Warner Bros. could lose up to around $100 million on 'Justice League'
- Warner Bros. is looking at a loss on "Justice League" that could near $100 million, according to Forbes.
- The total cost of the movie was around $600 million - counting production, marketing, and other fees and residual deals.
- The studio is estimated to only take home an estimated $545 million.
In the wake of negative reviews and a poor opening weekend at the box office, the next sad chapter in the life of "Justice League" is seeing how much Warner Bros. could lose on the mega-blockbuster.
Forbes did a deep dive into the numbers, and it doesn't look good. The movie could lose in the ballpark of $50 million to $100 million, according to Forbes.
Taking the widely reported cost of the movie ($300 million), plus the $150 million to market it, and adding the fees, talent residuals, and talent participation costs, the movie needs to come around the $600 million global mark to break even.
Forbes estimated the movie's worldwide theatrical lifetime gross will be around $635 million. That would make it the lowest-grossing movie of the studio's DC films released to date.
That doesn't sound bad on its face, but things get worse when you break it down.
Of that figure, Forbes estimated the studio will get to keep 52% of the domestic tally and 38% of the foreign coin. That comes out to $275 million total. Add global home entertainment, video on demand (VOD), online sales (estimated at $170 million), and global TV deals ($100 million), the movie's total revenue will be around $545 million going to the studio.
Deduct the $600 million costs and the movie is looking at a $55 million loss.
But it doesn't stop there, since the production and marketing costs have already been spent, and the revenue from home video and TV takes years to recoup. To take this into consideration, Forbes added another $40 million to the loss.
That puts the movie at a total of $95 million in the red for "Justice League."
None of this counts merchandising, which will help, but in no way get the movie out of the red.
Business Insider contacted Warner Bros. for comment but did not get an immediate response.