When a movie hits big, almost no one cares what was spent; when a release fails to make opening-weekend estimates or has a 60% drop-off during its second week, everyone begins pointing fingers.
Consider MGM’s $30 million to tub-thump “Hot Tub Time Machine,” which cost about $35 million to make: First-week gross was $20 million, dropping 60% the following week and winding up with $50 million in domestic gross. Or Disney’s $200 million production “Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time,” which has raked in $63 million domestically to date against a prints-and-advertising spend stateside of $75 million.
On the other hand, Disney’s “Alice in Wonderland,” similar in cost and marketing budget to “Prince,” has grossed $334 million domestically and $1 billion worldwide…
https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/hr/content_display/film/news/e3i2b61a0dd47969d0fdd259101a964987c