I think it’s unanimous that the summer’s biggest flop so far has been Speed Racer. It failed right out of the gate, grabbing only $18 million its first weekend. For a movie that cost $120 million to make, that’s like paying a hooker for a blowjob but getting a punch in the nuts instead. I happened to stop by Box Office Mojo today to check out the daily box office for Monday, and happened to scroll down way past the top 10, beyond the top 15, and into “dollar discount and indie movie” territory. What did I find? Speed Racer at number 19, pulling in a whopping $16,000 on Monday. Now, I know no one goes by what movies make during the week, only between the precious Friday to Sunday slot, but this is more symbolic than anything. Take a look at the movie positioned directly above Speed Racer.

That’s right. JUMPER! A movie already out on DVD! Talk about a punch in the nuts. Hell, Speed Racer only made about $5 million more than Harold and Kumar, which literally cost 1/10 the budget. What does this monumental failure mean? Have the Wachowskis directed their last movie? Would anyone be willing to give them a big budget after the triple threat (creative) failure of Matrix Reloaded, Matrix Revolutions, and now Speed Racer? Will it make studios more hesitant to adapt long-dead properties for profit? Unfortunately, the answer is most likely no. There are enough long-dead properties making money that Speed Racer will simply be forgotten. And I’m sure the Wachowski’s will convince someone that they have one brilliant idea left.

So what went wrong? Personally, I think they had one great idea in The Matrix, stretched it out through two awful sequels, and lost all good will among fans. The Speed Racer brand wasn’t as strong as say, Indiana Jones or any Comic Book Movie, and couldn’t bring people to theaters. And finally, it was marketed as a family movie, but the trailers were confusing. Kids didn’t know who Speed Racer was, and parents didn’t want to re-live an acid trip in the theater. I don’t like to revel in movies that fail, but it’s fascinating when something goes catastrophically wrong, which is why I’m keeping a keen eye on The Love Guru.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, June 25th, 2008 at 12:43 am and is filed under Editorial, Film. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Responses are currently closed, but you can trackback from your own site.