I just learned something (which is not as unusual as some might think;):  The only Spike Lee Joint that wasn’t profitable was “Miracle At St. Anna,” and I assumed that was because the box office had spoken.  And Box Office Mojo, seemed to confirm that perspective, seeing that the film earned almost $8 million in the United States, and just over a million overseas.

And that’s that.

Or is it?  According to The Hollywood Reporter, TF1 Droits Audiovisuels, the company that handled international distribution for the film, was fined $46 million dollars for FAILING to distribute the film.

It’s anyone’s guess that, if TF1 had distributed the film at the time it was released, if it would have been a success.

Though the point is that it was never given the chance.

According to TF1, Spike Lee did not deliver the film that they were expecting, so they refused to hand over a $16 million dollar advance.

The verdict reached by the court was that TF1 was at fault for breach of contract (and moral prejudice), and had to pay nearly $29 million in damages.

Spike Lee received €1 million euros ($1,414,600.71), the author who wrote the book the film was based upon, James McBride, got €200,00 ($282,920.14) and PNB Parabas, the bank that financed the film, was granted €18 million ($25,462,812.80).