LOS ANGELES -- 20th Century Fox's big-budget Fantastic Four remake went down in flames at last weekend's box office, adding to fears about superhero fatigue and calling into question Hollywood's willingness to hire novice directors for major films.
Fantastic Four, carrying an estimated production and marketing budget of $200 million and directed by Josh Trank, a 31-year-old filmmaker with only one previous feature under his belt, sold about $26 million in tickets in North America. Box office analysts had expected sales of at least $40 million for the disastrously reviewed movie, which would have been a disappointing total in itself.
Fox, facing a ticking clock to make a new Fantastic Four movie or watch the rights revert to Disney-owned Marvel, was trying to reintroduce the superhero quartet to audiences after two Fantastic Four films underwhelmed in 2005 and 2007. The latest attempt, which took in an additional $34.1 million overseas, will instead go into the failed superhero movie hall of fame, joining efforts like Catwoman and The Green Lantern.
Chris Aronson, Fox's president of domestic distribution, said Sunday that his studio had no plans to let go of the Fantastic Four characters, which were introduced by Marvel Comics in the 1960s. Fox bought the rights more than a decade ago, before Marvel made its own movies.
"We love these characters, and we will find ways to make use of them," he said.
Asked to comment on the weekend box office results, Aronson said: "There's not much to say. I have never seen a confluence of events impact the opening of a movie so swiftly." He was referring to negative reviews and a renegade post by Trank on Twitter on Thursday night that blamed the studio for poor reviews. The comment was quickly deleted, but it had already spread like wildfire online.
Even though Trank had directed only one feature before -- Chronicle, which cost $12 million to make and took in $127 million in 2012 -- Fox was confident in his ability to move up to the major leagues. Trank's inventive Chronicle was so successful that Lucasfilm also hired him to direct a Star Wars spinoff movie.
But the Fantastic Four production in Louisiana was marred by erratic on-set behavior by Trank. Concerned about Trank's professionalism, the Disney-owned Lucasfilm in May forced his departure from the Star Wars project.
Hiring novice directors for important projects has been something of a fad in Hollywood in recent years. At times, it has worked out spectacularly: Colin Trevorrow had limited experience before directing the blockbuster Jurassic World, for instance. But the implosion of Trank and Fantastic Four may cool the practice considerably.
The lack of audience support for Trank's movie will no doubt fuel emerging concerns about superhero burnout. Doug Cruetz, an analyst for Cowen and Co., last month pointed to possible but inconclusive signs of fatigue in a report, calling it a trend worth monitoring because of aggressive investor expectations. Notably, Avengers: Age of Ultron, while still collecting $1.4 billion worldwide, had domestic ticket sales that fell 27 percent below the total for the first Avengers.
There are at least 20 superhero movies planned for release over the next five years by Disney, Fox, Columbia and Warner Bros., in particular relying on lesser-known characters like Doctor Strange, Captain Marvel and Gambit.
Studio executives strongly dismiss the notion of fatigue, noting enormous advance interest in coming entries like Deadpool, Captain America: Civil War, Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice and Suicide Squad. But studios do privately acknowledge that audiences have grown more sensitive to quality. Age of Ultron received weaker reviews than the first Avengers. Those who did see Fantastic Four seemed to hate it, giving the film a C-minus grade in CinemaScore exit polls.
For the weekend, Mission: Impossible -- Rogue Nation (Paramount) was the No. 1 draw in North America, taking in $28.5 million, for a two-week total of about $108 million. Fantastic Four was second.
The Gift (STX Entertainment), a $5 million thriller from the Blumhouse horror factory that took in about $12 million, ranked at third place, according to Rentrak, which compiles box office data. The Gift most likely benefited from strong reviews and preferential trailer placement in theaters leading up to release.
Aimed at older women, Ricki and the Flash (Columbia) had a seventh-place debut on a modest 1,600 screens, generating ticket sales of about $6.6 million -- a shaky result for a movie starring Meryl Streep and boasting an Oscar-winning screenwriter (Diablo Cody) and director (Jonathan Demme). Ricki and the Flash, which divided critics, cost only $18 million to make, however.
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
The top 20 movies at U.S. and Canadian theaters Friday through Monday, followed by distribution studio, gross, number of theater locations, average receipts per location, total gross and number of weeks in release, as compiled Monday by Rentrak (Dragon Ball Z: Resurrection 'F' opened on Aug. 4; Shaun the Sheep Movie and Le Mirage opened Aug. 5):
Mission: Impossible -- Rogue Nation, Paramount, $28,502,372, 3,988 locations, $7,147 average, $107,756,579, two weeks.
Fantastic Four, 20th Century Fox, $25,685,737, 3,995 locations, $6,429 average, $25,685,737, one week.
The Gift, STX Entertainment, $11,854,273, 2,503 locations, $4,736 average, $11,854,273, one week.
Vacation, Warner Bros., $8,955,246, 3,430 locations, $2,611 average, $37,135,026, two weeks.
Ant-Man, Disney, $7,911,445, 2,910 locations, $2,719 average, $147,521,991, four weeks.
Minions, Universal, $7,449,020, 3,123 locations, $2,385 average, $302,803,140, five weeks.
Ricki and the Flash, Columbia, $6,610,961, 1,603 locations, $4,124 average, $6,610,961, one week.
Trainwreck, Universal, $6,147,150, 2,525 locations, $2,435 average, $90,948,980, four weeks.
Pixels, Columbia, $5,435,539, 2,864 locations, $1,898 average, $57,650,843, three weeks.
Southpaw, The Weinstein Co., $4,701,090, 2,274 locations, $2,067 average, $40,662,931, three weeks.
Shaun the Sheep Movie, Lionsgate, $4,038,962, 2,320 locations, $1,741 average, $5,610,300, one week.
Inside Out, Disney, $2,704,395, 1,358 locations, $1,991 average, $335,390,545, eight weeks.
Jurassic World, Universal, $1,947,060, 1,119 locations, $1,740 average, $635,673,840, nine weeks.
Dragon Ball Z: Resurrection 'F', FUNimation Films, $1,814,005, 200 locations, $2,268 average, $5,760,244, one week.
Paper Towns, 20th Century Fox, $1,469,769, 1,284 locations, $1,145 average, $28,824,133, three weeks.
Mr. Holmes, Roadside Attractions, $1,261,642, 777 locations, $1,624 average, $12,781,277, four weeks.
Irrational Man, Sony Pictures Classics, $836,034, 925 locations, $904 average, $2,203,947, four weeks.
San Andreas, Warner Bros., $467,201, 302 locations, $1,547 average, $152,869,403, 11 weeks.
Le Mirage, Entertainment One Films, $403,453, 80 locations, $5,043 average, $665,595, one week.
Spy, 20th Century Fox, $364,012, 306 locations, $1,190 average, $109,481,440, 10 weeks.
MovieStyle on 08/14/2015