5 Movies That Tanked After a Stellar Opening Weekend

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Nowadays, films tend to have their success or failure decided within the first few days of release, a stark contrast to the ’80s and ’90s when movies could enjoy prolonged box office success. This shift is due to the significant influence of streaming platforms, which are frequently chosen over theater visits due to their affordability. However, it’s important to note that a film’s opening days don’t tell the whole story. A movie can have an impressive opening weekend, but if it fails to sustain its momentum and eventually falters, the initial enthusiasm won’t last. These are the films that struggle to maintain their success after a strong start.

Only a few films were exempt from the general trend: “Onward” experienced a decline due to the emergence of COVID-19, while movies like “The Twilight Saga: New Moon” and “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2” were spared because they had strong fanbases that consistently attended showings during their initial days. Additionally, “Valentine’s Day” was excluded due to its unique circumstance – it earned more than half of its total domestic earnings within its first three days, which falls on February 12th through 14th, making it unsurprising that this was the case.

Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice

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In most cases, movies that earn $166 million initially in the U.S. and end up with a total of $330.4 million would be hailed as financial successes. However, Zack Snyder’s Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice bucked this trend, serving as an exception to the unspoken rule. This is because it was the inaugural live-action film to bring together two of DC Comics’ top-tier heroes. Nevertheless, its negative reviews and a wave of unfavorable word-of-mouth from ordinary moviegoers had more impact on its reputation than its profitability.

The movie “Batman v Superman” did indeed bring in profits, totaling $874 million worldwide. However, this figure doesn’t account for its extensive marketing costs, which were approximately $250 million. Essentially, while it generated income, it didn’t earn as much as anticipated (or as it potentially could have). The somber cinematic journey didn’t encourage repeat viewings like 2012’s “The Avengers” did. Movies such as “Watchmen” and “X-Men Origins: Wolverine” encountered similar challenges, but the anticipation for “Batman v Superman” was significantly greater than for those films.

The Devil Inside

As a movie critic, I must admit that January often serves as a sort of catch-all month for films that may not have the star power or critical acclaim to make it in other seasons. These are typically projects with a high risk of negative reviews and, at best, a modest financial success. However, this period can prove to be quite explosive for horror movies, even those that might be considered less than stellar. Take “The Devil Inside,” for example – a film that, despite its flaws, has found an audience in the chilling atmosphere of January releases.

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From my perspective as a passionate moviegoer, I must admit, the initial $33.7 million box office and eventual $53.3 million domestic gross were truly astounding returns on just a $1 million investment. However, it’s undeniable that many who attended opening weekend weren’t impressed with what they experienced. And frankly, I can’t blame them. This movie had the audacity to conclude by directing viewers towards a website instead of providing a satisfying finale to the story itself.

Five Nights at Freddy’s

The film “Five Nights at Freddy’s” might be debatable for this list, given it was also released on Peacock. However, it’s worth noting that it didn’t manage to double its initial $80 million box office earnings. Typically, a movie would earn 2.5 to three times its opening weekend total in the domestic market by the end of its run.

After all discussions were completed, Five Nights at Freddy’s managed to earn a staggering $137.3 million within the U.S. Given its production budget of just $20 million, it undeniably achieved immense success. Moreover, the fact that it debuted with an impressive $80 million while simultaneously being available on a streaming platform is nothing short of remarkable. However, a 1.7 multiplier on its opening weekend gross is remarkably small.

Friday the 13th

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Among various film genres, horror movies tend to have a heavier emphasis on initial success, often referred to as being “frontloaded.” However, it’s quite unusual for this trend to be more pronounced, yet Marcus Nispel’s 2009 reboot of Friday the 13th defied expectations by being exceptionally frontloaded. The following year’s remake of A Nightmare on Elm Street , while bordering on unwatchable for many, still managed a significantly better return on its opening weekend earnings compared to the 2009 reboot.

Speaking in simpler terms, let’s compare the earnings of “Nightmare on Elm Street” (2010) and “Friday the 13th”. The former made approximately $33 million domestically during its opening weekend, increasing to a total domestic gross of $63 million. Additionally, it earned about $52.6 million from foreign markets. On the other hand, “Friday the 13th” started stronger with an opening weekend gross of $40.6 million but dropped significantly after that, ending with a total domestic gross of $65 million. Overseas, it managed only $26.5 million. It’s puzzling why the reboot of “Freddy” nearly doubled its initial domestic earnings compared to “Jason”, considering they both received mediocre word-of-mouth and “Jason’s” was particularly poor. In this case, “Jason” should have easily outperformed “Freddy”, but much like in the actual “Freddy vs. Jason”, it ended up being a close competition, with neither dominating the other.

Godzilla

Looking back, it’s quite astonishing how Gareth Edwards’ 2014 film Godzilla managed to launch the Monsterverse, given that the 1998 version of the same movie had similar box office sales but was generally considered a flop. The 2014 reboot appeared to have escaped the criticism that the 1998 film faced, with even promotions for other films like Small Soldiers poking fun at its predecessor.

The success of “Godzilla” can primarily be attributed to two key aspects. Firstly, Edwards’ movie garnered significantly better critical acclaim compared to Roland Emmerich’s film. Secondly, it had an impressive opening weekend box office collection of $93 million. Over time, the importance of opening weekend earnings has grown substantially. Despite a steep 66.8% decline in its second weekend and a domestic total of $200.7 million, “Godzilla” fell short of generating the revenue necessary to establish a cinematic universe.

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2025-02-18 21:12