The Joseph Gordon-Levitt Bromance Strategy: Why ‘Don Jon’ Was More Than a Box Office Play

Joseph Gordon-Levitt’s “Don Jon,” the hypersexual rom-com that he wrote, stars in and directed, was never destined to be a break-out hit. But for Relativity — which raised eyebrows by aggressively pursuing the movie at Sundance — instant gratification was never the point.

The R-rated tale, in which JGL’s character, a young man struggling with intimacy thanks to porn addiction, opened to a solid but unspectacular $9 million this weekend.

That’s almost exactly where Relativity and analysts had projected the star’s edgy first-time directing gig, which co-starsScarlett Johansson, Julianne Moore and Tony Danza, would land. It’s also way below the big box-office numbers some of the actor’s other more-commercial projects like “Dark Knight Rises,” “Lincoln” and even “Looper” have rung up.

“This is a relationship movie, not s visual effects extravaganza or a comic book superhero movie,” Relativity’s head of distribution Kyle Davies told TheWrap, “so we’re very happy with the way this played. And we hope to be in the Joseph Gordon-Levitt business for some time.”

And there’s the rub: Relativity honchos Ryan Kavanaugh and Tucker Tooley threw down the gauntlet in at theSundance Film Festival — $4 million up front, plus a promise to spend a reported $25 million to market it in a wide release — not just for one Joseph Gordon-Levitt movie, but to spark a professional bromance.

Has it worked? The actor and the studio are talking about potential projects — but have nothing firmed up yet. Just how happy JGL is with their “Don Jon” efforts will have a lot to do with whether anything comes to fruition.

Relativity has a lot to consider, too. The fact is that while Gordon-Levitt has a solid fan base, movies in which he’s been the main player have never scored big at the box office. His bicycle delivery thriller “Premium Rush” was a disappointment with $6 million opening last year, and “50/50,” his 2011 comedy-drama about cancer, debuted to $8.6 million in 2011.

Gordon-Levitt’s profile has raised since then, however. And he can take heart in that his directing debut compares favorably with those of some other big actor-turned-filmmaker names.