HOLLYWOOD, CALIFORNIA – November 10, 2105 (Gephardt Daily) — For the second time in as many days Universal Pictures is pulling the plug on another one of their films.
This time “Jem and the Holograms” has been removed from theaters due to poor performance at the box office.
“Jem and the Holograms,” opened in wide release October 23 to dismal ticket sales. The film, which was based on the popular 80’s animated series, debuted in 15th place earning only $1.3 million its first weekend. “Jem and the Holograms” has a grand total of $2.1 million since premiering.
But ripping the movie out of theaters instead of scaling it back is almost unheard of in the industry. Earlier this week Universal Studios pulled “Steve Jobs” out of over 2,072 theaters due to lackluster ticket sales. But left the film showing in about 421 theaters.
The film, starring Michael Fassbender and Seth Rogen, debuted five weeks ago and has taken in a total of just *$16.6 million its entire run.
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“Theater chains are contractually obligated to hold a film for two weeks after booking it. However, in all my days as an analyst, I’ve never seen a studio actually stop reporting after two weeks,” Jeff Bock, senior box-office analyst at Exhibitor Relations, told Business Insider Monday.
“This is unprecedented, and shows just how badly this film flopped. Not only is it the lowest-grossing debut for a studio film this year, but it’s the worst all-time — by a considerable margin — for any film released in 2,000-plus theaters.”
They got precisely what they deserved. You dont take a well-known franchise or movie and gut and mangle it beyond all recognition, then expect people to come flocking to it. The thousands of people who told them their trailer stunk and was nothing like the show was a massive warning sign, but they were blinded by the dollar signs in their eyes and their own inflated egos.