It hasn’t been a good week for Liam Neeson. He’s still getting raked over the coals for an interview telling the story of how he fantasized about killing “some black bastard” after a close friend was raped. And now, his latest gritty action film, “Cold Pursuit,” is yielding one of the worst opening weekends in the actor’s box office career.
The Lionsgate film opened with an estimated $10.8 million, the worst opening for any wide release starring Neeson since 2010. That year, he starred alongside Russell Crowe in “The Next Three Days,” which opened to $6.5 million.
To be fair, “Cold Pursuit” wasn’t tracking to be a blockbuster even before his ill-timed interview with London’s The Independent — or a Tuesday “Good Morning America” appearance in which he insisted he’s not a racist.
Prior to this past week, the Lionsgate film was expected by independent trackers to only open to $7-10 million.
When you narrow down Neeson’s filmography to the jagged-edge revenge thrillers and shoot-em-ups that have revitalized the actor’s reputation, “Cold Pursuit” looks even worse. Neeson’s career as an action star peaked in 2012 with “Taken 2,” which opened to $49.5 million and grossed $376 million worldwide. But this opening is closer to the $11 million launch for his 2015 film “Run All Night.”
But to find an action film starring Neeson that opened worse than “Pursuit,” you have to go all the way back to even before “Schindler’s List,” when Neeson appeared in Sam Raimi’s disturbing 1990 superhero revenge film “Darkman.”
In that film, Neeson plays a scientist who is horrifically disfigured by a mobster, losing the ability to feel pain and becoming mentally unstable. Using a synthetic skin he had been developing prior to the attack, he disguises himself as the mobster’s men to plot his revenge while hiding his burned, melted body from his girlfriend, played by Frances McDormand.
“Darkman” became a cult film among Raimi fans for Neeson’s insane performance, but only opened to $8 million in August 1990 and grossed just $48 million worldwide.
Even before Neeson’s racially charged interview, signs were already showing that audiences had gotten enough of Neeson playing men on roaring rampages of revenge.
But now it remains to be seen whether the backlash to his interview will have an impact on future roles. He is set to appear in the upcoming summer blockbuster “Men in Black: International,” as well as alongside Lesley Manville in Bleecker Street’s romance film “Normal People.”
And he will be picking up a gun once again in “Honest Thief,” a film about a thief who plans to turn himself in for the good of his family, but then decides to fight back once he gets a glimpse of the corruption of the government that would apprehend him.
2018's Biggest Box Office Bombs, From 'Gotti' to 'Solo' (Photos)
2018 was a great year for the box office, with plenty of record-breaking hits, but even a good year has its bombs. Here are ten of the most notable disappointments this year, including one from the biggest blockbuster franchise of all time.
"London Fields" -- Budget: $8 million, Global gross: $295,435
This critically panned noir film premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival in 2015 and has spent the past three years mired in lawsuits between the producers and lead star Amber Heard and director Matthew Cullen. After the Heard lawsuit was resolved, the film was released in October and suffered the second-worst wide release opening in box office history.
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"Nutcracker and the Four Realms" -- Budget: $120 million, Global gross: $151.9 million so far
Two days after Halloween, Disney released this dark fantasy loosely based on the famous Russian ballet synonymous with Christmas. But critics weren't impressed by much beyond the film's dance sequences, and families saved their money to go see "The Grinch" and another Disney film, "Ralph Breaks the Internet," later in the month. With a $20 million opening weekend, "Nutcracker" suffered Disney's worst start since "The BFG" in 2016.
Disney
"Early Man" -- Budget: $50 million, Global gross: $54 million
How far has stop-motion animation fallen? Nick Park and Aardman Studios, creators of "Wallace & Gromit," earned praise from critics for this prehistoric comedy. But Lionsgate released it in the U.S. the same weekend as "Black Panther" and it was ignored in the U.S. with only $8.2 million grossed. The only country where the film made more than $10 million is Aardman's homeland, the U.K., with $15 million.
Lionsgate
"Annihilation" -- Budget: $40 million, Global gross: $43 million
It was an intelligent sci-fi tale with profound existential themes. It had an all-star female cast led by Natalie Portman. It was made by the director of "Ex Machina." And it failed to make its budget back with $32 million domestic and $10 million from China, with Paramount selling distribution rights for the rest of the world to Netflix. Maybe it will achieve "cult classic" status someday...
Paramount
"The Darkest Minds" -- Budget: $34 million, Global gross: $41 million
YA novel adaptations continue to fall flat in this post-"Hunger Games" world, as this tale of superpowered teens on the run got little marketing support from Fox and fell flat after being released in August.
"The Hurricane Heist" -- Budget: $35 million, Global gross: $31 million
Some films are based on concepts the general public just has no interest in thanks to recent events. Take this disaster thriller from "The Fast and the Furious" director Rob Cohen about two brothers who are caught up in a heist to steal millions from a federal facility during a Category 5 hurricane. With hurricanes destroying entire towns in real life on an annual basis now thanks to climate change, this probably wasn't many moviegoers' idea of a fun time at the movies.
Entertainment Studios
"Death Wish" -- Budget: $30 million, Global gross: $48 million
Charles Bronson's 1974 revenge film may have become a cult classic, but an Eli Roth-directed, Bruce Willis-starring remake is probably not what Americans are looking for at a time when deadly shootings are an almost daily occurrence. MGM moved the release date from November 2017 to March 2018 not long after last year's Las Vegas shooting... only for it to come out three weeks after the Parkland High School massacre.
MGM
"Gotti" -- Budget: $10 million, Global gross: $4.1 million.
The ill-fated mafia biopic started development in 2010 and weathered problems such as the replacement of lead Joe Pesci with John Travolta (sparkign a lawsuit), having Lionsgate drop the film two weeks before release, and getting picked up by the struggling MoviePass. The film was finally released in June to a unanimous critical drubbing. It failed to make back its budget, and MoviePass, a subscription service that pays for its users tickets, accounted for 40 percent of tickets sold.
Vertical Entertainment
“The Happytime Murders” — Budget: $40 million, Global gross: $27 million
Melissa McCarthy’s 2018 will be best remembered for her Oscar-contending performance in “Can You Ever Forgive Me?”, which is good, because she also starred in this panned crime parody of the Muppets, which failed to make back its budget and was one of several films that struggled for distributor STX
"Solo: A Star Wars Story" -- Budget: $250 million, Global gross: $392 million
Disney broke box office records left and right this year, but it also had the most high-profile bomb of the year with this "Star Wars" anthology film that told the origins of Han Solo. Its release was preceded by a famously troubled production: original directors Phil Lord and Christopher Miller were fired over creative differences with just under a month left in filming; they were replaced by Ron Howard; the budget inflated as roles were recast and much of the film was entirely re-shot. Upon release, "Solo" became the first "Star Wars" film ever to fail to gross $400 million worldwide. With "Episode IX" still a year away, Disney execs have said that they're taking another look at how they handle future films in this hallowed series.
Lucasfilm
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It’s been a good year for the box office, but not for these movies
2018 was a great year for the box office, with plenty of record-breaking hits, but even a good year has its bombs. Here are ten of the most notable disappointments this year, including one from the biggest blockbuster franchise of all time.
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