Synopsis

Miles Massey is an exceptional divorce lawyer who specializes in saving cheating husbands from having to pay expensive settlements. Unchallenged, he wearies of his life — until he meets the cunning Marylin Rexroth. When Massey’s representation of her husband in court denies her any divorce compensation, Marylin vows to get revenge, enlisting the help of an oil baron, and the two vie for the advantage in a flirtatious duel of wits.

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.