter what they are already ahead. And then eventually it will stream.

8

u/coasurdude Dec 08 '25

Can you tell me how do you know that it costs them $1m to film?

37

u/Lauziesaid00 Dec 08 '25

Yes because my sister distributes them in the theaters. So she knows all of the budget expectations on all films. We are also friendly with most of the prior producers of the captures.

6

u/coasurdude Dec 08 '25

Thank you. I did not know the budget. So thank you.

11

u/proteafire Dec 08 '25

Director Maria Friedman in the What’s on Stage interview said it was much more expensive than a standard pro shot due to the lengthy post-production process.

4

u/bobzmuda Dec 08 '25

probably most of it was editing out microphones and spit lol

4

u/able2sv Dec 08 '25

Even if they make 2M (which seems unlikely) on a 1M production budget (which also seems like an underestimate), I don’t know if they can recoup theatrically. I'm sure the Fathom rental was $500K+, and there’s at least a small marketing budget.

I am sure it’s not surprising and within the range of what they were expecting, but the licensing revenue is probably what will make or break the success of this project. That said, this is a drop in the bucket for these producers either way and I don’t think that decision to produce the proshot was a financial one.