“Deadpool & Wolverine” swamped the box office this weekend, taking no prisoners in the process.
The MCU sequel earned a whopping $205 million, blowing past even conservative estimates.
It still left room for counter-programming, films that appeal to a wildly different fan base. Like “The Fabulous Four.” The Bleecker Street comedy follows gals of a certain age celebrating life, friendship and an upcoming wedding.
The film stars Bette Midler and Susan Sarandon, two screen legends with considerable baggage. Said baggage may have chased movie goers far, far away.
The film earned a measly $1 million in its box office debut frame. That’s despite the story’s appeal to a demographic ignored by Hollywood all too often.
Seniors.
The film snuck into theaters with little pomp and/or circumstance, and it showed.
Normally, a film starring Midler and Sarandon would draw plenty of attention. The “Dead Man Walking” alum is a bona fide Oscar winner with a track record of stellar films. The Divine Miss M is an industry legend, bouncing from classic comedies (“Ruthless People,” “Hocus Pocus”) to multiple Grammy wins.
Yet very few people showed up.
Was it a marketing snafu? Perhaps. Did the film’s anemic Rotten Tomatoes score – 29 percent “rotten” – sink its chances.
Maybe.
A dispiriting collection of sitcom moments that’s increasingly dire to watch – Brian Orndorf
It also could be Sarandon’s ghastly stance on the current Israel/Hamas war and Midler’s rage against half the country.
Sarandon lost her agent after her tone-deaf comments following the Oct. 7 attacks by Hamas which killed more than 1,000 Israels and captured hundreds more. She later denied that Hamas systematically raped women during the assault, a charge that’s beyond baseless.
Just consider the first-person testimonies shared in “Screams Before Silence” as all the proof necessary to shame her stance.
As for Midler, her rage against Republicans is well documented. These aren’t garden-variety differences of opinion. Midler has cheered on the thug who nearly killed Sen. Rand Paul in 2017.
Why would the average movie goer pay to see either superstar given their toxic comments? It’s a question the studio behind “The Fabulous Four” ignored. Then again, Sarandon also served as a producer on the film.
One of many, many producers.
Audiences are increasingly cynical about how they spend their movie-going dollars. It explains why crowd pleasers like “Furiosa” and “The Fall Guy” under-performed this year.
“The Fabulous Four’s” dreary box office reception has many culprits, but it’s impossible to dismiss its stars’ ghoulish comments as a contributing factor.
The post Sarandon-Midler Romp ‘Fabulous Four’ Nosedives at Box Office appeared first on Hollywood in Toto.