Intolerable Cruelty Budget

What is the budget of Intolerable Cruelty?

"Intolerable Cruelty," a comedy released in 2003, was directed by Joel Coen and stars George Clooney, Catherine Zeta-Jones. The production budget was $60,000,000, placing it in the high-budget range for comedy productions of its era.

Key Budget Allocation Categories

While specific budget breakdowns are not publicly available, typical cost drivers for a comedy production like this include:

• Talent Salaries & Producing Deals: Established comedic talent can command $15 to 20 million per film, with top-tier stars earning even more through producing credits and backend deals.
• Production & Location Filming: While comedies generally avoid the VFX costs of action films, location shooting in recognizable cities or exotic locales adds meaningful production expense.
• Marketing & P&A (Prints & Advertising): Comedies rely heavily on marketing to build opening-weekend momentum.

What were the major cost factors in Intolerable Cruelty?

Several factors contributed to the overall production costs of "Intolerable Cruelty."

• Talent Salaries: Talent Salaries & Producing Deals is one of the primary cost drivers in comedy productions of this scale.
• Production: Production & Location Filming is one of the primary cost drivers in comedy productions of this scale.
• Marketing: Marketing & P&A (Prints & Advertising) is one of the primary cost drivers in comedy productions of this scale.

How Does Intolerable Cruelty's Budget Compare to Similar Films?

At $60,000,000, Intolerable Cruelty sits in the high-budget range. Here is how it compares to productions with a similar budget:

• 15 Minutes (2001): Budget $60,000,000, Worldwide Gross $56,359,980
• Almost Famous (2000): Budget $60,000,000, Worldwide Gross $47,386,287
• Analyze That (2002): Budget $60,000,000, Worldwide Gross $55,003,135
• Antz (1998): Budget $60,000,000, Worldwide Gross $171,757,863
• Cats & Dogs (2001): Budget $60,000,000, Worldwide Gross $200,687,492

The median budget for wide-release comedy films in the 2000s ranges from $30 to 80M for mid-budget to $150M+ for tentpoles.

Intolerable Cruelty Box Office Performance

"Intolerable Cruelty" earned $35,327,628 domestically and $119,940,815 worldwide at the box office. Against a production budget of $60,000,000, the film showed modest profitability in theatrical release.

A film typically needs to earn approximately twice its production budget to cover marketing and distribution costs. For "Intolerable Cruelty," that break-even threshold was roughly $120,000,000. With worldwide earnings of $119,940,815, the film fell short of that threshold but recouped its production costs in theatrical release.

• Production Budget: $60,000,000
• Worldwide Gross: $119,940,815
• Net Return: $59,940,815
• ROI: approximately 99.9%

At 99.9%, "Intolerable Cruelty" returned its production investment but margin was tight after marketing and distribution costs.

Awards and Recognition

3 nominations total

Critical Reception

Intolerable Cruelty holds a 75 percent rating on Rotten Tomatoes and a Metacritic score of 70. Reviewers welcomed the Coen Brothers in a screwball register but noted the film as minor compared with their auteur work. Roger Ebert awarded three stars and praised the chemistry between George Clooney and Catherine Zeta-Jones, writing that the pair worked "like Tracy and Hepburn with sharper teeth." Manohla Dargis at the Los Angeles Times called it a "playful goof" without the layered ambition of Fargo or The Big Lebowski. A.O. Scott of The New York Times judged the picture as engineered for stars and box office rather than for the Coen sensibility, while Peter Travers of Rolling Stone celebrated the screwball pacing. Audience CinemaScore polling registered a B grade, indicating that mainstream viewers enjoyed the comedy without the cult fervor that surrounds the Coens' more idiosyncratic projects.