When do you label a movie a “bomb”? it’s a tricky question because different people will attach different criteria to how one defines the term. For example, “Superman Returns” made over $50 million opening weekend and nearly $400 million world wide when all was said and done, and many people, because of expectations, budget, marketing etc. etc. call the film a “bomb”. On the other hand, “District 9” made $37 million opening weekend and was hailed by many as a “huge hit”. It all depends what your criteria is… and that’s fair enough.
However… there are some films that just BOMB. Doesn’t matter how you define the term, what your criteria is or who you’re sleeping with, and to call them anything but is a crime against common sense.
The summer of 2009 and some legitimate box office smash hits. Films like “Transformers 2” (almost $900 million WW), “Harry Potter”, “UP”, “The Hangover” and “Star Trek”. However… there were also some massive bombs.
So here is the simple criteria I’m using for establishing the bombs for the purposes of THIS post:
1) It has to have opened in at LEAST 1000 theaters. Sure, a smaller number could still be considered a “wide release”, but at 1000 theaters, that means ANYONE in north america could have gone out to see the movie if they wanted to see it.
2) I’m just looking at opening weekend numbers here. These are the biggest indicators. I’m not saying this is the RIGHT way to do it… I’m just saying that for the purposes of this post and discussion that is the criteria.
3) The budget of the film is irrelevant for the purposes of this post.
Now, before we look at the bombs and their opening weekend failures… let’s put it in context and look first at what some other films opened with shall we?
TRANSFORMERS 2 – $108 million opening weekend in 4234 theaters
THE HANGOVER – $45 million in 3269 theaters
STAR TREK – $75 million in 3849 theaters
THE UGLY TRUTH – $28 million in 2883 theaters
Ok, with that all out of the way… here are the 10 biggest bombs of the summer of 2009
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THE BATTLE FOR TERRA Opening Weekend – $1 Million Number of theaters – 1159 The annimated classic that… well let’s face it no one saw it except the family of the director so no one really knows what it was about. |
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MY LIFE IN RUINS Opening Weekend – $3.2 million Number of theaters – 1164 I guess she really was just a one hit wonder with “My Big Fat Greek Wedding”. Too bad, I really liked that movie. |
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IMAGINE THAT Opening Weekend – $5.5 million Number of theaters – 3008 What?!?! An Eddie Murphy family comedy that bombed? Say it ain’t so! |
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POST GRAD Opening Weekend – $2.6 million Number of theaters – 1959 Quietly came, quietly went. Marketing came far too late and was far too weak. |
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SHORTS Opening Weekend – $6.4 million Number of theaters – 3105 I guess no one wants to see the director of “Grindhouse” who screws his cast behind his wife’s back doing family kid films now. |
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THE GOODS: LIVE HARD SELL HARD Opening Weekend – $5.6 million Number of theaters – 1838 Lot of people thought this could be a sleeper hit a few months back. Turns out it was just a sleeper. |
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I LOVE YOU BETH COOPER Opening Weekend – $4.9 million Number of theaters – 1858 “Why pay to see the hot cheerleader in theaters when you can just see her on TV for free”? seems to have been the prevailing thought amongst movie goers. |
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BANDSLAM Opening Weekend – $2.2 million Number of theaters – 2121 QUESTION: Did anyone, anywhere or at anytime ever think for one solitary moment that this movie wasn’t going to completely tank? |
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THE COLLECTOR Opening Weekend – $3.5 million Number of theaters – 1325 A smaller budget film but surprising considering the marketing push it got and all the positive reviews |
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A PERFECT GETAWAY Opening Weekend – $5.9 million Number of theaters – 2159 A decent enough movie that no one had any desire to see for some reason. |
So there you have it. Now remember, just because a movie didn’t make a lot of money at the Box Office doesn’t mean it was a bad movie… just that no one wanted to see it.
Tomorrow I count down the best to worst films of the summer of 2009.
