BOX OFFICE: M. Night Shyamalan's AFTER EARTH Flops With $9.8 Million Friday Opening
Panned by critics over the past week, it should probably come as no surprise to learn that After Earth opened with only $9.8 million yesterday with a predicted weekend total of a measly $25 million. This makes it 2013's most high-profile flop so far. Read on for details!
This weekend will once again belong to Fast & Furious 6, but M. Night Shyamalan's After Earth looks unlikely to even take the #2 spot after a disappointing Friday opening of $9.8 million. Now You See Me (which has a cast featuring the likes of Mark Ruffalo, Michael Caine and Morgan Freeman) took #2 with $10 million and looks set for a weekend of $27.8M. After Earth on the other hand - which has a 'B' CinemaScore despite being torn to pieces by the majority of critics - looks set for a three day total of only $27.2 million (although some analysts are predicting a number as low as $25 million). It's not exactly clear what has caused the movie to underperform, especially with Will Smith and his son Jaden (who found his own success with The Karate Kid) in the two leading roles, although it's thought that the last few Shyamalan films have just put audiences off going anywhere near anything that has his name attached. With a $130 million budget, only its overseas opening can save it now. According to Deadline, "the studio worked "really hard" to fix this crapfest in post-production and that even an arrogant know-it-all like Shyamalan was aware the pic didn’t work but couldn’t fix it on his own." Are you guys planning on checking it out?
A crash landing leaves teenager Kitai Raige (Jaden Smith) and his legendary father Cypher (Will Smith) stranded on Earth, 1,000 years after cataclysmic events forced humanity’s escape. With Cypher critically injured, Kitai must embark on a perilous journey to signal for help, facing uncharted terrain, evolved animal species that now rule the planet, and an unstoppable alien creature that escaped during the crash. Father and son must learn to work together and trust one another if they want any chance of returning home.
STARRING:
Will Smith as Cypher Raige
Jaden Smith as Kitai Raige
Isabelle Fuhrman as Rayna
Kristofer Hivju as Security Chief
Gabriel Caste as Ranger
Zoë Isabella Kravitz as Senshi Raige
Sophie Okonedo as Faia Raige
David Denman as McQuarrie
Lincoln Lewis as Bo
RELEASE DATE: June 7th, 2013