Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE: Box office disaster: 'Oogieloves' has the worst opening weekend of all time

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Posted by System Notices (Member # 2357) on 09-03-2012, 10:51 PM:

Entertainment Weekly

by Grady Smith

OOGIELOVES-BALLOON-ADVENTURE

After its inauspicious opening Wednesday, when the bizarre kiddie flick The Oogieloves in the BIG Balloon Adventure earned a shockingly low $47 average at each theater, it looked like it could be headed for the worst opening weekend of all time for a film playing in over 2,000 theaters.

Well, it happened.

According to studio estimates, the colorful toddler-targeting entry, which is being distributed by Kenn Viselman Presents (Viselman formerly found massive success as producer of The Teletubbies), earned a truly awful $448,131 from 2,160 theaters in its debut three-day weekend.

That gross yielded a per theater average of $207. Yes, you’re reading that correctly: $207!

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Just how low is that? Let’s pretend that the average ticket price for each customer was about $7 this weekend. That would mean that only 30 people saw Oogieloves at each theater — across all its showings — over the past three days.

The film, which stars a series of creepy costumed characters with names like Toofie, Zoozie, and Goobie, as well as a vacuum cleaner named J. Edgar (and not to mention Jamie Pressly, Cary Elwes, Christopher Lloyd, and Toni Braxton, whose heart will never unbreak now), cost $20 million to produce, and another reported $40 million to promote. Was the marketing money well spent? Judge for yourself in the trailer below:

Oogieloves trailer

Oogieloves steals the opening weekend “record” from Delgo, the misguided 2008 animation, which earned only $511,920 in its opening weekend from (cue scary Phantom of the Opera chord progression) 2,160 theaters — the same number as Oogieloves. There’s gotta be some sort of curse around that theater count.

Now, let me turn this hilarious story (if you’re a box office nerd like me) over to you, readers. Did you even know Oogieloves was coming out? Were you possibly one of the people who saw it this weekend? Are you surprised it bombed this badly?

Posted by Brent Francis (Member # 5008) on 09-04-2012, 08:12 AM:

Saw the ad (repeatedly). Thought it was a live kids show until the 3rd/4th time when I noticed the credits. Even as a live kids show, it looked like it would have been awful.

Posted by Mike Blakesley (Member # 26) on 09-04-2012, 09:43 AM:

They actually gave away a CAR to promote this piece of junk at CinemaCon. I don't claim to always be able to spot a bomb but in this case I knew it the minute I saw the poster.

Posted by Shawn M. Martin (Member # 6762) on 09-04-2012, 05:21 PM:

This thing is proof that you don't have to die to go to Hell.

We had the trailer on Madagascar 3. Kids and parents alike thought it was crap.

Posted by Caleb Johnstone-Cowan (Member # 3710) on 09-04-2012, 05:31 PM:

Is this based on an existing show on US TV?

Posted by Monte L Fullmer (Member # 2797) on 09-05-2012, 03:54 AM:

No, an original idea, but it's been in the can since 2009 ... and they should have left it there.. or just released it straight to home video.

...and I thought Barney was bad

-Monte

Posted by Edward Havens (Member # 4715) on 09-05-2012, 11:32 AM:

The guy behind the Oogieloves, Kenn Viselman, was a marketing executive for Thomas the Tank Engine and The Teletubbies, and he thought he could do his own children's series. I guess he learned the hard way that creating a successful television series for small children is not the same as creating a successful movie for small children. Could it be because a parent could just plop the kid in front of the Boob Tube and go do their own thing, while a parent must sit through this type of garbage in a movie theatre?

Posted by Mike Blakesley (Member # 26) on 09-05-2012, 12:44 PM:

You'd think some of the investors or board members or whatever would have taken one look at this and said, "this is going to suck...let's cut our losses and go right to Nickelodion with it." But no, they drop $40 million into marketing thinking that's going to solve the problem.

Didn't they show it to a test audience with real kids?

Posted by Richard Fowler (Member # 893) on 09-05-2012, 01:49 PM:

I saw the trailer on my last cinema visit.......I thought it was a "joke"...the audience did a little WTF groan at the end of the ad.

Posted by Edward Havens (Member # 4715) on 09-06-2012, 10:03 AM:

Mike, I don't think Mr. Viselman had any additional investors or board members. My understanding is that he alone financed the movie and created his own distribution company to release it.

What's even scarier?

Mr. Viselman has plans to make a second Oogieloves movie for release next August, and the abject failure of the first film theatrically has not dissuaded him from going through with it.

Posted by Jim Henk (Member # 3628) on 09-07-2012, 11:04 AM:

quote: Edward Havens
Mr. Viselman has plans to make a second Oogieloves movie for release next August

Head trauma must be an awful thing. We should wish Mr. Viselman a speedy recovery. [Roll Eyes]

Posted by Bruce McGee (Member # 131) on 09-07-2012, 12:08 PM:

I knew nothing about this bomb until it hit the theatre. 60 million dollars for this? Wow.

"It's the BEST MOVIE EV-ERR!!!" (This is from the voice box in the lobby standee.)

Teletubbies was so gentle and sweet to watch....

I've heard that no 35mm film was harmed in the making of this thing.

Posted by Justin West (Member # 920) on 09-10-2012, 12:11 AM:

Bruce: No 35mm film may have been harmed...but a lot was wasted with this movie! [puke]

Posted by Robert Crabtree (Member # 4795) on 02-26-2013, 03:29 PM:

My local theatre had promo bags and cups for this clunker. On first sight I thought "Ewww". I was fortunate to never sit through the trailer though.

Posted by John Roddy (Member # 7348) on 02-26-2013, 06:55 PM:

I still have two unopened cases of the promotional glow wands they sent us for the opening weekend. They only last for a minute or two before fading out almost completely, but it's still a lot of fun to light one or two of 'em up every now and then. [Big Grin]

Posted by Frank Cox (Member # 6258) on 02-26-2013, 07:06 PM:

Because waving a glow stick around in a theatre auditorium is just what's needed....

Posted by Marcel Birgelen (Member # 6801) on 03-02-2013, 10:10 AM:

quote: Edward Havens
Could it be because a parent could just plop the kid in front of the Boob Tube and go do their own thing, while a parent must sit through this type of garbage in a movie theatre?

I guess you're absolutely right. There is an easy fix for it although.

They just forgot the hot chicks in this one. Daddy isn't going with the kids, because there is absolutely nothing to see for him...

A Belgian production company called Studio 100 produces a lot of this drivel targeted at children and they're quite successful in doing so. They never forget to put in a few hot chicks in some tight superhero suits...

Posted by Steve Moore (Member # 4753) on 09-21-2013, 03:16 PM:

It looks Oogustastilisious or something daft like that. Perhaps it needed a catchy there tune like teletubbies; or then again not.

Or possibly everyone is waiting for Oogust?s

Posted by Justin Hamaker (Member # 2165) on 10-27-2013, 07:48 PM:

We had several cases of the glow sticks left over which we handed out at our drive-in this summer. They were a huge hit with the kids. There was probably more value from that than there was from the gross of the movie.

Posted by Randy Pryde (Member # 7488) on 10-27-2013, 09:49 PM:

A year has gone by since this film opened. Has anyone received their VPF payment?