Gross Receipts
From ForcaWiki, the simple encyclopedia
| In one sentence | Every single dollar a movie brings in at a specific point in the chain of people selling and reselling it, before anything at all is subtracted. |
|---|---|
| Category | Film and Television |
| Related | Adjusted Gross Receipts, Net Profits, Distribution Fee, Box Office Receipts |
Imagine tracking every single dollar that ever gets handed over for a lemonade stand's lemonade, from the very first sip sold, all the way through the whole summer. Before subtracting anything at all, like the cost of lemons, that grand total is the stand's gross receipts.
Gross receipts work the same way for a movie: all the money it brings in, counted at some specific, agreed upon point in the chain of people buying, selling, and reselling it. That point matters a lot, since a movie passes through many hands, from theaters, to distributors, to the producers, and gross receipts can be measured at any one of those links.
Why the exact point matters
Since gross receipts can be measured at different links in that chain, contracts are usually very specific about exactly where they mean. Box Office Receipts is one narrow example, gross receipts measured right at the movie theater. Contracts often spell out a different, agreed upon measuring point instead, sometimes using a rule called At-Source.
Gross receipts is also the starting point for two other important numbers. Subtracting a short list of specific deductions gives Adjusted Gross Receipts, and subtracting every single cost related to the film gives Net Profits.
Fun facts
- Gross receipts is always the biggest, simplest number in a movie's finances, since nothing at all has been subtracted from it yet.
- Contracts over how gross receipts should be measured, and at which link in the chain, are some of the most heavily negotiated parts of a movie deal.
- A movie can have enormous gross receipts and still show very little profit, once all its costs and fees are subtracted along the way.