The €48M Queer Film That Ended as a Box Office Flop — Here's What Went Wrong
Luca Guadagnino's Queer, one of the priciest arthouse productions of the year, has crashed at the box office despite a major star in Daniel Craig and months of festival chatter.
With a budget of roughly €48 million and a global gross of just $6,459,148, the film has gone down as a costly misfire for both its distributors and its leading man.
Final box office totals:
- Domestic: $2,837,173
- International: $3,621,975
- Worldwide: $6,459,148
Queer was never going to be an easy sell. Adapted from William S. Burroughs' semi-autobiographical novel, the film drew praise for its lush visuals and intensity, but was also accused of sanding off the author's edge. Many reviews complained about a fragmented, episodic structure, a lack of emotional clarity, and stretches of dreamlike, experimental sequences that left audiences cold.
The style pleased some cinephiles but alienated casual viewers. "Didn't even know it's out. It's not in any theaters nearby," one fan wrote.
Another said, "I sure would love to see it but I don't live in a major city so it's a pain in the ass."
In smaller markets, the film was often absent entirely.
No marketing push
Ahead of the UK release, Craig admitted to The Guardian,
"There isn't the advertising budget that we would like there to be, so it's up to us to sell the movie."
Guadagnino bristled at a question about over-promotion: "This is crazy, you asking us this question!" Craig cut in: "That we're doing too much?"
The film was handled by Mubi in the UK and other territories, and by A24 in the U.S. Neither company gave it the kind of sustained campaign that might have helped a difficult, high-cost title.
"It feels like A24 and Mubi got it thinking it would clean up come awards time, but when that didn't pan out, they're just letting it wither on the vine," one commenter noted.
Another called it "a catch-22 — no way this movie makes any money even with promo, but it needs promo to make some money."
Fallout after the flop
The weak performance has already had consequences. Craig has exited Sgt. Rock, a DC Studios project that would have reunited him with Guadagnino. The WWII comic adaptation, with a completed script from Challengers and Queer writer Justin Kuritzkes, was the closest the property had come to production in decades. Officially, the departure is down to scheduling conflicts for Craig and his wife Rachel Weisz, but industry chatter points to Queer's commercial failure and lack of awards traction as a factor.
For Guadagnino and Craig, Queer was meant to be a daring, high-profile collaboration. Instead, it has become an expensive warning about what happens when a niche, experimental film is mounted on a blockbuster budget without the marketing muscle to back it up.