Tomorrowland began drawing John Carter comparisons almost immediately after it was released, and it looks like that’s not going to end any time soon. Sources quoted in The Hollywood Reporter say the Brad Bird smarm fest will lose “between $120 and $140 million” by the time it finishes its global rollout. *camera zooms to single tear on George Clooney’s cheek as he gets blown on the deck of his yacht*
Tomorrowland, cost $180 million to produce plus a marketing spend of $150 million or more. […] it debuted to weak reviews (was it for kids or adults?) and a soft $42.7 million during the long Memorial Day weekend. As of June 8, the film had earned $76.4 million domestically and $93.5 million overseas for a global total of $169.9 million. It might not gross much more than $200 million, far from enough to cover Disney’s costs.
China, ravenous for American event movies, has been a particularly harsh blow. Tomorrowland bowed to $13.8 million there in early June, getting trounced by the $38.3 million opening of the Japanese animated title Stand by Me Doraemon. [The Hollywood Reporter]
If you’ll remember, John Carter, from former Pixar director Andrew Stanton, initially had analysts predicting a loss between $100 and 150 million, though a later Disney earnings report put their loss at $84 million. Using that as the model it’s reasonable to believe Disney’s Tomorrowland loss won’t be as bad as people think it’s going to be right now, but also keep in mind that John Carter had the benefit of actually being pretty good, while Tomorrowland is exactly as crappy and pointless as everyone says. The only thing worse than a bad movie is a bad movie that preemptively blames its own shittyness on a cynical audience. Tomorrowland felt almost like a big budget Lady in the Water.
Part of the reason it may have been so bad is that it seemed to be saving any significant plot points for future sequels, which we almost certainly won’t have to worry about now.