David O’Russell’s Star-Studded “Amsterdam” Tanked At The Box Office
Billy Eichner may have seen this news and relaxed after calling out the Straights™ for not buying tickets to his gay romantic comedy Bros, which bombed at the box office. Because well, David O’Russell‘s Amsterdam bombed hard too. The star-studded film had a production budget of $80 million but only made $6.5 million at this past weekend’s box office. It did worse in theatres than Lyle, Lyle, Crocodile.
Variety says the horror movie, Smile, was at the top of the box office again, making $17.6 million. So far, it’s made $90 million worldwide and cost about $17 million to make. Lyle, Lyle, Crocodile came in second with $11.5 million domestically. And then in third place, in-swooped critically-panned stinker, Amsterdam–earning a robust estimated $7 million. Now, that is more than the $4.8 million Bros opened with, and Bros also slipped this weekend to eighth place from fourth and only made $2.6 million more dollars. In total, Bros has made $8.8 million.
Meanwhile, the weekend’s other new wide release Amsterdam, from director David O. Russell, isn’t generating the bustle that its sizzling line-up of A-list talent would suggest. The 20th Century Studios release earned $2.6 million from 3,005 theaters on Friday. Opening estimates are now at $7 million, but projections were floating around $10 million heading into the weekend and were as high as $20 million last month.
In a theatrical landscape that is still regathering itself coming out of COVID-19 lockdowns, box office expectations for adult-skewing dramas have been more forgiving. But it’s difficult to dress this up as anything other than a grim start for Amsterdam. New Regency co-funded its oversized $80 million production budget, while Disney has expended a good chunk of change on high-profile premiere events and marketing.
Here are the top five movies of the weekend, via Box Office Mojo:
1. Smile – $17.6 million
2. Lyle, Lyle, Crocodile – $11.5 million
3. Amsterdam – $6.5 million
4. The Woman King – $5.3 million
5. Don’t Worry Darling – $3.4 million
Now, this should serve as an indictment of the idea that people will always watch a movie if a big celeb is in it because Amsterdam had tons: Christian Bale, Margot Robbie, John David Washington, Chris Rock, Anya Taylor-Joy, Taylor Swift, Michael Shannon, Zoe Saldaña, Mike Myers, Robert De Niro, and Rami Malek, and more! Many big names also reportedly passed on this movie, like Jennifer Lawrence–who won her Best Actress Oscar working with David on Silver Linings Playbook–Angelina Jolie, and Jamie Foxx. So looks like David’s reputation of being a repugnant asshole who can even find a way to be shitty to Amy Adams and make Christian Bale look like a level-headed mediator is finally hitting him.
The Swifties really let their queen’s movie flop. And this is the second time since Cats flopped too! I guess their devotion to their queen has its limits. I mean, I watched Material Girls IN THEATRES for Hilary Duff and received the DVD as a cherished birthday gift. I also watched the indie film War Inc. starring John Cusak as a CIA hitman because Hilary had a part in it. The fans of today just aren’t putting in the work!
Pic: New Regency