Owen’s Owed
Studly and talented Brit actor Clive Owen has already had two films released in 2009 and as far as either being an unqualified commercial hit, sadly he’s 0 for 2. I don’t get it.
CLIVE OWEN
The International (with Naomi Watts) arrived in North American theaters back in February and six weeks later was pretty much gone. With a production budget of $50 million, to date it has only made around $47 million, and that includes both domestic and foreign box office. Duplicity (with his Closer co-star, Julia Roberts) was released March 20 and has so far made back a little more than $49 million ($32 domestic, $17 foreign) of its $60 million production budget. Chances seem slim that it will suddenly ignite at the box office any time soon; and that’s a real shame.
While I didn’t see the International, I did attend a screening for Duplicity and thoroughly enjoyed the flick. It’s an intelligently written con caper (clearly designed for the kind of adult audience who would prefer NOT to check its brains at the door), with a great cast and some extremely fun chemistry between the leads. Instead of stalling around the $50 million mark, it really should be double that given its luminous star power.
But while Owen has all of the ingredients of a box office champ (handsome, charismatic, in command of pretty much any genre that he gets involved with, Oscar-nominated, that wonderful accent, etc…) his overall track record since I first saw him in the incest drama Close My Eyes (1991) has left me frustrated.
The man is not to blame though. Clive Owen has appeared in some great films (Croupier, Gosford Park, Sin City, Children of Men, are ones that I’ve seen and thoroughly enjoyed) but what frustrates me are the films that he’s made lately which seem like they should be instant hits but instead are not, especially in North America. Maybe not so much the period piece, Elizabeth: The Golden Age ($17 million domestic, $58 million foreign), but something with a title like Shoot Em Up should have easily made back its $39 million production budget at the North American box office, but didn’t ($13 million domestic, $14 million foreign).
Owen has definitely had his share of big hits but keep in mind that the last four films of his to make more than $100 million at the worldwide box office were released in 2004, 2005, and early 2006. Since then, the seven films released starring him have fallen considerably short of that.
Perhaps not surprisingly, two of the next three projects Owen is attached to are sequels to two of his biggest hits: Sin City, and Inside Man. Perhaps those films will serve as a reminder to audiences that Clive is owed a bigger chunk of the box office than he’s currently been given.
Cheerio!
S.R.
