|
||||||||||||||||||||
Speed Racer Made Even Less Money Than We ThoughtBy Katey Rich: 2008-05-12 17:34:49
The Speed Racer fallout just keeps getting uglier. We reported yesterday that other studios were crying foul at Warner Bros. estimated $20.2 million gross for Speed Racer over the weekend. The studio was accused of inflating its numbers so that Speed Racer could squeak past What Happens in Vegas to grab the #2 spot for the weekend. Insiders like Nikki Finke were suggesting that the actual numbers for Speed were something like $19.7 million.Now the actual numbers are in, and the truth is even uglier. Speed Racer made a mere $18.5 million, putting it well behind Vegas, which finally clocked in at $20.1 million. You may ask yourself, how on earth did Warner Bros. fabricate $2 million dollars and tack it on to their totals? Not being a box office expert, I have no clue, but I imagine it’s some combination of wishful thinking, fuzzy math, and perhaps out-and-out skullduggery. It seems petty to fight over rankings on a chart, but when you’ve got what was expected to be a bona fide summertime hit, it’s one thing to be beaten by the reigning box office champion, but another to be beaten by an entirely mediocre romantic comedy that virtually no one liked. As everyone parses over just what went wrong with Speed Racer, it’s becoming a kind of beat-up-the-Wachowskis festival in the press. Sad to say, but they deserve much of the blame—the movie was unforgivably long, and instead of aiming the thing squarely at kids, they aimed for this kind of adrenaline-junkie nostalgia that never hit its target. Now the big question is, exactly how much worse will Speed Racer do? Will parents figure out that it might not be so bad for their kids after all, and take the little ones when Prince Caspian is sold out? Well, given that Caspian is booked for 3800 screens this weekend, it’ll be tricky for every single one of those theaters to sell out. So, yeah-- Speed Racer is as dead as any animal that ever died, and you all saw it happen. To repeat a phrase that’s been thrown around a lot today, talk about crashing and burning. RELATED: speed racer, box office
Comment on “Speed Racer Made Even Less Money Than We Thought”Note: This website is not meant for use by minors. The views expressed in the comments section below are not our own. This section is intended for discussion of the topic in the post above. Disagreement is encouraged, however comments which attack, insult, or threaten the author in a personal manner won't be published. Similarly, comments that we deem to be poorly worded, or wildly off topic will also not be approved and may be mocked. For free, uncensored, unfettered, and possibly dangerous discussion visit our forum.
Leave a ReplyMAIN SITE NAVIGATION
HOME l ABOUT US l l SEARCH l MOVIE NEWS l MOVIE REVIEWS l MOVIE PREVIEWS l DVD REVIEWS l DVD NEWS l SOUNDTRACKS l FEATURES DATABASE l TELEVISION l MUSIC l GAMES l CELEBRITY l TECHNOLOGY l RSS 2.0 FEEDS l MESSAGE BOARDS l LIVE CHAT l SYNDICATE US l LINKS | CB STORE | GIANT FREAKIN ROBOT This site is operated by Cinema Blend LLC. For advertising inquiries, contact Gorilla Nation. CinemaBlend.com is a private, independently owned website which is intended only as entertainment. The views expressed on this website may or may not reflect those of its owner. Don't take us too seriously. Made in Webta Labs 
|
|
May 13th, 2008 at 01:07
It really stinks that the press trashed Speed Racer like it did, because, it's actually a pretty good movie. I'm not a fan of The Matrix or the Brothers W, but they are getting the short end of the stick. How the critic think this is a bad movie, and "No Country For Old Men" a good one is beyond me.