The Spook Speaks backdrop
The Spook Speaks poster
#12,442 All-time worldwide
#20 1940 releases

Movie profile

The Spook Speaks

1940 · 18 min · Columbia Pictures

Comedy
IMDb View on FilmDB Where to watch

Box office snapshot

Financial performance

Reference figures based on available reported data.
Worldwide gross $52,500
Budget $15,000
Gross minus budget $37,500
ROI 3.50x

Domestic gross

$21,000

Estimated from worldwide gross

International gross

$31,500

Estimated from worldwide gross

Opening weekend

$5,880

Estimated from worldwide gross

Ranking context

Where The Spook Speaks ranks

Positioned across the all-time chart, release year, studio, franchise and genre indexes where enough mapped data exists.
Open rankings
All-time worldwide #12,442 All-time chart position of 13,006 titles Compared with every rankable movie in the current worldwide dataset. 1940 releases #20 Release-year chart position of 21 titles Ranked against movies released in 1940. Studio / company #267 Columbia Pictures of 272 titles Position inside the mapped Columbia Pictures movie set. Primary genre #4,786 Comedy of 4,945 titles Genre context based on the first mapped genre on this profile.

Nearby worldwide ranks

Comparable titles immediately around this movie by reported worldwide gross.

#12,439 Return of the Living Dead III 1993 · $54,207 #12,440 The Great Silence 1968 · $53,074 #12,440 The Killer Is One of Thirteen 1973 · $53,074 #12,443 Breaking the Rules 1992 · $52,285 #12,444 This World, Then the Fireworks 1997 · $51,618 #12,445 Corridas de alegría 1982 · $51,601

Quick answer

How did The Spook Speaks (1940) perform at the box office?

High confidence

The Spook Speaks (1940) earned a reported $52.5K worldwide against a reported $15.0K production budget. Its gross-minus-budget figure is about $37.5K. The current gross-to-budget multiple is 3.50x. In this database it currently ranks #12,442 in the current all-time worldwide chart set and #20 among 1940 releases.

Worldwide gross
$52,500
Budget
$15,000
Gross minus budget
$37,500
ROI
3.50x
Source: Reported box office data. Last updated: Jul 8, 2026. Gross-minus-budget is not studio net profit. It excludes marketing, distribution fees, revenue splits, tax incentives and later home/streaming revenue.

Synopsis

Story

Synopsis is not available for this title yet.

Movie facts

Production details

Release date
Sep 20, 1940
Production
Columbia Pictures
Countries
US

Related indexes

Browse related box office pages

Studio / production companyColumbia Pictures Release year chart1940 box office Genre chartComedy

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Where to watch

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AI summary

Why this movie matters

Released in 1940, The Spook Speaks is positioned in this dataset as a Comedy title from Columbia Pictures. Its box office profile shows that available worldwide gross is $52,500, reported production budget is $15,000, gross-minus-budget is $37,500, ROI is 3.50x. For comparison, it currently sits #12,442 all-time in the current chart set and #20 among 1940 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.