This bride might need life support.
Director Maggie Gyllenhaal’s “The Bride,” a feminist reimagining of “The Bride of Frankenstein,” has collapsed in its box office debut with $7.3 million from 3,304 North American theaters. Since the Warner Bros. film cost $90 million to produce — a staggering price tag for the horror genre — and audience scores are downright scary, it’s shaping up to be the year’s first big bomb.
Ticket sales were drastically behind the studio’s projections of $16 million to $18 million, as well as rivals and independent tracking services, who offered a more conservative estimate of $10 million to $15 million. Reviews weren’t great (59% on Rotten Tomatoes) but the death knell for “The Bride” looks to be the “C+” grade on CinemaScore exit polls. It doesn’t bode well for the word-of-mouth that’s needed for a long life in theaters. Making matters worse, “The Bride” is struggling to show a pulse at the international box office with $6.3 million, bringing its global tally to a tragic $13.6 million. “The Bride” is primed to lose tens of millions, snapping a winning streak for Warner Bros. after hits like “Sinners,” “Weapons” and “Wuthering Heights.”
“In a increasingly ‘risk-averse’ business like ours, we believe the business is better served with studios taking bold swings on originals like this one,” Warner Bros. said in a note to press while acknowledging the studio’s nine prior films had opened to No. 1. “Even the 1927 Yankees had 44 losses that season…”
This weekend’s other newcomer, Pixar’s family friendly “Hoppers” (a very different kind of creature feature), captured the No. 1 spot with a strong $45 million from 4,000 theaters. The film earned another $42 million overseas for a worldwide haul of $88 million. With stellar reviews and great audience scores (a 94% on Rotten Tomatoes and “A” grade on CinemaScore), “Hoppers” is primed to be Pixar’s first original hit in nearly a decade. The animation empire’s last unmitigated win was 2017’s musical fantasy “Coco,” which opened to $50 million and eventually earned $210 million domestically and $823 million worldwide.
“This is a fantastic original film from the incredible team at Pixar, and it’s wonderful to see audiences coming out with their friends and families to enjoy it together,” said Alan Bergman, Co-Chairman, Disney Entertainment. “Congratulations to our director Daniel Chong, our producer Nicole Paradis Grindle, and our talented cast, along with Pete Docter, Jim Morris, and everyone at Pixar, on a tremendous launch.”
More to come…
