NEW YORK (CelebrityAccess MediaWire) — Financial statements filed with New York State by the show's producers reveal some of the costs that led to "Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark" running up a $75 million dollar price tag – twice again as expensive as any other B'way show in history.
According to the New York Time, the production spent $9 million on costumes, sets and shoes, an expense that is equivalent to the entire production cost for the hit musical "The Book of Mormon."
Another $6 million went for stage hands, and $1 million for lawyers (apparently a necessity, considering the show's risky stunts.) Moreover, the show is expensive to run with operating expenses of $1.2 million a week as of early January, though, Michael Cohl, one of the show's producers told the Times that costs have come down recently.
Still, Cohl was forced to acknowledge that at current level of revenue generation, the show would need to run for more than seven years before they break even. Only a quarter of Broadway shows ever recoup their production costs and only 18 shows in the history of B'way have ever run for seven more years.
"The bad news is that it was very expensive," Cohl told The Times, "and the good news is that we will not quit and we will make this a success and that’s that."
Cohl goes on to lay much of the cost for the show at their predecessors. The show has been in development since 2002 and as recently as 2007, was envisioned as as $20 million show. Cohl and co-producer, Jeremiah J. Harris came aboard in 2009 after the original production ran out of cash admist a theatre refurb.
"Had we started this show originally, Michael and I, it would have been done for considerably less," Mr. Harris, a veteran Broadway producer told The Times. "I’m going to say that if it hadn’t been for all the delays and everything else, the budget would have been 30 percent less than what it is." – CelebrityAccess Staff Writers
