It’s not even been released into cinemas yet, but it’s already been predicted that In The Heart Of The Sea will be another huge flop for Warner Bros. And if it does, it will be the latest in a string of blockbuster films over the last 12 months from the studio that have cost them a hefty sum without returning any profit.
Early predictions from box office experts (via Deadline) are that In The Heart Of The Sea, a nautical adventure from esteemed director Ron Howard and with the leading man presence of Thor himself, Chris Hemsworth, will only open at the measly sum of $10 million this weekend. Which, considering the fact that it cost Warner Bros./Village Roadshow somewhere between $100 million to $105 million to produce, make it quite short of expectations.
In fact, In The Heart Of The Sea, which has been praised by some critics for its epic scale but attacked for its visuals, might even struggle to usurp The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 2, despite the fact that numbers for the final installment of the franchise are rapidly dwindling after three weeks of release. In fact, it’s only expected to gross about $10.5 million this week.
What’s even more alarming for In The Heart Of The Sea is the fact that, with the release of the cinematic tidal wave that is Star Wars: The Force Awakens on December 18, audiences are quickly going to forget about it as well.
There was hope that, after having its release date pushed back from March 13 to December 11, In The Heart Of The Sea would be a box office bonanza for Warner Bros. that would connect with an audience during the holiday season before Star Wars: The Force Awakens is released. Talks have been had with aspiration of In The Heart Of The Sea being an awards season contender as well. The latter was deemed a possibility as it was being released just 2 months before the Oscars, and because it was coming from an Oscar-winning Best Director.
Unfortunately for Warner Bros. neither of these actually seem to be the case, because while the likes of Mad Max: Fury Road, Black Mass, and Creed, are generating a healthy amount of awards season chatter, hardly anyone is talking about In The Heart Of The Sea the same way.
This would be the perfect end to a rather bad year at the box office for Warner Bros. Jupiter Ascending, Pan, and The Man From UNCLE were each huge box office disasters, while only San Andreas and Mad Max: Fury Road grossed over $100 million domestically. Both still took in peanuts compared to the likes of Furious 7, Avengers: Age Of Ultron, Inside Out, and Jurassic World though.
Things could only get worse for the studio, because Point Break’s Christmas Day release isn’t expected to fare much better either. All of which means that even more pressure will be on Batman v Superman: Dawn Of Justice and Suicide Squad to flourish next summer.
