This is topic Your theater's biggest-ever B.O. flop? in forum Ground Level at Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE.


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Posted by Charles Everett (Member # 889) on 12-27-2002, 06:58 AM:
 
Pinocchio is D.O.A. Its first day was worse than Pluto Nash per the estimate posted on Mojo.

What picture had the worst-grossing week ever for your theater?
 

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Posted by Jason Black (Member # 684) on 12-27-2002, 08:52 AM:
 
Amazingly enough, Pinnochio is about the worst I've seen. Left Behind (The Second one) didn't fare well at my place either. Pluto Nash was right up there as well...
 

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Posted by Thomas Procyk (Member # 1170) on 12-27-2002, 09:50 AM:
 
New Line Cinema's "Dog Park" (1998)

They sent us frisbees and shirts and wanted us to do a big promo with it and everything. FOUR people showed up during its entire run at our theater. (one week)

=TMP=
 

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Posted by Tony Ratcliff (Member # 1196) on 12-27-2002, 10:50 AM:
 
I think I did less than $100 gross for the whole week of "Country Bears".
 

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Posted by Aldo Baez (Member # 790) on 12-27-2002, 11:01 AM:
 
Tequila Body Shots.

Attendance: 56 people total ... ALL WEEK.
 

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Posted by Joe Redifer (Member # 3) on 12-27-2002, 11:05 AM:
 
I'm going to have to go with Pinocchio. My manager was pretty excited about this one. He made us put trailers for it on EVERYTHING. That's probably why it's empty. If you see the trailer you automaticaly do not want to see the movie.
 

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Posted by Ian Price (Member # 14) on 12-27-2002, 12:33 PM:
 
Pinocchio has actually done 236 people over two days. That's a $1,500 gross. That is in no way the worst performing film we have ever had. Heck, it's not the worst performing film this week. This doesn't mean that we don't hate it and will do everything in our power to see it go away next week.

Our worst performing film this month was Just A Kiss which did 10 admissions for a $55 gross for a week. Thank God it was on shows and well buried in the schedule.
 

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Posted by James R. Hammonds, Jr (Member # 673) on 12-27-2002, 01:19 PM:
 
The worst I have personally seen was Dog Park, but I heard that It's Pat did really bad as well.
 

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Posted by Jesse Skeen (Member # 586) on 12-27-2002, 01:36 PM:
 
"The Perez Family" was the only time I remember having zero people show up for a Saturday matinee (afternoon, not 11 AM)
"Flipper" did very poorly where I worked too, even though it apparently was the top-grossing film nationally the week it opened. There were at least 2 days when not a single ticket was sold.
When I worked at a 16-screen, "Pootie Tang" in its 2nd week was the only time I ever saw zero people show up for a Saturday evening show. On Saturday evenings even the worst stuff usually had a few people show up.
We had the trailers for "It's Pat" but I heard the movie only actually got released in 2 theatres (1 in NY, one in LA)- I bought the laserdisc on clearance and thought it was OK though.
 

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Posted by Brad Miller (Member # 2) on 12-27-2002, 01:37 PM:
 
"Another You" with Richard Pryor and Gene Wilder. Did 3 people the entire week. 2 of them walked out with a refund, the third was supposedly "not there" when the lights came up and the ushers went to clean.
 

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Posted by Michael Schaffer (Member # 1204) on 12-27-2002, 02:12 PM:
 
I have seen many movies flop, but somehow "Godzilla" seems to be the one I would spontaneously associate with the word. Probably because of the enormous hype, but it also did really badly at the theater I worked then. I remember sitting in the auditorium (992 seats) with 4 or 5 people on the third day and falling asleep even though it was so loud. I think I only fell asleep during a movie twice in my life. The other one was a Woody Allen movie, one of the Bergmann-likes he did for a while.
 

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Posted by Adam Martin (Member # 641) on 12-27-2002, 02:39 PM:
 
Hmmm ...

Mighty Morphin Power Rangers
Judge Dredd
The Great White Hype
Toys

oh, yeah ... Traces of Red was pulled in less than a week.
 

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Posted by William Leland III (Member # 1400) on 12-27-2002, 03:26 PM:
 
I think "Congo" flopped more than Godzilla.
 

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Posted by Mike Spaeth (Member # 524) on 12-27-2002, 03:46 PM:
 
A Shot At Glory - 7 days - $116.50 (127 admissions)
 

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Posted by Jacob Huber (Member # 1138) on 12-27-2002, 07:23 PM:
 
Beautiful (2000) is the only movie I can think of that has never made it to the second week in our 18 screen, and if I remember, one of the Saturday night shows was a no-sell. Even the worst movies I can think of lasted at least 2 weeks.
 

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Posted by Adam Fraser (Member # 1074) on 12-27-2002, 09:37 PM:
 
Superstar with I believe Molly Shannon of SNL. The only time we have found in 62 years that no one showed up for a showing which I believe was on a Wednesday night.
 

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Posted by Joe Redifer (Member # 3) on 12-27-2002, 09:46 PM:
 
You had "Superstar" for 62 years and only one showing was empty? Wow.


 

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Posted by Scott Norwood (Member # 30) on 12-27-2002, 09:58 PM:
 
Glitter. I don't think I ever saw more than 1-2 people watching that POS. Country Bears actually seemed to do business for some reason.
 

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Posted by Mark Gulbrandsen (Member # 72) on 12-27-2002, 11:04 PM:
 
Michael Shaffer said......"I have seen many movies flop, but somehow "Godzilla" seems to be the one I would spontaneously associate with the word."

Well, there were many very serious technical problems with Godzilla and the most serious one was the fact that the actors lips matched the dialog.......The sound crew just couldn't get it right the last time......
Mark @ CLACO
 

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Posted by Bruce McGee (Member # 131) on 12-28-2002, 09:49 AM:
 
Back in my dim dark past, I remember running "The Great Waltz" (1972) for 4 days for a total of 16 patrons. I was dismayed at this because I am related to one of the stars of the film.

PS: I was one of the patrons for the first show. There was alot of giggling in that big empty theatre. Too bad.

The theatre, The Biltmore Cinema, was a great place with fine sound and Century projectors. The first film that filled its 620 seats was JAWS. Twinned in 1976, it was leveled in 1995.
 

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Posted by Jack Ondracek (Member # 1466) on 12-28-2002, 02:34 PM:
 

quote:

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from Mark:
... many very serious technical problems with Godzilla and the most serious one was the fact that the actors lips matched the dialog

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I don't know, Mark. Godzilla's seeming talent for changing size to fit the scenery, proximity to the "camera" and the size of the current skyscraper he was destroying was a bit of a distraction!
 

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Posted by Rachel Gilardi (Member # 1016) on 12-28-2002, 02:45 PM:
 
I would say Imposter, we had maybe 1 or 2 people come to see it the whole week. I searched IMDB for it and could not find it and as far as I know never got released to video. It was released January 2002.
 

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Posted by Mark Lensenmayer (Member # 134) on 12-28-2002, 03:43 PM:
 
Rachel,

Looks like they used a weird spelling. Is THIS your movie?

Rotten Tomatoes -- The Impostor

and

IMDB -- The Impostor
 

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Posted by Michael Brown (Member # 890) on 12-28-2002, 04:39 PM:
 
The Last Yellow

One Performance

3 people.
 

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Posted by Rachel Gilardi (Member # 1016) on 12-29-2002, 12:53 AM:
 
Yes it is Mark, thanks. That's my fault...remembering now, that is how they spelt it!

Impostor Im*pos"tor, n. L. impostor a deceiver, fr. imponere
to impose upon, deceive. See Impone.
One who imposes upon others; a person who assumes a character
or title not his own, for the purpose of deception; a
pretender. ``The fraudulent impostor foul.'' --Milton.

imposter
n : a person who makes deceitful pretenses syn: impostor, pretender, fake, faker, fraud, sham, shammer, pseudo, pseud, role player

Seems the spelling is my fault. Sorry!
 

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Posted by Paul Konen (Member # 41) on 12-29-2002, 02:17 AM:
 
Antwone Fisher and Adaptation - For new releases.

These two movies were "exclusive", meaning that only 3 theatres in the Dallas / Fort Worth area had it, with my theatre being one of them. Moved them into the smallest house on Day 2 of their opening.

Now, Chicago, on the other hand, same "exclusive" situation, but great results.
 

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Posted by Dennis Benjamin (Member # 1137) on 12-29-2002, 10:51 AM:
 
Oddball Hall

Holy Crap - I cannot believe I remembered the name of it. We ran it for one night - and then it was pulled THE NEXT MORNING. Probably the worst piece of trash on film. I do not think our bookers took the time to research this film. Don Ameche was the star I believe.
 

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Posted by Nate Lehrke (Member # 1460) on 01-03-2003, 02:18 AM:
 
We opened once with 'Glitter' on three screens. Needless to say, it wasn't on a single screen the next week.
 

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Posted by Michael Gonzalez (Member # 593) on 01-03-2003, 12:23 PM:
 
Glitter on THREE SCREENS!?! Wow what film booker thought of that one?
 

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Posted by Mathew Molloy (Member # 666) on 01-03-2003, 02:26 PM:
 
One of our worst was Haiku Tunnel. Usually we'd get a few Japanese girls who'd walk out after fifteen minutes when they realized it was really about some fat guy who worked in an office. The marquee for that cost more than what it made.
 

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Posted by Adam Martin (Member # 641) on 01-03-2003, 04:38 PM:
 
I can top Glitter on three screens ... The Arrival on three screens! I had forgotten about that one.
 

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Posted by Per Hauberg (Member # 529) on 01-05-2003, 07:52 PM:
 
Abel Gance's NAPOLEON - 3 shows - ONE ticket sold
That was nasty - But the film was great (newly restored, then)

p.
 

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Posted by Claude S. Ayakawa (Member # 1401) on 01-05-2003, 08:36 PM:
 
Per,

That is sad! Abel Gance's Napoleon played one night only at the Honolulu's version of the Hollywood Bowl a few years ago. The Waikiki Shell looks like the Los Angeles landmark and the one time performance at this venue attracted a very large audiance. The unique thing about this four hour epic presentation was the use of the Honolulu Symphony orchestra providing live music and a very wide screen. The movie was projected on this screen and presented in almost the same manner as Cinerama. Most of the movie was shot flat and it is only towards the end that the picture expends using the wide canvas. Beside the wide images, there were segments that used split screen when three different images were shown at the same time. I have the movie on a laser disc box set and it is one of my prized posession. I only hope Universal will one day release this movie on DVD but due to poor mainstream public response, the movie might not ever get that treatment.

-Claude
 

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Posted by Paul Konen (Member # 41) on 01-06-2003, 08:01 AM:
 
What was that darn political movie about 4 years ago with Annette Bennings husband? Bulworth?

I remember it playing only 1 day at Tinseltown and then being replaced with another print of something that opened that weekend.
 

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Posted by Michael Schaffer (Member # 1204) on 01-06-2003, 06:39 PM:
 
I also had the unique opportunity to see the restored version of Abel Gance`s "Napoleon" with the 3-projector effect at the end in Berlin. There was a live symphony orchestra conducted by Carmine Coppola. He also wrote the score for the movie, based on what has survived from the original score. BTW I think Carmine is the father of Francis Ford C.

Still, "Napoleon" does not belong in this topic. The performances in Berlin played in a huge hall (maybe 4000-5000 seats) and there were an number of sold-out performances. It is also a movie classic whose success here or in Denmark decades after its first performances can not be counted.
Yes, it`s "Yout theatres biggest-ever B.O. flop". But reprisals of movie classics can not be compared to first runs. I maintain "Godzilla" is the hugest flop ever given the production costs and hype.
 

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Posted by Hillary Charles (Member # 769) on 01-06-2003, 07:22 PM:
 
On one of my nights off, I went to my theater to watch "Pennies From Heaven" with Steve Martin. I don't recall too many people in the audience. After the movie (which I enjoyed, as others walked out), I went up to the booth, and noticed that the shipping reels were in the lower magazines. The other projectionist told me that the next show was the last (on opening weekend). To his delight, I asked to run the last show myself, just on ceremony.
 

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Posted by David Favel (Member # 1125) on 01-06-2003, 10:38 PM:
 
Godzilla performed really well here. The fact that it is # 44 on the all time gross list http://www.boxofficemojo.com/intl/alltime/intl.htm
means that someone else did O.K. out of it too.
 

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Posted by Yul Kim (Member # 1512) on 01-07-2003, 02:29 AM:
 
When I worked for General Cinema, the worst movie had to be " The Trumpet of the Swan". Our wonderful bookers requested it get our largest 526 seat auditorium. We never had to clean it once.
 

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Posted by Nathan Guerriero (Member # 1214) on 01-07-2003, 08:25 PM:
 
Hands down biggest flop: The Spike Lee film "He Got Game." No attendance for the entire two week run. Ouch.
 

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Posted by Jesse Skeen (Member # 586) on 01-08-2003, 01:35 PM:
 
That's strange, He Got Game did very well its first week where I worked. Of course as mentioned before other movies that did well nationally didn't do so well there.
 

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Posted by Rachel Gilardi (Member # 1016) on 01-08-2003, 10:53 PM:
 
Trumpet of the Swan did ok where I used to work, although it was a $1.50 theater, lots of kids!
 

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Posted by Frank Angel (Member # 248) on 01-17-2003, 01:39 AM:
 
Jesse,

In Chicago HE GOT GAME did poorly? That's really surprising. It didn't break any records in NY for sure, but it held its own. It probably made money for Lee's production company.

Some years back we ran THE LITTLE PRINCE. It was the lowest grossing film ever in our house. One adult with 2 kids in a 2500 seat house. We could have given them personalized vallet-usher service.

Frank
 

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Posted by Kathy Roberts (Member # 1410) on 01-17-2003, 02:02 AM:
 
There was some movie out by Dennis Rodman....we had it for a few days since it had 2 people show up the entire weekend. Or there was the famous SLC Punk..which was booked for my theatre and the competition zone theatre...had it for one friday night with 2 customers again...and then it went away.
 

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Posted by Steve Anderson (Member # 364) on 01-22-2003, 09:15 PM:
 
Treasure Planet only did about 2 to 4 people a show.
It was cute to see seven year old kids come out and tell ya the movie SUCKS!
 

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Posted by John Spooner (Member # 1565) on 01-29-2003, 09:12 AM:
 
At our theatres (in Adelaide), the worst film would have been that ridiculous Ali G rubbish. It ran for a week in one of our theatres and then straight off. We did not even pay the power bill. Worst Saturday night takings for a long time.
John Spooner.
 

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Posted by Darren Fox (Member # 1361) on 02-09-2003, 06:31 PM:
 
Our worst film ever had to be Startup.com It had maybe 50 people for the entire week. Luckily, we don't have too many of those coming through, but being an art house we do have our fair share of poor films.
 

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Posted by Nicholas Roznovsky (Member # 861) on 02-09-2003, 07:11 PM:
 
At one of our older theaters (which has since closed), we once showed "Michael Collins" for five days without a single ticket being sold. Our booker had thought Liam Neeson and Julia Roberts would have pulled them in, but instead had to sub it out for a Wednesday release.
 

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Posted by Charles Everett (Member # 889) on 08-25-2003, 06:04 PM:
 
Bumping this up for those who had to play The Real Cancun, From Justin to Kelly, Gigli, Grind and/or Marci X.
 

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Posted by Scott Norwood (Member # 30) on 08-25-2003, 06:40 PM:
 
We didn't play it, but "Gerry" was the worst opening ever at our sister theatre. Too bad, as it was a great film, and one that I would have liked to have seen again.
 

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Posted by Peter Kerchinsky (Member # 1098) on 08-25-2003, 07:37 PM:
 
This one goes back a ways, but a film called "Golden Girl" opened on a Friday in Portland theatres, did poorly, and was gone the following Tuesday. I think Farrah Fawcett was the star, but not sure.
How about "King Kong Lives". A friend who worked another theatre called opening night and said he'd come by early because they had two no shows that night.
 

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Posted by Paul G. Thompson (Member # 655) on 08-25-2003, 08:43 PM:
 
Which one? There were so many box office duds that a calculator is needed to add them up.
 

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Posted by Michael Brown (Member # 890) on 08-26-2003, 08:14 AM:
 

quote:

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me on page 2 wrote:
The Last Yellow

One Performance

3 people.

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Did worse than that just before the summer.

Halloween Resurrection:

1 showing
1 customer

As far I am aware we have never had to cancell a showing because no-body came, but only having 1 person is as close as you get.
 

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Posted by Bill Carter (Member # 156) on 08-26-2003, 08:59 AM:
 
Early this year this theater grossed $27.50 for the week with "Deliver Us From Eva". That's one matinee and three evening admissions total.

As a matter of fact, that was the last week before we took over ownership here. So somebody else took the bath on that one.
 

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Posted by Jason Burroughs (Member # 68) on 08-26-2003, 11:10 AM:
 
The worst that I recall was "Car 54 Where are You?" But then again Orion release a whole bunch of crap heading into Bankrupcy.

I think we did 3 people the entire week. Though Pluto Nash would also earn a spot on this list.
 

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Posted by Robb Johnston (Member # 239) on 08-26-2003, 05:00 PM:
 
A couple from memory,

We had a special event screening of "An affair to Remember" about 2 years ago that no one stayed to watch. There had been some medical or insurance presentation in a rented theatre, with the enticement of staying to watch the flick.

Another location I worked at would run a series of midnight Bollywood flicks, a couple of which had 0 attendance.

All of those occaisions we got our rental fee, and the print was provided so we did okay.

the worst first run release I have dealt with was V.I. Warshawski, which opened on a Friday and closed Tuesday night to make room for Hot Shots Part Deux.

I don't know the grosses for the week for that one, but walking theatres, I never saw more than 1 or 2 people in it if that many.

The producer of that film is doing okay now, he gave up film production to become the owner of the Philadelphia Eagles.

Go Birds

Robb Johnston
 

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Posted by Per Hauberg (Member # 529) on 08-26-2003, 06:12 PM:
 
Since Abel Gance's Napoleon, which I mentioned last time, this thread was up, I have had to major disasters:

Both ran one week - 7 shows (ment to...)

Murder by Numbers - 11 tickets

Banger Sisters - 2 tickets - One the first evening and one the last !

Per
 

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Posted by Travis Hubrig (Member # 1745) on 08-26-2003, 07:24 PM:
 
I remember opening "Trekkies" (1997) and we kept it for a week.
about 20 shows, the total attd. was 12, 10 were paying customers and the other 2 were employees.
 

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Posted by Darryl Spicer (Member # 711) on 08-26-2003, 08:16 PM:
 

quote:

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This one goes back a ways, but a film called "Golden Girl"

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