Box Office: Gemini Man Bombs, Maleficent: Mistress of Evil Struggles

There’s no point sugarcoating this. Gemini Man is a box office bomb. The Ang Lee film starring Will Smith and Will Smith released in theatres two weeks ago to scathing to mediocre reviews — the film currently has a 25% on Rotten Tomatoes (average rating: 4.6/10). The visuals in Gemini Man can be hit or miss, but the screenplay is unbelievably hollow. The film does, however, have an 84% audience score on Rotten Tomatoes as well a B+ on Cinemascore (a site that measures a movie’s appeal among audiences). Interestingly enough, these audience scores do not seem to reflect the interest of the masses, at least when it comes to this Will Smith starrer.

After more than 10 days in theatres, Gemini Man hasn’t even recovered its $US 138 million production budget. The film has merely grossed $US 118 million at the global box office ($US 36 million in North America + $US 82 million outside North America). This includes a relatively small $US 21 million haul in China, the country the film was banking on to succeed big time.

And its future doesn’t look bright. Keep in mind that the only serious competition the film has right now is Joker. This week will see the release of Terminator: Dark Fate, a huge franchise film with James Cameron’s name plastered all over the marketing materials, with strong early social media reactions from critics. Next week will see the release of Zombieland: Double Tap which will prove to be another hurdle for Gemini Man to overcome. According to THR, Gemini Man could face up to $US 75 million in losses by the end of its run.

Another film that’s struggling at the box office is Disney’s Maleficent: Mistress of Evil. In its opening weekend, the film raked in $US 155 million at the worldwide box office with a reported production budget of $US 185 million. A large chunk of the box office comes from outside of North America ($US 118 million) compared to the $US 36.9 million from US and Canada. Given the film’s likely heavy marketing cost — usually almost as much as the production cost — Maleficent would need to make more than $US 370 million before seeing actual profits.

This will prove to be a challenge given the fact that Joker has been going from strength to strength and that the likes of Terminator: Dark Fate and Zombieland releasing in the coming days and weeks. An argument can be made that the target audience of Maleficent: Mistress of Evil is different from the aforementioned film, but even so, Mistress of Evil hasn’t generated much buzz since its release. The mediocre reviews certainly won’t help its case — the film currently has a 41% score on Rotten Tomatoes (with an average rating of 5.15/10).

Click here to check out my review of Gemini Man. 

Click here to check out my review of Maleficent: Mistress of Evil. 

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