Bowling for Columbine backdrop
Bowling for Columbine movie poster

Bowling for ColumbineFollow

2002 • R • 2h • Crime, Documentary, Drama • Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer

Are we a nation of gun nuts or are we just nuts?

Box office summary

Opening weekend
$209K
Limited · 8 theaters
Domestic total
$21.60M
Final
Worldwide total
$58.20M
$36.70M international
Domestic legs13.9x from $1.6M biggest weekend
Budget$3M

Cast & crew

Directed byMichael Moore ScreenplayMichael Moore Produced byCharles Bishop, Jim Czarnecki, Kathleen Glynn, Michael Donovan, Michael Moore MusicJeff Gibbs StarringMichael Moore, George H. W. Bush, George W. Bush, Charlton Heston, Jacobo Árbenz, Mike Bradley StudioMetro-Goldwyn-Mayer

The run

WkWeekendRankGrossChgTheatersAvgTotal
1 Oct 11-13 31 $209.1K — 8 $26,143 $209.1K
2 Oct 18-20 19 $728.1K +248.1% 46 $15,827 $1.1M
3 Oct 25-27 18 $1.1M +47.9% 111 $9,703 $2.5M
4 Nov 1-3 11 $1.5M +43.1% 162 $9,513 $4.5M
5 Nov 8-10 13 $1.6M +1.2% 222 $7,024 $6.8M
6 Nov 15-17 11 $1.3M −19.0% 248 $5,094 $8.8M
7 Nov 22-24 15 $983.5K −22.2% 244 $4,030 $10.3M
8 Nov 29-Dec 1 17 $966.7K −1.7% 217 $4,454 $11.9M
9 Dec 6-8 18 $629.2K −34.9% 246 $2,557 $12.9M
10 Dec 13-15 20 $562.4K −10.6% 234 $2,403 $13.8M
11 Dec 20-22 21 $386.0K −31.4% 195 $1,979 $14.5M
12 Dec 27-29 27 $417.2K +8.1% 175 $2,384 $15.2M
13 Jan 3-5 27 $412.4K −1.2% 198 $2,082 $16.0M
14 Jan 10-12 28 $352.6K −14.5% 204 $1,728 $16.6M
15 Jan 17-19 29 $341.2K −3.2% 213 $1,601 $17.2M
16 Jan 24-26 32 $209.7K −38.5% 188 $1,115 $17.6M
17 Jan 31-Feb 2 37 $184.6K −12.0% 174 $1,061 $17.9M
18 Feb 7-9 40 $152.5K −17.4% 142 $1,074 $18.1M
19 Feb 14-16 37 $180.3K +18.3% 172 $1,048 $18.4M
20 Feb 21-23 34 $158.9K −11.9% 118 $1,346 $18.6M
21 Feb 28-Mar 2 39 $146.1K −8.0% 106 $1,378 $18.9M
22 Mar 7-9 37 $162.7K +11.3% 106 $1,535 $19.1M
23 Mar 14-16 40 $150.8K −7.4% 101 $1,492 $19.3M
24 Mar 21-23 37 $156.6K +3.8% 106 $1,476 $19.6M
25 Mar 28-30 29 $271.1K +73.2% 121 $2,240 $19.9M
26 Apr 4-6 33 $206.8K −23.7% 144 $1,436 $20.3M
27 Apr 11-13 33 $169.4K −18.1% 146 $1,160 $20.5M
28 Apr 18-20 33 $172.6K +1.9% 121 $1,426 $20.8M
29 Apr 25-27 41 $108.2K −37.3% 100 $1,082 $21.0M
30 May 2-4 44 $78.0K −27.9% 88 $886 $21.1M
31 May 9-11 46 $60.7K −22.2% 76 $798 $21.2M
32 May 16-18 65 $29.5K −51.3% 53 $556 $21.3M
33 May 23-25 55 $39.2K +32.7% 37 $1,058 $21.4M
44 Aug 8-10 104 $4.3K — 9 $473 $21.6M
45 Aug 15-17 94 $5.0K +16.3% 5 $990 $21.6M
48 Sep 5-7 140 $480 — 3 $160 $21.6M
49 Sep 12-14 150 $306 −36.2% 1 $306 $21.6M
Charts show the first 10 weeks · the run above is the full record
Weekend grossWk 10 · $562.4K
$209.1K
$728.1K
$1.1M
$1.5M
$1.6M
$1.3M
$983.5K
$966.7K
$629.2K
$562.4K
W1W2W3W4W5W6W7W8W9W10
Weekend-over-weekend dropWk 10 · −10.6%
+248.1%
W1→2
+47.9%
W2→3
+43.1%
W3→4
+1.2%
W4→5
−19.0%
W5→6
−22.2%
W6→7
−1.7%
W7→8
−34.9%
W8→9
−10.6%
W9→10
Steepest −34.9%Biggest gain +248.1%

Profitability

Return on Budget
Theatrical breakeven point is approx. 2.5x production budget

Domestic vs International Split

Similar movies

Fahrenheit 9/11 2004 · Moore $119M Rounders 1998 · Dahl $22.9M Lord of War 2005 · Niccol $24.1M A Bronx Tale 1993 · Niro $17.2M Menace II Society 1993 · Hughes $27.7M Baby Boy 2001 · Singleton $28.7M

Box office comparisons

Build your own comparison

No head-to-head comparisons featuring Bowling for Columbine yet — build one in seconds.

Build your own comparison →