[ckissick]

Back to the original question. I don't know the answer, but my guess is that it took that many production companies to pitch in enough money to make the movie. They all owned a small percentage.

Come to think of it, if you were to get enough old ladies to buy a percenatge of a film (or a play, for that matter), you could conceivably sell far more than 100% of the film/play and make a ton of money. But the movie/play would have to be a flop so the investors would not expect any money back. Nah, no one would ever try that.