Let's begin with the biggest losers. Note that these won't all be flops. Some will just have given disappointing runs or simply churned out flat-out terrible numbers.
10. PREMIUM RUSH - ~$20m Domestic / $35m Budget
If I get injured, the hospital charges will come out of this movie's entire gross.
---------------------------------
Not even Joseph Gordon Levitt, nor the presence of good reviews, could save this stinker. Joseph Gordon Levitt is barely breaking out as a star as it is, and headlining a movie with a steadily growing star can be dangerous, especially if no one else is a serious draw. The good reviews are actually a little surprising, considering how the film was pushed back from this past January. However, it was still likely that this wouldn't catch on, given that Sony kind of dumped it with a limited marketing campaign and a relatively low theater count. Learn this lesson, Hollywood: action movies with bicycle centered action are pretty tough sells.
9. HIT & RUN - ~$15m Domestic / $2m Budget
Oh no, it's the Open Road executives, and they're pissed. Run!!
------------------------
You'd think that with a half decent marketing campaign and a not completely terrible, (at the level of mixed reviews on RT) you wouldn't turn up a disaster, but Hit & Run managed to do just that. This doomed action comedy lacked any serious star power, came out on a slow weekend, and received limited marketing. (just like Premium Rush, which ironically came out on the same weekend.) Still, Open Road seemed to have faith in this, giving it a relatively large theater count on top of a move from the Friday to Wednesday to "build up word of mouth." They'll get their $2m budget back easily. (They already did, in fact.) Still, the marketing costs wouldn't have been justified, and the gross is completely terrible.
8. PEOPLE LIKE US - $12m Domestic / $16m Budget
Why did the new Star Trek movie get delayed for this, mommy?
------------------------------
It's hilariously tragic how this Chris Pine drama came out on the day that the Star Trek sequel was originally slated. This failed drama about a brother (Pine) and sister (Elizabeth Banks) who had never seen each other until now. The film was announced at the last minute, and it just kind of was there. No one really noticed that it existed. However, Touchstone & Dreamworks were so desperate that they focused on positive twitter reactions by general audiences, as well as the fact that it was from the same studio as last year's breakout hit, The Help. Studios need to realize that unless it's an animated film with an in house company (like The Lorax, Brave, etc.) that strategy isn't going to work.
7. SEEKING A FRIEND FOR THE END OF THE WORLD - $8m Worldwide / $10m Budget
Give us a break. We're in a financial disaster before this actual disaster.
------------------------------
This is probably just me, but the film seemed like it had a lot more potential box office wise than what was shown in the returns. Sure, the concept of the world ending is bleak, even if presented as a clever pseudo-independent comedy, but Steve Carell could have drawn in more people than what it did. Even with a small release of just over 1,600 theaters, it's not like Focus Features is stingy with theater counts. (ParaNorman was at nearly 3,500!) Instead, this became one of the lowest grossing wide releases of the summer, one they let fall of the face of the Earth after its undeperforming opening weekend. This film is a good case of something that would have probably done better with a more mainstream release, even if by $25m.
6. ABRAHAM LINCOLN: VAMPIRE HUNTER - $84m Worldwide / $69m Budget
Let's rewrite history, they said. It'll make $100m, they said.
-------------------------
This is an example of a film that had gradually diminishing box office prospects, leading up to its sad domestic take of under $40 million. Based on the book by Seth Graeme-Smith, who also co-wrote this and Dark Shadows, the film is just that: The US president slaying vampires. The concept proved to be too outlandish for most moviegoers, inciting laughter at most trailers of the movie. Despite the lack of an R-rated horror film for a while, moviegoers agreed that the film seems to take itself too seriously. Maybe it could have been more successful if it were more of a comedy? Ironically, though, it ended up making more overseas, probably due to the appeal of Timur Bekmambetov's (Wanted) work globally.
Check back tomorrow for the even bigger duds!
No comments:
Post a Comment