Drowning by Numbers backdrop
Drowning by Numbers poster
#11,721 All-time worldwide
#192 1988 releases

Box office snapshot

Financial performance

Reference figures based on available reported data.
Worldwide gross $424,773
Budget $1.5M
Gross minus budget -$1.1M
ROI 0.28x

Domestic gross

$212,387

Estimated from worldwide gross

International gross

$212,386

Estimated from worldwide gross

Opening weekend

$38,230

Estimated from worldwide gross

Ranking context

Where Drowning by Numbers ranks

Positioned across the all-time chart, release year, studio, franchise and genre indexes where enough mapped data exists.
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Quick answer

How did Drowning by Numbers (1988) perform at the box office?

High confidence

Drowning by Numbers (1988) earned a reported $424.8K worldwide against a reported $1.5M production budget. Its gross-minus-budget figure is about -$1.1M. The current gross-to-budget multiple is 0.28x. In this database it currently ranks #11,721 in the current all-time worldwide chart set and #192 among 1988 releases.

Worldwide gross
$424,773
Budget
$1,500,000
Gross minus budget
-$1,075,227
ROI
0.28x
Source: TMDb. Last updated: Jul 13, 2026. View source Gross-minus-budget is not studio net profit. It excludes marketing, distribution fees, revenue splits, tax incentives and later home/streaming revenue.

Synopsis

Story

Cissie Colpitts drowns her cheating husband and, in the ensuing cover-up, enlists the help of lonely coroner Henry Madgett, an old friend with a longstanding weakness for her charms. But when Cissie's daughter and granddaughter—both also named Cissie Colpitts—decide to resort to the same methods for solving conflicts with their own frustrating husbands, the women and their repeated appeals for help begin to wear on Madgett's conscience.

Movie facts

Production details

Release date
Sep 2, 1988
Production
Stimuleringsfonds Nederlandse Culturele Omroepproducties, Elsevier-Vendex Film Beheer, Allarts Production
Countries
NL, GB

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AI summary

Why this movie matters

Released in 1988, Drowning by Numbers is positioned in this dataset as a Comedy, Crime, Drama title from Stimuleringsfonds Nederlandse Culturele Omroepproducties. Its box office profile shows that available worldwide gross is $424,773, reported production budget is $1.5M, gross-minus-budget is -$1.1M, ROI is 0.28x. For comparison, it currently sits #11,721 all-time in the current chart set and #192 among 1988 releases. Streaming availability should be checked against the selected United States region because provider rights can change.

AI-generated contextual summary based on available movie, genre, ranking and box office data. It does not replace official distributor notes or financial reporting.
Data noteGross minus budget is not studio net profit. It excludes marketing, distribution fees, revenue splits, tax incentives and downstream revenue. Domestic, international and opening weekend figures marked as estimated are modelled estimates.