Photos: Universal Pictures/Warner Bros. Pictures/Lionsgate FilmsThe summer box office has been nearly strong enough to pull Hollywood out of its slump, but there were some notable misses that are sure to haunt development and marketing executives well into winter.
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THR takes look at the notable underachievers:
Cowboys & Aliens
Directed by Jon Favreau and featuring James Bond star Daniel Craig, the $163 million-budgeted
movie mixed two genres: Westerns and alien pics. Unfortunately,
audiences didn’t embrace the result. From Universal and DreamWorks, Cowboys & Aliens
has cumed only $129 million to date, including $93.5 million
domestically and $35.5 million overseas (where it still has some
territories yet to open).
Larry Crowne
Directed by and starring Tom Hanks (opposite Julia Roberts), Larry Crowne
was intended to please adult audiences put off by summer popcorn fare.
But the Universal film, fully financed by Vendome Films, topped out at
$52.4 million worldwide, including only $35.6 million domestically.
Green Lantern
The Ryan Reynolds superhero pic cost a pricey $200
million to produce, yet has only earned $206.1 million worldwide. In
North America, the Warner Bros. film topped out at $116 million, while
it’s cumed $90.1 million to date at the international box office. Like Cowboys, it hasn’t fully rolled out overseas.
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Priest
The Paul Bettany action pic, based on the Korean
graphic novel, was the most expensive movie ever produced by Sony’s
Screen Gems, sporting a price tag north of $60 million. It’s only earned
$76.6 million worldwide, including $29.1 million in North America, and
$47.4 million offshore.
The Change-Up
The Jason Bateman-Ryan Reynolds pic has earned only
$34.5 million to date domestically, ending a dazzling winning streak for
R-rated comedies. Universal hasn’t yet begun rolling out the movie in
major foreign territories.
Conan the Barbarian
The reboot cost north of $70 million to make but is off to a poor
start, grossing only $16.6 million domestically in its first 10 days,
and $5.5 million in its initial foreign run. The film was fully financed
by NuImage/Millennium, and is being distributed by Lionsgate.
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Judy Moody and the NOT Bummer Summer
The family film failed to parlay the success of the best-selling kids’
book series into big box office grosses. The $20 million film, financed
independently and distributed by Relativity, grossed $15 million.
Fright Night
The vampire pic isn’t proving to have much bite, earning $14.3 million
in its first 10 days (the movie was released Aug. 19). The Colin Farrell-Anton Yelchin
starrer won’t necessarily be a big financial hit, since it cost $30
million to make, but DreamWorks and Disney had higher hopes.
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Glee: The 3D Concert Movie
Considering how avid Gleek fans are, Fox Television was taken aback at
the film’s poor showing at the box office. Opening on Aug. 12, the
concert pic has grossed $14.6 million worldwide, including $11.7 million
in North America.
Snow Flower and the Secret Fan
Despite the specialty film’s pedigree -- it’s based on Lisa See’s best-selling book and was produced by Wendi Murdoch (wife of Rupert Murdoch) and Florence Sloan (wife of former MGM chairman and chief executive Harry Sloan)
-- it has failed to woo audiences, grossing only $1.3 million in its
limited domestic run. The film, in Mandarin and English, has fared
better in China, where it’s earned north of $5 million.
Watch trailers from the summer's 10 biggest flops:
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