It looked like kind of a low budget production considering who was involved in it. Not Evil Dead (1981) low, but low considering the cast, being directed by Raimi, written by Billy Bob Thornton.
I don't remember hearing much about it at the time, either. Not much of a promotional push. Maybe the studio lost faith in the project for some reason. I thought it was good, though. A solid, supernatural thriller.
I fell in love with this movie when it came out. I remember it vividly. Keanu was fantastic. One of the scariest real performances in that courtroom. Katie was great. Everybody. Billy Bob writes the best stuff. It was near to Savannah too which is such a magical atmospheric place.
shareI liked it. I'm just surprised it didn't get more promotion at the time considering. I thought it deserved better.
shareI’m trying to remember how I saw this. I think it was at a theater. I bought the DVD later. At the time. And there was a time when there were really good movies being made and this movie was level 2. Now, today, it’s elevated because it offers so much more than anything we have in wanting to see a regular movie. And the cast has never been better.
shareThe gift was a $ 10 million dollar feature, and the lowest budget Raimi was offered after The Quick and the Dead
, A Simple Plan & For Love of the Game all were BO disappointments.
Raimi started preproduction on Spiderman while the Gift was in post and this hindered the marketing of this film. Jewish Joseph Emanuel Roth over at Columbia Pictures love the Gift and offered Raimi Spiderman.
I’m speculating but the marketing budget was probably not more than $2M. Mostly TV spots.
Ironically, the Gift was a success.
One positive with a low budget, it's easier to hit profitability.
I'm surprised they were able to get the cast that they did on a ten million dollar movie, especially Keanu. The Matrix came out in '99, so he was at a career peak at the time.
The Matrix and The Gift overlapped. Keanu had done a few dubious projects in the late 90s that did not yield the Speed BO some were hoping for. Keanu was filming his scenes in The Gift while The Matrix was blowing up. When he signed up for The Gift his super hit The Matrix was not yet released. He also shot The Watcher after finishing The Matrix.
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