Robert Downey Jr’s ‘Dolittle’ Could Lose $100 Million at Box Office
Poor reviews and a bloated budget sank RDJ’s first post-Marvel release, though there is still a narrow path to a break-even point
Jeremy Fuster | January 19, 2020 @ 12:43 PM
Last Updated: January 19, 2020 @ 12:50 PM
Universal
Universal made a big investment in “Dolittle,” but the adventure comedy is going bust at the box office with a 4-day domestic opening weekend of $30 million and a global opening launch of $50 million. Based on a reported production budget of $175 million, multiple film finance experts tell TheWrap that they currently project a loss of $100 million for the project starring Robert Downey Jr. in his first film appearance since “Avengers: Endgame.”
That would be an even bigger loss than Universal’s other flop from December, “Cats,” which became joke fodder for online film circles, but at least had a smaller budget of around $90-95 million, which kept its financial loss estimates at around $70 million.
There is still a small possibility that “Dolittle” could find an overseas bailout. The film has yet to release in more than 20 markets, including nine more next weekend, France and the U.K. in the first week of February, and China on Feb. 21.
If those markets overperform, it could help “Dolittle” get closer to breaking even, with one analyst telling TheWrap that China has a decent chance to “upend the calculations.” A somewhat similar case happened with Disney’s “Maleficent: Mistress of Evil” last fall, grossing less than half of what the original “Maleficent” made in North America at $113 million, but was able to make a modest profit thanks to $377 million grossed overseas for a $491 million total against a $185 million budget.
But to do so, “Dolittle” will have to overcome poor reviews, as critics have given the film an 18% score on Rotten Tomatoes. Common points in the negative reviews included the CGI work on the film’s animals, as well as a script more focused on kid humor than story. Audience reception has not been much better with a B on CinemaScore and a 3/5 on Postrak from primarily family audiences.
This is a case of box office history repeating itself. Back in 1967, the first adaptation of Hugh Lofting’s “Doctor Dolittle” novels starring Rex Harrison went over budget and required several reshoots, resulting in a box office bomb that infamously earned a Best Picture nomination at the Oscars after heavy politicking from 20th Century Fox.
In a similar fashion, reports have surfaced on this new “Dolittle” going over budget thanks in good part to reshoots to make the film more family friendly. And while the film’s domestic opening is consistent with live-action family comedies released in January like “Paul Blart: Mall Cop,” it is now expected to end up alongside adventure films like “The BFG” and “Jack the Giant Slayer” as adventure/fantasy films that struggled to recoup their $100 million-plus production costs.
While hindsight might be 20/20, “Dolittle” was a project that was in hot demand among studios when CAA packaged Downey Jr. and director Stephen Gaghan for an adaptation of the Lofting novel “The Voyage of Doctor Dolittle” back in 2017. Downey Jr. was in the midst of five consecutive annual appearances as Iron Man in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, which ended last year with “Avengers: Endgame.” On top of that, his success with the “Sherlock Holmes” films showed his box office strength outside the MCU, and with his Marvel contract set to expire, studios were hungry to attach him to IP that could yield blockbuster riches.
And though “Cats” and “Dolittle” have made this winter a tough one for Universal, it hasn’t all been bad news. The studio has a strong chance to earn their second consecutive Best Picture Oscar winner with the DreamWorks World War I film “1917,” which has earned critical and audience acclaim and has been deemed the current frontrunner after winning the top prize at the Producers Guild Awards.
That success has spilled over to the box office, where “1917” has grossed an estimated $81 million in North America so far, including $27 million on this extended Martin Luther King Jr. weekend. “1917” is on its way to becoming Universal’s first hit of the decade with $143 million grossed globally so far against a $100 million budget and several weeks left in its theatrical run.
Universal, which declined to comment for this story, will try to rebound next month with a low-budget Blumhouse adaptation of “The Invisible Man” before a Q2 that includes international distribution of the James Bond film “No Time to Die” and the ninth “Fast & Furious” film. A sequel to the billion-dollar animated hit “Minions” is also on their summer slate.
9 Female-Led Superhero Films in 2020, From 'The Eternals' to 'Wonder Woman 1984' (Photos)
Next year is going to be a big one for super-powered women, with 9 female-led superhero movies hitting theaters in 2020. And if rough estimates pan out, these films could combine to gross over $4 billion at movie theaters worldwide. Not only that, but if 12 months from now "Birds of Prey," "Mulan," "Black Widow, "Wonder Woman 1984," and "Eternals" are among the year's 10 highest grossing films, it will be the first time ever that the list will have gender parity among directors. Read on to see which women will be kicking asses in movie theaters throughout 2020.
1. "The Rhythm Section" -- Jan. 31
January kicks off with Blake Lively's long-anticipated spy thriller "The Rhythm Section," a possible franchise-starter led from the long-time producers of the James Bond films, Michael G. Wilson, and Barbara Broccoli. Lively's got dark hair, an icy cold stare and is looking to settle things violently in the movie written by Mark Burnell based on his book of the same name. Directed by Reed Morano, best known for her work on Hulu's "The Handmaid's Tale," it also stars Jude Law and Sterling K. Brown.
2. "Birds of Prey" -- Feb. 7
Margot Robbie once again plays Harley Quinn, now broken up with the Joker and teaming up with a crew of badass women like Black Canary (Jurnee Smollet-Bell), Huntress (Mary Elizabeth Winstead), and Renee Montoya (Rosie Perez) to stop the villain Black Mask (Ewan McGregor) before he can have Cassandra Cain (Basco) murdered.
3. "Mulan" -- March 27
Director Niki Caro's live action take on Disney's 1998 animated stars Liu Yifei as the legendary Chinese warrior woman who risks everything out of love for her family and her country to become one of the greatest fighters the middle kingdom has ever known.
4. "The New Mutants" -- April 3
Staring Maisie Williams ("Game of Thrones" and Anya Taylor-Joy, this horror film set in the X-universe was filmed two years ago -- but has been in limbo ever since. It was originally supposed to debut in April 2018 but has been delayed over and over again. The film's director confirmed the film was still being tinkered with as of December 2019, but with release scheduled for April, the first trailer is supposedly coming in January.
5. "Black Widow" -- May 1
Set immediately after the events of “Captain America: Civil War”; "Black Widow" follows Natasha Romanoff (Scarlett Johansson) as she reunites with former members of the (former) Soviet assassin squad she grew up with to defeat an even greater threat.
6. "Wonder Woman 1984" -- June 5
Set during the late height of Cold War tensions, the film sees Diana Prince (Gal Gadot) facing two new enemies, including the villain Cheetah (Kristen Wiig), and dealing with the unexpected return of Steve Trevor (Chris Pine). Patty Jenkins returns to direct the sequel to the 2017 box office hit. Watch the spectacular trailer here.
7. "Monster Hunter" -- Sep. 4
Based on the Capcom video game series, "Monster Hunter" stars Milla Jovovich as the leader of a military unit transported to a parallel world dominated by ferocious monsters. In her desperate battle for survival, she teams up with a mysterious man (Tony Jaa) who has found a way to fight back.
8. "The Eternals" -- Nov. 6
Starring Angelina Jolie, Salma Hayek, and Gemma Chan, Marvel Studios' next heroic team up movie centers on a race of ancient human beings created a million years ago by the cosmic entities known as the Celestials. There's still no trailer, but fans at Comic-Con experience Brazil saw the first public showing of footage. Read about that here.
9. "No Time to Die" - April 2 (UK)/April 8 (U.S.)
Yes, technically this is a James Bond outing fronted by Daniel Craig in his final appearance as James Bond. But we're including it because the story sees 007 teaming up with the first female OO, "Nomi," played by "Captain Marvel's" Lashana Lynch. "So stay in your lane. You get in my way, I will put a bullet in your knee. The one that works," Nomi tells Bond during the recent trailer.
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Move over boys — 2020 looks like it will go down as the year female-fronted superhero movies will dominate the box office
Next year is going to be a big one for super-powered women, with 9 female-led superhero movies hitting theaters in 2020. And if rough estimates pan out, these films could combine to gross over $4 billion at movie theaters worldwide. Not only that, but if 12 months from now "Birds of Prey," "Mulan," "Black Widow, "Wonder Woman 1984," and "Eternals" are among the year's 10 highest grossing films, it will be the first time ever that the list will have gender parity among directors. Read on to see which women will be kicking asses in movie theaters throughout 2020.