The summer of 2017 was interesting to say the least. It saw audiences flock to all three
superhero films that premiered as well as several sleeper hits. However, it saw
more than its fair share of flops, underperformers, and disappointments. The
latter group is what contributed to a dismal summer that saw its returns come
down 20.7% from last year's, the largest drop recorded on Box Office Mojo's
seasonal chart, and even worse than 2014's 16.3% slide from 2013. This drop in
revenue is what's making the year overall pacing 6.2% behind 2016. In this
post, we will dive deeper into why certain films thrived, and why certain films
drowned amidst the competitive marketplace. I will start with Guardians of
the Galaxy Vol. 2 and end with the wide releases that opened on August 25,
the last weekend of summer.
Note: Not all of the wide
releases/expansions will be analyzed. These would be It Comes at Night ($13.9m),
Megan Leavey ($13.2m), The Beguiled ($10.6m), Wish
Upon ($14.1m), The Glass Castle ($13.3m), All Saints ($2.2m),
Good Time ($1.3m), and Ingrid Goes West ($1.3m).
Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 (May
5)
Budget: $200 million
Domestic: $389.4 million
Worldwide: $862.9 million
Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 continued the annual tradition of having an Marvel movie
kick off the summer, and it did just that with spectacular fashion. It opened
with a better-than-expected $146.5 million, making it the biggest
film-to-film increase between original and sequel in the MCU. Though critical
reception was a bit less enthusiastic than the first (82% on Rotten
Tomatoes compared to the first's 91%), fan reception was nearly identical,
allowing Guardians to become the second-leggiest sequel in the entire
series, with a 2.66x opening-to-total multiplier. It was the top film of the
summer two-and-a-half months before Wonder Woman dethroned it, but it
still did very well considering the competition and "sequelitis"
effect. This film's performance along with Spider-Man's goes to show
that audiences are far from tired of big-budget Marvel films being churned out
two to three times a year.
King Arthur: Legend of the Sword
(May 12)
Budget: $175 million
Domestic: $39.2 million
Worldwide: $146.2 million
So many things went wrong for this
one. First off, it was plagued by post-production troubles and reshoots,
resulting in multiple delays for its release. Second, it went way over-budget,
costing as much as a regular superhero film would instead of having a more
reasonable price tag for a medieval action film. It also didn't help that it
had no surefire stars or decent reviews (28%). It opened to a paltry $15.4
million, and didn't last much longer after that. Even if Guardians or Alien:
Covenant (which was a disappointment as well) had opened in different
months, King Arthur was still destined to be a huge flop. It's just that
no one expected it to be this huge of a flop.
Snatched (May 12)
Budget: $42 million
Domestic: $45.9 million
Worldwide: $60.5 million
Considering that reaction to the
trailers were toxic and people are getting tired of Amy Schumer's shtick, it's
a bit of a miracle that the film managed to get close to $50 million domestic.
Normally, an R-rated comedy featuring the return of Goldie Hawn opening in the month
of May should do splendid business. But lackluster reviews, a competitive
marketplace, and a general disinterest among audiences kept it from really
breaking out. It opened decently ($19.5m) thanks to Mother's Day, but it
crashed and burned after that and barely passed its budget domestically.
Alien: Covenant (May 19)
Budget: $97 million
Domestic: $74.3 million
Worldwide: $233.1 million
With Ridley Scott directing another
entry in the classic Alien franchise and the anticipation of seeing a
follow-up to the very vague Prometheus, Covenant should have done
a lot better than this. However, critical reactions didn't really improve upon Prometheus's
already mixed reception, and audiences for the most part weren't really
impressed with what they saw. It opened to $36.2 million, with some hope that
it could somehow have so-so legs in the long run. Instead, it played like a
typical gory horror film and barely doubled its opening weekend. Overseas
barely saved the day, but even that was a big comedown from its predecessor.
Its middling performance at the box office and divided reception is causing
20th Century Fox to reassess the future of the franchise.
Diary of a Wimpy Kid: The Long Haul
(May 19)
Budget: $22 million
Domestic: $20.7 million
Worldwide: $39.9 million
The first three Diary of a Wimpy
Kids films made some decent cash, with the lowest gross being $49 million
from the third movie. The fourth film's prospects didn't look very appealing
from the start, but it should've at least retained a sizable portion of the
previous films, right? Wrong. It opened with less than half of its predecessor,
and its total gross failed to match the opening weekends of the first two.
Everything, Everything (May 19)
Budget: $10 million
Domestic: $34.1 million
Worldwide: $55.0 million
This micro-budget, lightly marketed
YA adaptation was arguably the summer's first true sleeper hit. It was widely
expected to open with under $10 million, but ended up with a debut close to $12
million and legged it to a solid $34.1 million total. Not to mention it did
decent business overseas as well.
Baywatch (May 25)
Budget: $69 million
Domestic: $58.1 million
Worldwide: $177.7 million
A raunchy R-rated comedy starring
Dwayne Johnson and Zac Efron that happens to be based on one of the most
popular TV shows from the 90's should have been a qualified hit. And it
probably would have been, if it had been any good. Though it had a headstart by
opening on a Thursday and the extended Memorial Day weekend, Baywatch still
made less in its first five days than what it was expected to make over its
three day weekend. Reviews were probably the ultimate culprit, though; it
currently boasts a horrible 19% on RT, and it had even worse scores of 13%-15%
during opening weekend. The films appeal to overseas audiences thanks to
Johnson and the source material allowed it to clear the red, but it was still a
huge disappointment all around. After Snatched and Baywatch underperformed,
experts started realizing that no matter who stars in what, R-rated comedies
are starting to lose their touch with audiences.
Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men
Tell No Tales (May 26)
Budget: $230 million
Domestic: $172.1 million
Worldwide: $791.8 million
Pirates was the second ocean-themed star-studded action film opening
on Memorial Day weekend to get beached at the box office (domestically). A
comedown was expected as it was the fifth film in a decade-old franchise, and
after the second film put up huge numbers every installment after that
decreased domestically. Just as On Stranger Tides became the first Pirates
to not cross $300 million domestic, this film became the first in the
franchise to not cross $200 million domestic. Opening to $63 million for the
three-day weekend and $78.5 million after the four-day, it managed to have
decent legs considering the overly competitive marketplace. However, overseas
was a different story. Although it didn't outgross the last three films
overseas or worldwide, Pirates still did very well business, opening
with a whopping $208.8 million and finishing with $620 million total for a
worldwide cume of $792 million, allowing to become the fourth biggest film of
the summer worldwide.
Captain Underpants: The First Epic
Movie
Budget: $38 million
Domestic: $73.5 million
Worldwide: $101.1 million
If the film cost the standard $125
million to $150 million DreamWorks films usually cost, this would have been a
huge flop. Thankfully, and a bit unexpectedly, it cost just under $40 million
to go along with a light marketing effort. Solid reviews likely kept it from
falling off significantly after opening with $23.9 million, although it still
ended up under many analyst's predictions. It wasn't too hot overseas
unfortunately, with less than $30 million total, but post-theatrical revenue
should make this into a mild success.
Wonder Woman
Budget: $149 million
Domestic: $407.0 million
Worldwide: $807.0 million
Here is the biggest success story of
the summer, if no the entire year (so far). Many were concerned that its nature
as a female-directed, female-starring big-budget superhero feature being
released in the heart of summer would hold back its potential. It also didn't
help that the DCEU that the film is a part of has garnered mixed-to-negative
reception from critics, and polarizing reactions from fans. However, this film
changed everything. Not only did Wonder Woman become the most acclaimed
DC film since The Dark Knight, but it defied conventional wisdom both on
opening weekend and in the long run. It beat its projection of $70 million to
$85 million with an $103.3 million opening weekend. But how it performed after
its debut was what was truly astonishing. It second weekend drop was only
43.3%, and to date it remains its largest weekend-to-weekend drop. It held up
very well week after week, especially for a superhero film that didn't open in
the middle of the week like Spider-Man 2 or Batman Begins. After
overtaking Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 as the summer box office
champion, it went on to experience more great holds and eventually crossed the
magical $400 million milestone. Its positive reception and terrific box office
are good fortune for the upcoming Justice League film in November, and
for the sequel debuting in a few years.
The Mummy
Budget: $125 million
Domestic: $80.1 million
Worldwide: $407.8 million
What a disaster. If this film was
going to start an entire cinematic universe, it should have at least been of
decent quality. The fact that many viewers though it wasn't, though, probably
contributed to its underperformance more than anything else. The Mummy also
suffered from audiences not wanting a reboot of the Brendan Fraser series, a
marketplace that featured the newly released Wonder Woman, and star Tom
Cruise's fading starpower. Its status as the first film in Universal's planned
Dark Universe franchise felt rushed and came off as a way to give the movie
publicity and awareness. Its 16% RT rating is probably what affected it the
most, however. This film is only one of various victims of the rating system
Rotten Tomatoes operates, and many analysts have pointed out that more and more
audiences are more reliant on the aggregator site now than they have been
before. This has actually drawn the website criticism, but had The Mummy actually
been good, it probably wouldn't have been such a disaster stateside. Overseas
saved the day, as it does in a lot of cases, with a solid $327.7 million, more
than what any of the other Mummy films have made.
47 Meters Down
Budget: $5.5 million
Domestic: $43.8 million
It seems that shark-themed thrillers
are making a bit of a comeback. Just last year, The Shallows opened in
late June to an excellent $16.8 million and leveraged good reviews and solid
word-of-mouth to leg it to $55.1 million. This year, 47 Meters Down was
the shark movie to terrorize audiences in the summer. The astonishingly cheap
title was originally titled In the Deep and was supposed to go
straight-to-DVD, but Entertainment Studios opted to give it a theatrical
release after picking it up. The film didn't enjoy the strong reviews or
audience buzz that The Shallows did, but still doubled projections and
nearly quadrupled its opening weekend of $11.2 million, which is pretty
impressive considering its weak reception and immense competition. Next year
sees Meg take a bite out of the box office in August, and should draw in
fans of the book and these last two films to churn up decent numbers.
All Eyez on Me
Budget: $40 million
Domestic: $44.9 million
Released on Tupac's birthday and
coming off of the roaring success of Straight Outta Compton ($161.2m),
the biopic All Eyez on Me was expected to do solid business in the
middle of June. And for one weekend, it did. It opened to a
much-better-than-expected $26.4 million, with a substantial amount of it coming
from Friday (Tupac's birthday). Unfortunately, it lacked great reviews and
received mixed word-of-mouth, and ended up becoming one of the most
front-loaded wide releases of all time. Never once did it drop less than 66.8%
weekend-to-weekend during its time in theaters (save for its last weekend when
it added 32 theaters).
Cars 3
Budget: $175 million
Domestic: $149.1 million
Worldwide: $325.4 million
Cars 3 was always going to be one Pixar's lowest-grossing entries.
The Cars series is held with the least critical regard, with the lcast
film being the first (and only) Pixar film to get a "Rotten" score on
RT. It also didn't help that Captain Underpants stole a bit of thunder
the week before and Despicable Me 3 would steal away audiences at the
end of the month. However, Cars 3 did even more disappointingly than
expected. It opened with a so-so $53.7 million, which is the fourth-lowest
Pixar opening ever. The competitive marketplace and general lack of interest
proved too much though, and ended up with the worst legs ever for a film from
the animation powerhouse (36.0%, compared to Cars 2's 34.5%). It's not
doing too well overseas as well ($176.2m compared to Cars 2's $370.7m),
proving that this franchise has finally run out of gas.
Rough Night
Budget: $20 million
Domestic: $22.1 million
Worldwide: $46.3 million
Though it boasted a solid cast led
by Scarlett Johansson, Rough Night couldn't escape the trend of failing
R-rated comedies this summer. The film couldn't barely passed $8 million on
opening weekend, and didn't post amazing legs (36.2%). There's not much to say
here except that as long as your comedy isn't funny, it's not going to do very
well (especially in this day and age).
Transformers: The Last Knight
Budget: $217 million
Domestic: $130.2 million
Worldwide: $604.1 million
This is arguably the most
disappointing release from the month of June, and is definitely one of the
biggest of the summer. The franchise has been in domestic decline ever since
the third film, but they at least did solid business stateside and extremely
well overseas. Unfortunately, a shorter run time, darker tone, and reiteration
of Earth's history wasn't enough to convince audiences why they should waste
more money on these low-quality explosion-fests, which tend to be critic-proof.
Viewers weren't falling for it anymore, and the film found itself with a
five-day opening weekend barely totaling more than the second film's opening
day (on a Wednesday, as well). It managed to save some face overseas, but
even then it still experienced a big comedown. It totaled $473.9
million, which is way down from the $771.4 million from the third film and
the whopping $858.6 million from the fourth. The film was intended to expand
the franchise's potential for a cinematic universe, with its first spin-off Bumblebee
debuting December of 2018. With a change of director (finally) after
Michael Bay helmed all the previous installments, one can only hope that it
puts the franchise back on its tracks.
The Big Sick
Budget: $5 million
Domestic: $39.6 million
Worldwide: $47.9 million
The highest-rated film of the summer
(98%) on Rotten Tomatoes, The Big Sick not only captured the heart of
critics but those of audiences, allowing it to score the biggest per-theater
average of the year ($84.3k per theater from 5 theaters). It continued to post
excellent PTAs for the next two weeks in which it slowly expanded. It did come
in a bit below expectations when it expanded nationwide with $7.6 million
($2.9k PTA from 2,597 theaters), but it managed to hang around for a while and
will likely cross $40 million domestically sometime soon, making it only the
second Amazon Studios distributed film after 2016's Manchester by the Sea ($47.7m).
Baby Driver
Budget: $34 million
Domestic: $104.1 million
Worldwide: $194.1 million
One of the most successful sleeper
hits of the summer is obviously Baby Driver. The music-filled action
caper serves as solid proof that original properties can work as long as it's
good. And man, was it good. Critics gave it a 94% rating on RT, one of the
highest of the summer, and audiences reflected those positive views for the
most part. It also helped that director Edgar Wright has a very loyal fanbase
and that his four previous films are genre favorites. What resulted was a $20.6
million three-day opening weekend and $29.6 million five-day (it opened on
Wednesday), and became one of the leggiest Independence Day openers in recent
memory. Hopefully the sequel, planned to be directed by Wright, lives up to the
soaring heights of the original.
Despicable Me 3
Budget: $80 million
Domestic: $255.5 million
Worldwide: $975.9 million
Though it came down significantly
from Despicable Me 2 and Minions, and will probably sell fewer
tickets than the original, the threequel still did excellent business, both
domestically and (especially) internationally. With a very competitive July
following its release and the looming prospect of franchise fatigue finally
settling in on the immensely popular franchise, Despicable Me 3 had a
lot to live up to. It received mixed reviews from critics and even more
polarized reception from audiences, but it benefited from a lack of animated
breakouts and opened to a solid, if not spectacular, $72.4 million. It scored
decent legs in the midst of an uber-competitive summer, but overseas is the
real story here. Its $720.3 million international total is the best in the main
series and is behind only the $823.4 million total of Minions (which was
a sort of anomaly). If it sticks in theaters for a little longer, it has a very
slight chance at crossing the magical $1 billion mark. Even if it doesn't, it's
perfectly fine for the relatively cheap animated sequel.
The House
Budget: $40 million
Domestic: $25.6 million
Worldwide: $33.4 million
Wow. This is pretty embarrassing.
There was some hope that Will Ferrell and Amy Poehler could change around the
fortune for R-rated comedies this summer, and it had a decent premise. Unfortunately,
scathing reviews (below 20% on RT) severely limited its potential, and it ended
up making back only 64% of its budget domestically.
Spider-Man: Homecoming
Budget: $175 million
Domestic: $320.4 million
Worldwide: $738.5 million
There were worries that the film's
nature as the fifth film in a constantly rebooted franchise and a competitive
July release slate would hold back its potential. Some even projected an
opening under $100 million. Its connection to the MCU and overwhelmingly
positive reception made it end up debuting with an, ahem, amazing $117 million
domestic and $256.5 million worldwide. Many analysts' hopes that it would cross
$300 million total were shattered, however, when it took a 62.2% nosedive in
its second weekend (the worst for an MCU film). It stabilized very nicely
afterwards, though, never dropping 50% since as one of top second-choice films
for the rest of the summer. It now looks as if it could top $330 million total,
possibly making a run for the $333.4 million total of 2014's surprise smash Guardians
of the Galaxy. Worldwide it's slightly lagging behind several past
installments in the Spider-Man series, but will soon pass The Amazing
Spider-Man ($757.9m) without even opening in China. When it does open in
the Middle Kingdom, however, expect it to come close to, if not over, $850
million worldwide (which would put it behind only Spider-Man 3's
$890.9m).
War for the Planet of the Apes
Budget: $150 million
Domestic: $143.1 million
Worldwide: $359.5 million
Unfortunately, it wasn't always the
bad movies that underperformed. Despite several weeks of growing buzz due to
massive critical acclaim, the third and final film in the rebooted Planet of
the Apes trilogy failed to leverage the goodwill of the last film and
turned out to be a huge disappointment domestically. Its $56.3 million opening
was barely past the $54.8 million the first film made in 2011. Its good reviews
and strong word-of-mouth did little to help its legs afterward, and will likely
fail to pass up its $150 million budget stateside. Fortunately, overseas
grosses allowed it to barely skate by, with a decent $216.3 million so far.
Still, that's less than half of Dawn of the Planet of the Apes's $502.1
million ($710.6m global). Maybe it's a good thing this trilogy is over, as it
doesn't look like it could survive much longer after this.
Dunkirk
Budget: $100 million
Domestic: $174.6 million
Worldwide: $414.7 million
The last time a WWII movie was this
successful was when the critically-trashed, Michael Bay directed Pearl
Harbor opened with $59.1 million and finished with $198.5 million, making
it the second highest-grossing film based on the war behind Saving Private
Ryan ($216.5m). Now, it looks as if the Christopher Nolan directed Dunkirk
will pass the former with a $200m+ domestic haul, and if it gets serious
awards buzz and a big re-release during awards season, it has a slight chance
of passing up the latter as well. It doesn't only reinforce the notion that
Nolan is one of the best and most consistently successful directors today, but
it proves that the genre still resonates with audiences today. It scored a
great 93% score from critics and was hailed as one of the best (if not the best)
war films of all time, and that along with Nolan's loyal fanbase propelled Dunkirk
to $50.5 million on opening weekend. It wasn't done there however, as it
used its strong buzz and amazing word-of-mouth to become one of the leggiest
films of the summer. Worldwide, it has yet to cross $500 million and will
likely end up as Nolan's second lowest grossing blockbuster (ahead of Batman
Begins), but for an adult-oriented WWII film in the midst of an extremely
competitive summer, it did fantastic business.
Girls Trip
Budget: $19 million
Domestic: $109.3 million
Worldwide: $121.4 million
What a relief it is. The only
well-reviewed comedy this summer was also the only one to do huge business (and
actually break even). Starring a solid cast with Jada Pinkett-Smith, Queen
Latifah, and Regina Hall, it appealed primarily to African-American women (a
very underserved demographic) and found great success. It boasts a strong 89%
on Rotten Tomatoes and received a very positive reaction from audiences. Its
solid reception as well as a lack of comedy breakouts all added up to an
overperforming hit. It opened with $31.2 million, more than Bad Moms last
year, and though it will have much weaker legs it is still looking at an
amazing $115m+ total.
Valerian and the City of a Thousand
Planets
Budget: $180 million
Domestic: $39.8 million
Worldwide: $172.8 million
Aside from King Arthur, this
would be the biggest flop of the summer. Its prospects didn't look great to
begin with, as it didn't have an all-star cast, it was adapted from a foreign
property, and there generally wasn't much hype outside fans of the French comic
series. Living up to its title as the most expensive French production ever
made, the film was directed by Luc Besson (Lucy, The Fifth Element).
Its marketing wasn't really clear on what the story was about other than a
whimsical sci-fi adventure along the lines of Star Wars or Star Trek.
Unfortunately, it ended up becoming a huge dud with less than $40 million
total, much worse than sci-fi mega-bombs Battleship and John Carter.
Overseas ticket sales won't save this one like they did for so many other
films, as it has grossed an unimpressive $133 million internationally so far.
Atomic Blonde
Budget: $30 million
Domestic: $49.5 million
Worldwide: $81.4 million
After the roaring success of Wonder
Woman at the beginning of June, many thought that Atomic Blonde would
follow suit as a hugely successful female-led action pic. The trailers promised
a stylish and action-packed thriller in vain of the John Wick films, in
which the second one did big business earlier this year. It ended up debuting
with $18.3 million, which was a bit below expectations, but thanks to its low
production budget it was still a hit. It surpassed the first Wick domestically
and will soon pass it worldwide, although hopes for a franchise might have been
diminished.
The Emoji Movie
Budget: $50 million
Domestic: $77.9 million
Worldwide: $145.8 million
The trailers were viciously mocked
and achieved face-palming levels of cringe. It has an atrocious 8% on Rotten
Tomatoes. There was virtually no (positive) buzz for the film. So how did it
end up becoming a moneymaker? There really aren't any good answers to this
question except that Despicable Me 3 was starting to fade away and the
horribleness of the premise and the film itself made a sort of must-see film.
It opened with a decent $24.5 million and had good legs, tripling its opening
weekend. It doesn't have much life anymore, but at least Sony can add another
hit (this time undeserved) to their 2017 release slate.
Detroit
Budget: $34 million
Domestic: $16.3 million
The film received good reviews
before release, and was from the director of The Hurt Locker and Zero
Dark Thirty. It enjoyed a good-not-great $350.2k limited debut ($17.5k
PTA), but it collapsed in its expansion ($7.1m for $2.4k PTA). The grim subject
matter, lack of awards buzz, and overall competition probably took a huge toll
on the film's performance, and won't even match The Hurt Locker despite
having a bigger opening.
The Dark Tower
Budget: $60 million
Domestic: $45.8 million
Worldwide: $89.3 million
/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/54601735/The_Dark_Tower.0.jpg)
Just like The Mummy, The
Dark Tower was meant to kick start a whole cinematic universe, including a
TV show. Unfortunately, just like The Mummy, it was DOA on opening
weekend. It grossed an underwhelming $19.2 million, and with scathing reviews
it wasn't likely it would have good legs. It isn't catching fire overseas
either, and now even the TV show's prospects are looking dire.
Kidnap
Budget: $21 million
Domestic: $27.7 million
This was a nice little surprise at
the beginning of what would become a terrible August. The Halle Berry thriller
was expected to open in the single-digits but eked out $10 million, and held up
decently throughout the month. It's definitely no Taken or even The
Call, but it did just fine nonetheless.
Annabelle: Creation
Budget: $15 million
Domestic: $81.7 million
Worldwide: $220.3 million
Due to its nature as a prequel to an
already negatively-reviewed prequel to an acclaimed period horror whose 2016
sequel experienced a bit of a comedown, Annabelle: Creation was a bit of
a wildcard, especially given how most sequels perform nowadays. Instead, it
beat expectations by improving significantly in quality from its predecessor
and debuted to $35 million, a little less than the first Annabelle. It's
been experiencing so-so holds for a horror movie, and has a very outside chance
of totaling $100 million domestically. It's doing splendid overseas as well,
with nearly $140 million so far, proving that overseas audiences have yet to
tire of the horror franchise.
The Nut Job 2: Nutty by Nature
Budget: $40 million
Domestic: $23.8 million
Worldwide: $26.7 million
One of the films to blame for a
terrible August is definitely The Nut Job 2. Not only did it have the
worst opening for a film debuting in over 4,000 theaters ($8.3m), but it didn't
even match the first's opening weekend until 23 days into release. This is
another miss for distributor Open Road Films, who is in dire need of a hit
right about now.
The Hitman's Bodyguard
Budget: $30 million
Domestic: $58 million (Prediction)
The month of August wasn't all bad
though (hard to believe, but it's true). It just happened that an R-rated
action comedy starring Ryan Reynolds and Samuel L. Jackson trumped negative
reviews to become another success for distributor Lionsgate, who's having a
stellar year so far (apart from Power Rangers and The Glass Castle).
It will be the first film to three-peat at number one since The Fate of the
Furious back in April, as it is taking advantage of a dire late summer.
Expect this one to finish above/below $60 million total.
Logan Lucky
Budget: $29 million
Domestic: $24 million (Prediction)
Worldwide: $20.2 million
Unfortunately, it seems that Steven
Soderbergh's return from retirement didn't go off with a bang like it should
have. Its unique marketing strategy was 100% in Soderbergh's control, a move
that has never been done before. It didn't help much though, as it failed to
hit $8 million on opening weekend and isn't having very spectacular holds.
Hopefully the director's next venture is more successful.
Birth of the Dragon
Domestic: $5.3 million (Prediction)
These last two releases opened with
a whimper, so not much time will be spent on them. Honestly, this film didn't
have much going for it anyway, with a minimal marketing campaign, no stars, and
controversy over making a Bruce Lee story centered around a fictional white
character. What resulted was a sub-$3 million opening and a total that will
likely fail to make much more than $5 million.
Leap!
Budget: $30 million
Domestic: $18 million (Prediction)
Worldwide: $89.6 million
Its domestic prospects were always
in doubt, as it was delayed multiple times and came across as a cheap animated
cash grab. It opened with less than $5 million, and even with Labor
Day $20 million may be a stretch at this point.
.jpg)
