The results are in, and Will Smith’s midas touch was no match for M. Night Shyamalan’s kiss of death, as their collaboration, After Earth, opened in third place, behind 6 Fast 6 Furious and Now You See Me, with $27 million. The studio had been planning for $35-40 million.
Will and Jaden Smith’s sci-fi adventure After Earth wound up in third place this weekend with a very disappointing $27 million. That’s in between last year’s notorious sci-fi bombs John Carter ($30.2 million) and Battleship ($25.5 million). It’s also half of MIB 3 ($54.6 million) and The Karate Kid ($55.7 million), which were the last two movies from Will and Jaden, respectively.
The audience was 51 percent male and 60 percent were 25 years of age or older. They gave the movie a “B” CinemaScore, which suggests middling word-of-mouth that should keep the movie from holding on well. Add in the fact that Man of Steel is on the immediate horizon, and it’s unlikely that After Earth winds up with more than $70 million or so. [BoxOfficeMojo]
Which is bad, considering the budget is estimated to have been around $130 million, making After Earth a certified flop unless it kicks ass worldwide. (Which it might, foreigners love Will Smith almost as much as Johnny Depp). The media pile-on has been so bad that it’s actually tempting to, and I can’t believe I’m saying this, feel bad for poor M. Night Shyamalan. Of course, it would be a lot easier to feel sympathy if, after five straight sub-50%-on-RottenTomatoes movies in a row, and three below 20, he could just once admit that something he made wasn’t perfect, instead of blaming the audience and our ignorant, unworldly lack of European sensibilities. IT WAS ABOUT TREES, YOU FLIPPER-HANDED SIMPLETONS! Letting M. Night direct again, and another vanity project for Will Smith and his dumb kid no less, Sony was basically daring audiences not show up. CHALLENGE ACCEPTED.
I just hope this doesn’t affect Jaden’s line of drop-crotch pants. I’m sure one little setback isn’t enough to stop a veritable fashion revolution.
1. 6 Fast 6 Furious 6 (Universal) – $34.5 million ($171 mil.)
2. Now You See Mee (Lionsgate/Summit) – $28 million
3. After Earth(Sony) – $27.3 million
4. Epic (Fox) – $16.4 million ($64 mil.)
5. Star Trek Into Darkness? (Paramount) – $16.4 million ($180 mil.)
6. The Hangover Part III (Warner Bros.) – $15.1 million ($88 mil.)
7. Iron Man 3 (Disney) – $7.8 million ($385 mil.)
8. Great Gatsby (Warner Bros.) – $5.8 million ($128 mil.)
9. Yeh Jawaani Hai Dew – $1.3 million
10. Mud (Roadside Attractions) – $1.2 million ($17 mil.) [Indiewire]
Fantasy Summer Box Office Standings:
Laremy (First overall pick)
1. Iron Man 3 – $175.3
2. Man of Steel (Bomb)
3. Epic: 33.5
4. 300: Rise of an Empire (release pushed back an entire year, just like when Laremy picked GI Joe: Retaliation last year. Man is the kiss of death)
Total: 209
Vince (2nd pick):
1. 6 Fast 6 Furious: 97.4
2. Pacific Rim
3. The Wolverine
4. We are the Millers (Bomb)
Total: 97.4
Bret (3rd pick)
1. Star Trek 2: 71
2. Despicable Me 2
3. Lone Ranger (Bomb)
4. After Earth: 27
Total: 98
Brendan (4th pick)
1. Man of Steel
2. Hangover 3: 41.7
3. The Internship
4. The Great Gatsby (Bomb): $51 million on a $105 million budget, which equals 49 percent of budget, subtracted from 100 is 51.
Total: 93
Ben (5th):
1. Monsters University
2. Planes
3. World War Z
4. World War Z (Bomb)
[Jaden picture via]
See also: Everything I learned about After Earth from reading the reviews.