Editing Forrest Gump (section)

=== Box office ===
Produced on a budget of $55&nbsp;million, ''Forrest Gump'' opened in 1,332&nbsp;theaters in the United States and Canada on Wednesday, July 6, 1994, and grossed more than $8 million in its first two days before expanding on Friday to 1,595&nbsp;theaters and grossing $24,450,602 in its opening weekend, Paramount's biggest opening non-holiday weekend gross, surpassing the record set by ''[[The Addams Family (1991 film)|The Addams Family]]''.<ref>{{cite magazine|magazine=[[Screen International]]|date=July 15, 1994|title=Forrest's gumption puts him ahead|page=25}}</ref> Motion picture business consultant and screenwriter Jeffrey Hilton suggested to producer [[Wendy Finerman]] to double the P&A (film marketing budget) based on his viewing of an early print of the film. The budget was immediately increased, in line with his advice. In its opening weekend, the film placed [[List of 1994 box office number-one films in the United States|first at the US box office]], narrowly beating ''[[The Lion King]]'', which was in its fourth week of release.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1994-07-08-ca-13380-story.html|title='Forrest Gump' Off to Fast Start at Box Office|website=[[Los Angeles Times]] |date=July 8, 1994 }}</ref> For the first twelve weeks of release, the film was in the top 3 at the US box office, topping the list 5 times, including in its tenth week of release, when it surpassed ''[[Raiders of the Lost Ark]]'' as Paramount's highest grossing film in the United States and Canada.<ref name="WeekendBOX">{{cite web |title=Forrest Gump Weekend Box Office |url=https://boxofficemojo.com/movies/?page=weekend&id=forrestgump.htm |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090903010146/http://www.boxofficemojo.com/movies/?page=weekend&id=forrestgump.htm |archive-date=September 3, 2009 |access-date=July 1, 2009 |website=[[Box Office Mojo]]}}</ref><ref>{{cite magazine|magazine=[[Daily Variety]]|date=September 13, 1994|page=5|last=Greene|first=Jay|title=Daze of summer: B.O. does fade fast}}</ref> Paramount removed the film from release in the United States when its gross hit $300&nbsp;million in January 1995, and it was the second-highest-grossing film of the year, behind ''The Lion King'' with $305&nbsp;million.<ref>{{cite magazine |last=Klady |first=Leonard |date=January 16, 1995 |title='Dumber' still holds No. 1 spot at B.O. |magazine=[[Variety (magazine)|Variety]] |page=16}}</ref><ref>{{cite magazine |date=January 23, 1995 |title=Domestic Box Office |magazine=[[Variety (magazine)|Variety]] |page=14}}</ref> The film was reissued on February 17, 1995, after the [[Academy Awards]] nominations were announced.<ref>{{cite magazine |last=Klady |first=Leonard |date=February 13, 1995 |title=Oscar talk fuels 'Fall's' gross fire |magazine=[[Variety (magazine)|Variety]] |page=10}}</ref> After the reissue in 1,100 theaters, the film grossed an additional $29&nbsp;million in the United States and Canada, bringing its total to $329.7&nbsp;million, making it the third-highest-grossing film at that time behind only ''[[E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial]]'' and ''[[Jurassic Park (film)|Jurassic Park]]''.<ref name="WeekendBOX"/><ref name="DomesticGrosses">{{cite web |title=All Time Box Office Domestic Grosses |url=https://boxofficemojo.com/alltime/domestic.htm |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180803190039/https://www.boxofficemojo.com/alltime/domestic.htm |archive-date=August 3, 2018 |access-date=December 11, 2019 |website=[[Box Office Mojo]]}}</ref><ref>{{cite magazine |date=October 17, 1994 |title=Top 100 All-Time Domestic Grosses |magazine=[[Variety (magazine)|Variety]] |page=M-60}}</ref> [[Box Office Mojo]] estimates that the film sold over 78.5&nbsp;million tickets in the US and Canada in its initial theatrical run.<ref>{{cite web |title=Forrest Gump (1994) |url=https://boxofficemojo.com/movies/?id=forrestgump.htm&adjust_yr=1&p=.htm |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160804215914/http://www.boxofficemojo.com/movies/?id=forrestgump.htm&adjust_yr=1&p=.htm |archive-date=August 4, 2016 |access-date=May 31, 2016 |website=Box Office Mojo}}</ref>

The film was the fastest grossing Paramount film to pass $100&nbsp;million (18 days), $200&nbsp;million (46 days; fourth fastest in history), and $300&nbsp;million (193 days) in box office receipts (at the time of its release).<ref name="Fastest100">{{cite web |title=Fastest to $100&nbsp;million |url=https://boxofficemojo.com/alltime/fastest.htm?page=100&p=.htm |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190830125641/http://boxofficemojo.com/alltime/fastest.htm?page=100&p=.htm |archive-date=August 30, 2019 |access-date=July 1, 2009 |website=[[Box Office Mojo]]}}</ref><ref name="Fastest200">{{cite web |title=Fastest to $200&nbsp;million |url=https://boxofficemojo.com/alltime/fastest.htm?page=200&p=.htm |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190830130011/http://boxofficemojo.com/alltime/fastest.htm?page=200&p=.htm |archive-date=August 30, 2019 |access-date=July 1, 2009 |website=[[Box Office Mojo]]}}</ref><ref>{{cite magazine|magazine=[[Screen International]]|date=August 26, 1994|pages=2–3|title=$200,000,000 (advertisement)}}</ref><ref name="Fastest300">{{cite web |title=Fastest to $300&nbsp;million |url=https://boxofficemojo.com/alltime/fastest.htm?page=300&p=.htm |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190830130011/http://boxofficemojo.com/alltime/fastest.htm?page=300&p=.htm |archive-date=August 30, 2019 |access-date=July 1, 2009 |website=[[Box Office Mojo]]}}</ref> After reissues, the film has gross receipts of $330,252,182 in the U.S. and Canada and $347,693,217 in international markets for a total of $677,945,399 worldwide. Ultimately, it finished as the fourth highest grossing [[1990s in film|film of the 1990s]] in the United States and Canada.<ref>{{cite web| title=Domestic Box Office By Decade – 1990s| url=http://www.boxofficereport.com/domestic1990s.html|work=Box Office Report |access-date=July 14, 2024}}</ref> 

Even with such revenue, the film was known as a "successful failure"; due to distributors' and exhibitors' high fees, Paramount's "losses" clocked in at $62&nbsp;million, leaving executives realizing the necessity of better deals.<ref>McDonald, Paul, and Janet Wasko. The Contemporary Hollywood Film Industry. Malden: Blackwell, 2008. Pg:79 #</ref> This has also been associated with [[Hollywood accounting]], where expenses are inflated to minimize profit sharing.<ref>{{cite web |date=May 24, 1995 |title='Gump' a Smash but Still in the Red, Paramount Says : Movies: Writer, who is due to get 3% of net profits, hires lawyer to question the studio's accounting practices. |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1995-05-24-mn-5473-story.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210116061744/https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1995-05-24-mn-5473-story.html |archive-date=January 16, 2021 |access-date=January 3, 2021 |website=[[Los Angeles Times]]}}</ref>

''Forrest Gump'' held the record for being the highest-grossing Paramount film until it was overtaken by ''[[Titanic (1997 film)|Titanic]]'' three years later in 1997. However, it remained the highest-grossing film solely distributed by Paramount until it was surpassed by ''[[Shrek the Third]]'' 13 years later in 2007.<ref>{{cite web |title="Titanic' cruises full speed ahead, overtaking "Gump' |url=https://www.tampabay.com/archive/1998/02/09/titanic-cruises-full-speed-ahead-overtaking-gump/ |access-date=May 28, 2022 |archive-date=May 28, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220528165328/https://www.tampabay.com/archive/1998/02/09/titanic-cruises-full-speed-ahead-overtaking-gump/ |url-status=live }}</ref> 

For 12 years, it remained as the highest-grossing film starring Tom Hanks; it was surpassed in 2006 by ''[[The Da Vinci Code (film)|The Da Vinci Code]]''.<ref>{{cite web |date=June 18, 2006 |title=Tom Hanks' Biggest Film? Da Vinci Code! |url=https://deadline.com/2006/06/tom-hanks-biggest-movie-da-vinci-code-365/ |access-date=June 10, 2022 |archive-date=June 10, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220610220055/https://deadline.com/2006/06/tom-hanks-biggest-movie-da-vinci-code-365/ |url-status=live }}</ref>