The Ghost Writer backdrop

The Ghost Writer movie poster

The Ghost WriterFollow

2010 • PG-13 • 2h 8m • Mystery, Thriller • Summit Entertainment

Read between the lies.

🍅 84% 70%

77

3.59

7.2

Box office summary

Opening weekend

$183K

Limited · 4 theaters

Domestic total

$15.50M

Final

Worldwide total

$65.50M

$50.00M international

Domestic legs7.5x from $2.1M first wide weekend

Budget$45M

Compare with other movies

Cast & crew

Full Polanski filmography

Roman Polanski

Roman Polanski Director

Ewan McGregor

Ewan McGregor Starring

Pierce Brosnan

Pierce Brosnan Starring

Kim Cattrall

Kim Cattrall Starring

Olivia Williams

Olivia Williams Starring

Tom Wilkinson

Tom Wilkinson Starring

ScreenplayRobert Harris, Roman Polanski Produced byRobert Benmussa StudioSummit Entertainment

The run

WkWeekendRankGrossChgTheatersAvgTotal

1 Feb 19-21 29 $183.0K — 4 $45,752 $183.0K

2 Feb 26-28 18 $789.1K +331.2% 43 $18,350 $1.0M

3 Mar 5-7 13 $1.3M +63.2% 147 $8,759 $2.6M

4 Mar 12-14 15 $1.2M −4.9% 224 $5,469 $4.3M

5 Mar 19-21 11 $2.1M +68.4% 819 $2,520 $6.8M

6 Mar 26-28 13 $1.7M −17.8% 819 $2,072 $9.2M

7 Apr 2-4 12 $1.1M −33.5% 656 $1,719 $11.0M

8 Apr 9-11 13 $822.4K −27.1% 565 $1,455 $12.3M

9 Apr 16-18 13 $681.3K −17.2% 480 $1,419 $13.3M

10 Apr 23-25 17 $497.3K −27.0% 445 $1,117 $14.0M

11 Apr 30-May 2 22 $351.7K −29.3% 336 $1,047 $14.5M

12 May 7-9 28 $238.7K −32.1% 231 $1,033 $14.9M

13 May 14-16 34 $117.0K −51.0% 150 $780 $15.1M

14 May 21-23 37 $77.7K −33.6% 86 $903 $15.2M

15 May 28-30 38 $73.0K −6.0% 58 $1,259 $15.3M

16 Jun 4-6 35 $90.3K +23.7% 147 $614 $15.4M

17 Jun 11-13 46 $39.1K −56.7% 63 $621 $15.5M

DateRankGrossDailyWeeklyTotalTheatersAvgDay

Fri Feb 19 #- $48.7K — $48.7K 4 $12,168 1

Sat Feb 20 #- $70.0K +44% $118.7K 4 $17,510 2

Sun Feb 21 #- $64.3K −8% $183.0K 4 $16,075 3

Mon Feb 22 #- $20.5K −68% $203.5K 4 $5,127 4

Tue Feb 23 #- $18.2K −11% $221.7K 4 $4,540 5

Wed Feb 24 #- $20.6K +13% $242.3K 4 $5,145 6

Thu Feb 25 #- $16.9K −18% $259.2K 4 $4,228 7

Fri Feb 26 #- $200.2K +1% +311% $459.4K 43 $4,657 8

Sat Feb 27 #- $365.9K +83% +422% $825.3K 43 $8,509 9

Sun Feb 28 #- $222.9K −39% +247% $1.0M 43 $5,185 10

Mon Mar 1 #- $65.8K −70% +221% $1.1M 43 $1,530 11

Tue Mar 2 #- $72.3K +10% +298% $1.2M 43 $1,681 12

Wed Mar 3 #- $65.4K −10% +218% $1.3M 43 $1,521 13

Thu Mar 4 #- $61.2K −6% +262% $1.3M 43 $1,423 14

Fri Mar 5 #- $386.8K +532% +93% $1.7M 147 $2,631 15

Sat Mar 6 #- $651.2K +68% +78% $2.4M 147 $4,430 16

Sun Mar 7 #- $249.6K −62% +12% $2.6M 147 $1,698 17

Mon Mar 8 #- $95.7K −62% +45% $2.7M 147 $651 18

Tue Mar 9 #- $112.2K +17% +55% $2.8M 147 $764 19

Wed Mar 10 #- $115.1K +3% +76% $2.9M 147 $783 20

Thu Mar 11 #- $115.5K — +89% $3.0M 147 $785 21

Fri Mar 12 #- $336.5K +191% −13% $3.4M 224 $1,502 22

Sat Mar 13 #- $560.1K +66% −14% $3.9M 224 $2,500 23

Sun Mar 14 #- $328.5K −41% +32% $4.3M 224 $1,466 24

Mon Mar 15 #- $99.8K −70% +4% $4.4M 224 $445 25

Tue Mar 16 #- $114.6K +15% +2% $4.5M 224 $512 26

Wed Mar 17 #- $106.4K −7% −8% $4.6M 224 $475 27

Thu Mar 18 #- $105.3K −1% −9% $4.7M 224 $470 28

Fri Mar 19 #11 $548.6K +421% +63% $5.2M 819 $670 29

Sat Mar 20 #11 $950.5K +73% +70% $6.2M 819 $1,161 30

Sun Mar 21 #11 $564.5K −41% +72% $6.8M 819 $689 31

Mon Mar 22 #11 $186.7K −67% +87% $6.9M 819 $228 32

Tue Mar 23 #11 $226.5K +21% +98% $7.2M 819 $277 33

Wed Mar 24 #11 $188.7K −17% +77% $7.4M 819 $230 34

Thu Mar 25 #11 $186.6K −1% +77% $7.5M 819 $228 35

Fri Mar 26 #- $489.1K +162% −11% $8.0M 819 $597 36

Sat Mar 27 #13 $755.9K +55% −20% $8.8M 819 $923 37

Sun Mar 28 #13 $451.8K −40% −20% $9.2M 819 $552 38

Mon Mar 29 #13 $158.9K −65% −15% $9.4M 819 $194 39

Tue Mar 30 #13 $176.3K +11% −22% $9.6M 819 $215 40

Wed Mar 31 #13 $159.0K −10% −16% $9.7M 819 $194 41

Thu Apr 1 #14 $155.6K −2% −17% $9.9M 819 $190 42

Fri Apr 2 #12 $368.3K +137% −25% $10.3M 656 $561 43

Sat Apr 3 #12 $472.8K +28% −37% $10.7M 656 $721 44

Sun Apr 4 #12 $286.6K −39% −37% $11.0M 656 $437 45

Mon Apr 5 #14 $120.3K −58% −24% $11.1M 656 $183 46

Tue Apr 6 #12 $116.8K −3% −34% $11.3M 656 $178 47

Wed Apr 7 #13 $107.6K −8% −32% $11.4M 656 $164 48

Thu Apr 8 #13 $110.1K +2% −29% $11.5M 656 $168 49

Fri Apr 9 #13 $229.8K +109% −38% $11.7M 565 $407 50

Sat Apr 10 #- $394.7K +72% −17% $12.1M 565 $699 51

Sun Apr 11 #- $197.8K −50% −31% $12.3M 565 $350 52

Mon Apr 12 #- $62.0K −69% −48% $12.4M 565 $110 53

Tue Apr 13 #12 $82.2K +33% −30% $12.4M 565 $145 54

Wed Apr 14 #- $64.5K −22% −40% $12.5M 565 $114 55

Thu Apr 15 #- $68.3K +6% −38% $12.6M 565 $121 56

Fri Apr 16 #- $169.0K +147% −26% $12.7M 480 $352 57

Sat Apr 17 #- $333.2K +97% −16% $13.1M 480 $694 58

Sun Apr 18 #- $179.1K −46% −9% $13.3M 480 $373 59

Mon Apr 19 #- $49.5K −72% −20% $13.3M 480 $103 60

Tue Apr 20 #- $67.6K +37% −18% $13.4M 480 $141 61

Wed Apr 21 #- $61.2K −10% −5% $13.4M 480 $128 62

Thu Apr 22 #- $57.0K −7% −17% $13.5M 480 $119 63

Fri Apr 23 #- $119.8K +110% −29% $13.6M 445 $269 64

Sat Apr 24 #- $240.0K +100% −28% $13.8M 445 $539 65

Sun Apr 25 #- $137.4K −43% −23% $14.0M 445 $309 66

Mon Apr 26 #- $41.6K −70% −16% $14.0M 445 $93 67

Tue Apr 27 #- $49.0K +18% −28% $14.1M 445 $110 68

Wed Apr 28 #- $43.4K −11% −29% $14.1M 445 $98 69

Thu Apr 29 #- $44.0K +1% −23% $14.2M 445 $99 70

Fri Apr 30 #- $93.3K +112% −22% $14.3M 336 $278 71

Sat May 1 #- $168.3K +80% −30% $14.4M 336 $501 72

Sun May 2 #- $90.1K −46% −34% $14.5M 336 $268 73

Mon May 3 #- $29.2K −68% −30% $14.5M 336 $87 74

Tue May 4 #- $37.0K +27% −24% $14.6M 336 $110 75

Wed May 5 #- $29.7K −20% −32% $14.6M 336 $88 76

Thu May 6 #- $31.6K +7% −28% $14.6M 336 $94 77

Fri May 7 #- $55.5K +76% −40% $14.7M 231 $240 78

Sat May 8 #- $108.9K +96% −35% $14.8M 231 $472 79

Sun May 9 #- $74.3K −32% −18% $14.9M 231 $322 80

Mon May 10 #- $19.2K −74% −34% $14.9M 231 $83 81

Tue May 11 #- $21.6K +13% −42% $14.9M 231 $94 82

Wed May 12 #- $22.9K +6% −23% $14.9M 231 $99 83

Thu May 13 #- $22.9K — −28% $15.0M 231 $99 84

Fri May 14 #- $31.5K +37% −43% $15.0M 150 $210 85

Sat May 15 #- $58.2K +85% −47% $15.1M 150 $388 86

Sun May 16 #- $27.3K −53% −63% $15.1M 150 $182 87

Mon May 17 #- $11.1K −59% −42% $15.1M 150 $74 88

Tue May 18 #- $12.2K +10% −43% $15.1M 150 $82 89

Wed May 19 #- $11.7K −4% −49% $15.1M 150 $78 90

Thu May 20 #- $11.7K — −49% $15.1M 150 $78 91

Fri May 21 #- $19.1K +64% −39% $15.1M 86 $223 92

Sat May 22 #- $38.3K +100% −34% $15.2M 86 $446 93

Sun May 23 #- $20.2K −47% −26% $15.2M 86 $235 94

Mon May 24 #- $8.2K −59% −26% $15.2M 86 $96 95

Tue May 25 #- $7.5K −10% −39% $15.2M 86 $87 96

Wed May 26 #- $7.7K +4% −34% $15.2M 86 $90 97

Thu May 27 #- $6.7K −13% −42% $15.2M 86 $78 98

Fri May 28 #- $16.1K +139% −16% $15.3M 58 $277 99

Sat May 29 #- $30.2K +88% −21% $15.3M 58 $521 100

Sun May 30 #- $26.7K −12% +32% $15.3M 58 $461 101

Mon May 31 #38 $20.0K −25% +142% $15.3M 58 $344 102

Tue Jun 1 #- $6.7K −67% −11% $15.3M 58 $115 103

Wed Jun 2 #- $6.0K −10% −22% $15.3M 58 $104 104

Thu Jun 3 #- $6.5K +7% −4% $15.4M 58 $111 105

Fri Jun 4 #- $23.2K +259% +44% $15.4M 147 $158 106

Sat Jun 5 #- $41.0K +77% +36% $15.4M 147 $279 107

Sun Jun 6 #- $26.1K −36% −2% $15.4M 147 $178 108

Mon Jun 7 #- $9.1K −65% −54% $15.5M 147 $62 109

Tue Jun 8 #- $11.0K +21% +65% $15.5M 147 $75 110

Wed Jun 9 #- $12.0K +9% +99% $15.5M 147 $82 111

Thu Jun 10 #- $10.8K −10% +67% $15.5M 147 $73 112

Fri Jun 11 #- $11.3K +5% −51% $15.5M 63 $179 113

Sat Jun 12 #- $18.5K +63% −55% $15.5M 63 $293 114

Sun Jun 13 #- $9.3K −49% −64% $15.5M 63 $148 115

Mon Jun 14 #- $4.4K −53% −52% $15.5M 63 $69 116

Tue Jun 15 #- $5.2K +20% −52% $15.5M 63 $83 117

Wed Jun 16 #- $5.0K −4% −58% $15.5M 63 $80 118

Thu Jun 17 #- $3.7K −25% −65% $15.5M 63 $59 119

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

Cumulative total$14.2M

Feb 19Mar 8Mar 26Apr 12Apr 29

Weekend grossWk 10 · $497.3K

$183.0K

$789.1K

$1.3M

$1.2M

$2.1M

$1.7M

$1.1M

$822.4K

$681.3K

$497.3K

W1W2W3W4W5W6W7W8W9W10

Theater countPeak 819 → 445 −45.7%

4 open445 now

Weekend-over-weekend dropWk 10 · −27.0%

+331.2%

W1→2

+63.2%

W2→3

−4.9%

W3→4

+68.4%

W4→5

−17.8%

W5→6

−33.5%

W6→7

−27.1%

W7→8

−17.2%

W8→9

−27.0%

W9→10

Steepest −33.5%Biggest gain +331.2%

Profitability

Return on Budget

Theatrical breakeven point is approx. 2.5x production budget

Domestic vs International Split

Similar movies

The Ninth Gate 1999 · Polanski $18.7M Chinatown 1974 · Polanski $23.2M Angels & Demons 2009 · Howard $133.4M Joy Ride 2001 · Dahl $22M Memento 2000 · Nolan $25.5M The Stepfather 2009 · McCormick $29.1M

Box office comparisons

Build your own comparison

No head-to-head comparisons featuring The Ghost Writer yet — build one in seconds.

Build your own comparison →