Burn After Reading backdrop

Burn After Reading movie poster

Burn After ReadingFollow

2008 • R • 1h 36m • Comedy, Crime, Drama • Focus Features

Intelligence is relative.

🍅 78% 65%

63

3.61

7.0

Box office summary

Opening weekend

$19.10M

3-day opening

Domestic total

$60.40M

Final

Worldwide total

$164.00M

$103.00M international

Domestic legs3.16x

Budget$37.0M

Compare with other movies

Cast & crew

Full Coen filmography

Ethan Coen

Ethan Coen Director

Joel Coen

Joel Coen Director

George Clooney

George Clooney Starring

Frances McDormand

Frances McDormand Starring

Brad Pitt

Brad Pitt Starring

John Malkovich

John Malkovich Starring

ScreenplayEthan Coen, Joel Coen Produced byJoel Coen, Ethan Coen CinematographyEmmanuel Lubezki MusicCarter Burwell Prod. DesignJess Gonchor StudioFocus Features

The run

WkWeekendRankGrossChgTheatersAvgTotal

1 Sep 12-14 1 $19.1M — 2,651 $7,215 $19.1M

2 Sep 19-21 2 $11.0M −42.3% 2,657 $4,150 $36.1M

3 Sep 26-28 5 $6.2M −43.8% 2,649 $2,339 $45.6M

4 Oct 3-5 7 $4.1M −33.5% 2,397 $1,718 $51.7M

5 Oct 10-12 14 $2.1M −49.1% 1,406 $1,490 $55.2M

6 Oct 17-19 18 $1.1M −47.6% 708 $1,550 $57.1M

7 Oct 24-26 19 $744.5K −32.2% 422 $1,764 $58.3M

8 Oct 31-Nov 2 22 $456.6K −38.7% 327 $1,396 $59.0M

9 Nov 7-9 23 $363.8K −20.3% 270 $1,347 $59.5M

10 Nov 14-16 30 $195.7K −46.2% 207 $945 $59.9M

11 Nov 21-23 34 $112.6K −42.5% 134 $840 $60.0M

DateRankGrossDailyWeeklyTotalTheatersAvgDay

Fri Sep 12 #1 $6.5M — $6.5M 2,651 $2,434 1

Sat Sep 13 #1 $7.9M +23% $14.4M 2,651 $2,994 2

Sun Sep 14 #1 $4.7M −40% $19.1M 2,651 $1,786 3

Mon Sep 15 #1 $1.5M −68% $20.6M 2,651 $563 4

Tue Sep 16 #1 $1.6M +10% $22.3M 2,651 $618 5

Wed Sep 17 #1 $1.4M −12% $23.7M 2,651 $542 6

Thu Sep 18 #1 $1.4M −2% $25.1M 2,651 $530 7

Fri Sep 19 #2 $3.5M +147% −46% $28.6M 2,657 $1,308 8

Sat Sep 20 #2 $5.0M +44% −37% $33.6M 2,657 $1,883 9

Sun Sep 21 #2 $2.5M −49% −46% $36.1M 2,657 $958 10

Mon Sep 22 #2 $790.6K −69% −47% $36.9M 2,657 $297 11

Tue Sep 23 #2 $907.8K +15% −45% $37.8M 2,657 $341 12

Wed Sep 24 #2 $794.9K −12% −45% $38.6M 2,657 $299 13

Thu Sep 25 #2 $742.5K −7% −47% $39.4M 2,657 $279 14

Fri Sep 26 #5 $1.6M +120% −53% $41.0M 2,649 $617 15

Sat Sep 27 #4 $3.1M +88% −39% $44.1M 2,649 $1,158 16

Sun Sep 28 #6 $1.5M −51% −41% $45.6M 2,649 $563 17

Mon Sep 29 #4 $471.3K −68% −40% $46.0M 2,649 $177 18

Tue Sep 30 #3 $601.3K +28% −34% $46.6M 2,649 $227 19

Wed Oct 1 #3 $514.3K −14% −35% $47.2M 2,649 $194 20

Thu Oct 2 #4 $403.6K −22% −46% $47.6M 2,649 $152 21

Fri Oct 3 #7 $1.3M +213% −23% $48.8M 2,397 $526 22

Sat Oct 4 #7 $1.9M +51% −38% $50.7M 2,397 $794 23

Sun Oct 5 #8 $952.7K −50% −36% $51.7M 2,397 $397 24

Mon Oct 6 #7 $316.5K −67% −33% $52.0M 2,397 $132 25

Tue Oct 7 #6 $337.4K +7% −44% $52.3M 2,397 $140 26

Wed Oct 8 #6 $382.7K +13% −26% $52.7M 2,397 $159 27

Thu Oct 9 #7 $367.1K −4% −9% $53.1M 2,397 $153 28

Fri Oct 10 $629.8K +72% −50% $53.7M 1,406 $447 29

Sat Oct 11 #13 $943.1K +50% −50% $54.7M 1,406 $670 30

Sun Oct 12 #13 $522.8K −45% −45% $55.2M 1,406 $371 31

Mon Oct 13 #14 $298.6K −43% −6% $55.5M 1,406 $212 32

Tue Oct 14 #14 $188.9K −37% −44% $55.7M 1,406 $134 33

Wed Oct 15 #13 $161.7K −14% −58% $55.8M 1,406 $115 34

Thu Oct 16 #14 $194.7K +20% −47% $56.0M 1,406 $138 35

Fri Oct 17 $346.5K +78% −45% $56.4M 708 $489 36

Sat Oct 18 $495.5K +43% −47% $56.9M 708 $699 37

Sun Oct 19 $255.6K −48% −51% $57.1M 708 $361 38

Mon Oct 20 $94.6K −63% −68% $57.2M 708 $133 39

Tue Oct 21 $109.6K +16% −42% $57.3M 708 $154 40

Wed Oct 22 $103.6K −5% −36% $57.4M 708 $146 41

Thu Oct 23 $102.7K −1% −47% $57.5M 708 $145 42

Fri Oct 24 $232.8K +127% −33% $57.8M 422 $551 43

Sat Oct 25 $337.9K +45% −32% $58.1M 422 $800 44

Sun Oct 26 $173.8K −49% −32% $58.3M 422 $411 45

Mon Oct 27 $57.2K −67% −39% $58.3M 422 $135 46

Tue Oct 28 $66.4K +16% −39% $58.4M 422 $157 47

Wed Oct 29 $61.1K −8% −41% $58.5M 422 $144 48

Thu Oct 30 $60.9K n/c −41% $58.5M 422 $144 49

Fri Oct 31 $93.5K +53% −60% $58.6M 327 $285 50

Sat Nov 1 $242.3K +159% −28% $58.9M 327 $740 51

Sun Nov 2 $120.9K −50% −30% $59.0M 327 $369 52

Mon Nov 3 $37.6K −69% −34% $59.0M 327 $114 53

Tue Nov 4 $34.5K −8% −48% $59.0M 327 $105 54

Wed Nov 5 $42.0K +22% −31% $59.1M 327 $128 55

Thu Nov 6 $47.5K +13% −22% $59.1M 327 $145 56

Fri Nov 7 $107.7K +127% +15% $59.2M 270 $398 57

Sat Nov 8 $166.6K +55% −31% $59.4M 270 $617 58

Sun Nov 9 $89.5K −46% −26% $59.5M 270 $331 59

Mon Nov 10 $39.4K −56% +5% $59.5M 270 $145 60

Tue Nov 11 $56.0K +42% +62% $59.6M 270 $207 61

Wed Nov 12 $30.0K −47% −29% $59.6M 270 $110 62

Thu Nov 13 $28.2K −6% −41% $59.7M 270 $104 63

Fri Nov 14 $61.1K +116% −43% $59.7M 207 $294 64

Sat Nov 15 $91.0K +49% −45% $59.8M 207 $439 65

Sun Nov 16 $43.7K −52% −51% $59.9M 207 $211 66

Mon Nov 17 $14.6K −67% −63% $59.9M 207 $70 67

Tue Nov 18 $17.5K +20% −69% $59.9M 207 $84 68

Wed Nov 19 $16.5K −6% −45% $59.9M 207 $79 69

Thu Nov 20 $17.6K +6% −38% $59.9M 207 $84 70

Fri Nov 21 $34.1K +94% −44% $60.0M 134 $254 71

Sat Nov 22 $53.1K +56% −42% $60.0M 134 $396 72

Sun Nov 23 $25.4K −52% −42% $60.0M 134 $189 73

Mon Nov 24 $12.2K −52% −17% $60.0M 134 $90 74

Wed Nov 26 $12.1K — −27% $60.1M 97 $125 76

Thu Nov 27 $13.6K +12% −23% $60.1M 97 $140 77

Fri Nov 28 $34.2K +152% n/c $60.1M 97 $352 78

Sat Nov 29 $35.6K +4% −33% $60.2M 97 $367 79

Sun Nov 30 $17.0K −52% −33% $60.2M 97 $175 80

Mon Dec 1 $7.3K −57% −40% $60.2M 97 $75 81

Tue Dec 2 $8.3K +13% $60.2M 97 $85 82

Fri Dec 5 $14.6K — −57% $60.2M 78 $187 85

Sat Dec 6 $19.8K +36% −44% $60.2M 78 $254 86

Sun Dec 7 $11.0K −44% −35% $60.2M 78 $141 87

Mon Dec 8 $6.4K −42% −13% $60.3M 78 $82 88

Tue Dec 9 $6.1K −5% −27% $60.3M 78 $78 89

Wed Dec 10 $5.7K −6% $60.3M 78 $73 90

Thu Dec 11 $5.9K +4% $60.3M 78 $75 91

Fri Dec 12 $10.3K +75% −29% $60.3M 57 $181 92

Sat Dec 13 $14.1K +36% −29% $60.3M 57 $247 93

Sun Dec 14 $8.0K −43% −27% $60.3M 57 $140 94

Mon Dec 15 $5.4K −33% −16% $60.3M 57 $94 95

Tue Dec 16 $4.8K −11% −21% $60.3M 57 $83 96

Wed Dec 17 $5.6K +16% −2% $60.3M 57 $97 97

Thu Dec 18 $5.3K −5% −11% $60.3M 57 $92 98

Fri Dec 19 $5.1K −3% −51% $60.3M 44 $115 99

Sat Dec 20 $6.2K +21% −56% $60.3M 44 $139 100

Sun Dec 21 $5.1K −17% −37% $60.3M 44 $115 101

Mon Dec 22 $4.0K −21% −26% $60.3M 44 $90 102

Tue Dec 23 $4.2K +5% −12% $60.3M 44 $95 103

Wed Dec 24 $3.4K −19% −39% $60.4M 44 $76 104

Thu Dec 25 $4.9K +45% −7% $60.4M 44 $111 105

Charts show the first 10 weeks · the run above is the full record

Cumulative total$59.9M

Sep 12Sep 29Oct 17Nov 3Nov 20

Weekend grossWk 10 · $195.7K

$19.1M

$11.0M

$6.2M

$4.1M

$2.1M

$1.1M

$744.5K

$456.6K

$363.8K

$195.7K

W1W2W3W4W5W6W7W8W9W10

Theater countPeak 2,657 → 207 −92.2%

2,651 open207 now

Weekend-over-weekend dropWk 10 · −46.2%

−42.3%

W1→2

−43.8%

W2→3

−33.5%

W3→4

−49.1%

W4→5

−47.6%

W5→6

−32.2%

W6→7

−38.7%

W7→8

−20.3%

W8→9

−46.2%

W9→10

Steepest −49.1%Best hold −20.3%

Profitability

Return on Budget

Theatrical breakeven point is approx. 2.5x production budget

Domestic vs International Split

Similar movies

The Man Who Wasn't There 2001 · Coen $7.5M O Brother, Where Art Thou? 2000 · Coen $45.5M Intolerable Cruelty 2003 · Coen $35.3M Hail, Caesar! 2016 · Coen $30.1M Snatch 2000 · Ritchie $30.1M Suburbicon 2017 · Clooney $5.8M

Box office comparisons

Build your own comparison

No head-to-head comparisons featuring Burn After Reading yet — build one in seconds.

Build your own comparison →