Warner Bros. has not been having the best year. While movies like SHAZAM! and DETECTIVE PIKACHU did fine at the box office, high-profile movies like THE LEGO MOVIE 2, GODZILLA: KING OF THE MONSTERS, SHAFT and THE KITCHEN all either came in well under expectations or flat-out bombed. When it comes to their newest release, THE GOLDFINCH, they perhaps hit their biggest speedbump, as the movie crashed and burned at the box office with a $2.6 million take from over 2,500 theaters – giving it one of the worst openings ever for a nationwide release.
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An opening like that requires some sort of response, and Warner Bros. domestic distribution president Jeff Goldstein spoke with Variety about the poor showing, blaming a lack of interest and an overall bad marketplace.
“I think the audience wasn’t interested in seeing this literary work on-screen. There were many things that didn’t work, but the biggest was probably the marketplace. The gap between the have and the have-nots is growing even bigger.”
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While it may make sense to blame a crowded market – this last weekend including completion from Warner Bros.' own top-spot winner, IT: CHAPTER TWO, and the breakout hit HUSTLERS – but there are certainly other factors at play. Perhaps the biggest is the dismal reception the movie received out of TIFF, with some critics labeling it as a “disaster.” The movie holds a 26% on Rotten Tomatoes (with a better 74% from audiences), which no doubt led to a lack of interest over the repeated business from IT, the critical acclaim of HUSTLERS, and other repeat hits like LION KING, GOOD BOYS and ANGEL HAS FALLEN. Our own Chris Bumbray gave the movie a mediocre review out of TIFF, writing, "THE GOLDFINCH is bad enough that I suspect any real awards consideration is out of the question, except maybe for Deakins’s cinematography. It's beautiful to look at, but if Tartt’s book was something special that doesn’t come across in the movie at all.
Co-financed with Amazon Studios, Warner Bros. won't shoulder the whole loss that will result from GOLDFINCH, which cost about $40 million to make.
Goldstein isn't wrong in blaming the marketplace for the movie's tanking. With so much to choose from at theaters — from blockbusters to indie fare — a movie like THE GOLDFINCH needs to stand out, and surely WB was banking on potential awards buzz. But there's also no denying the critical reception turned away all but the most curious of viewers, with audiences turning to other movies instead after reading/hearing all the negative responses. On the bright side for WB, their scary clown movie is doing well around the world, and their next scary clown movie — JOKER — is poised to make around $70-$80 million for its opening weekend, which is tremendous considering it cost only slightly more to make than GOLDFINCH did.
If you want to see THE GOLDFINCH in theaters now is the time, because it probably won't be in theaters much longer.