Fox Searchlight execs say ‘Shame’ may not pay off financially

The controversial drama “Shame” has already made $10.5 million worldwide despite its NC-17 rating. But, it’s only taken in $3.5 million in the US for domestic distributor Fox Searchlight.

And, today, the specialty division’s co-presidents Nancy Utley and Steve Gilula were hesitant about how financially successful “Shame” would be for them.

“I think it will be on the margins,” Gilula said in an interview with Deadline Hollywood. But he said Fox Searchlight doesn’t have a plan to cut the movie, which will limit its DVD distribution.

The film, which was expected to receive a few Oscar nominations, particularly one for Michael Fassbender, was shut out of the nominations. Utley and Gilula agreed that the lack of Oscar attention hurt the film’s chance of reaching a broader audience.

“This may not go down in history as one of our best business decisions,” Utley said. “But, I’m glad we took the risk.”

Fox Searchlight is owned by News Corp., which also owns The Post.