Picture courtesy of Zap2ItInformation obtained via Box Office Mojo, The Numbers, Deadline, and other sources:
Every mainstream, big studio film has the hopes of landing at the top of the weekend box office and more often that not, landing that success is something to be celebrated. Rare is it that being the weekend's most popular movie can necessitate bad news and press; however, welcome to the weekend that was Universal's "Cowboys and Aliens".
Initially, talk focused on the ambitious "Cowboys and Aliens" falling right in line with other summer blockbusters, scoring a big opening weekend and a final box office gross somewhere in the $175-$200 million range domestic. Then, Universal would move on to their next project and perhaps entertain ideas of a sequel - essentially the standard "Wash-Rinse-Repeat" approach to summer blockbusters. The marketing approach implemented by all involved was a tried and true outline on how to deliver a big movie success.
The outline looked something like this:
- First, teaser the film before the most anticipated film of the year...in this case, 2010's "Harry Potter And The Deathly Hallows Part 1". Check.
- Then, deliver a high profile Super Bowl teaser. Check.
- Next, deliver stills and marketing materials to drum up excitement for the trailer's debut on television's highest rated series, "American Idol". Check.
- Debut the final trailer in theaters before the anticipated highest grossing film of the spring, "Fast Five". Check.
Columbia Pictures acquired the film in 2004 and never pursued production. Eventually, at the request of Robert Downey, Jr., director Jon Favreau moved into consideration for the project in the fall of 2009 and signed on to direct. In total, Universal and DreamWorks had the project, Columbia acquired it and then Universal and DreamWorks took it back. Jon Favreau was officially only the second director to sign on to the project, but a DOZEN writers were involved in the project, leading the WGA to hold an arbitration panel to determine who would receive credit on the film, and how they would be credited.
And finally, leading up to release day, Universal tempered down the initial opening week expectations when critics and word-of-mouth came in less than desirable. Still, at the start of last week, a $45-$50 million opening weekend was floated around as plausible. As preview screenings and further research indicated less than favorable reactions, Universal tried to claim a $40 million start would still work in with their expectations. However, "Cowboys and Aliens" scored a mere $36.4 million when all was said and done, locked in a virtual tie for first place with "The Smurfs" (more on that below...).
With this start, "Cowboys and Aliens" will likely land between $105-$110 million in its domestic haul and that is obviously a huge disappointment. Universal executives have tried to spin this as a positive in saying all the right things about the film having legs, international markets will be receptive, etc. All signs point to this being an expensive and snake-bitten project from the get-go.
"The Smurfs" nearly pull the upset, a flurry of independent releases try and stake a claim and how does "Crazy, Stupid, Love."'s opening stack up for its deep ensemble cast?
More analysis, The Weekend Breakdown and The Top 40 after the cut!
