Per boxofficemojo, the movie had a massive budget of $250 million but opened to an extremely anemic $30 weekend (domestic). And with Hunger Games coming this week, it'll vanish from the radar very quickly. Definitely a huge flop.
I wanna love somebody but I don't know how
I wanna throw my body in the river and drown
-The Decemberists
The problem was the Disney marketing. They changed the name at the end of last year because they were afraid people would see "of Mars" and remember "Mars Needs Moms," their flop from the previous year, or that women would see "of Mars" and decide they didn't want to see it. Then they put out subpar trailers that focused on SFX and the Western intro in alternation, making it look like Cowboys vs. Aliens, another flop.
Here's an indication of how bad Disney failed: they didn't bother making sure a publisher had a media tie in print run of the books out. There isn't one. I checked yesterday.
And this is allegedly the greatest media marketing company on the planet. You can't make this stuff up.
It almost makes me think there's an anti-Pixar faction at Disney that wanted the movie to fail.
ETA: Projections are it's doing well enough internationally to break even, but that embarrassment will ensure no sequel is made. Of course, that didn't stop people from making another Ghost Rider movie.
I'll probably go see it next weekend, since Beth is out of town (she would have little interest in this).
"Spirits in the shape of hawks and eagles flew ever to and from his halls; and their eyes could see to the depths of the seas, and pierce the hidden caverns beneath the world."
"Spirits in the shape of hawks and eagles flew ever to and from his halls; and their eyes could see to the depths of the seas, and pierce the hidden caverns beneath the world."
I'm fairly sure that even if this movie didn't complete mangle beyond all hope of recognition perhaps the first book that I ever loved, that I still would have hated it. Nonsensical plot, visually unappealling, ridiculous dialogue, and ever worse acting by the main characters. One of the worst movies I've ever seen.
But I did find Woola somewhat amusing.
Edit to add: As an adaptation, it made Jackson's LOTR seem like a paragon of faithfulness. Worse, the dialogue and acting made the Star Wars prequels look good by comparison.
"Spirits in the shape of hawks and eagles flew ever to and from his halls; and their eyes could see to the depths of the seas, and pierce the hidden caverns beneath the world."
