While 2016 was a pretty big year at the box office, there were still some miserable failures. In particular, there are five films that performed so poorly, they tripped over their own feet right out of the gate.
In a couple of cases, landing a place on this list made for an ignominious end to already troubled histories. As for the others, well, sometimes the dice just don't land the way you hope they will. In all cases, the five films that were listed as the worst starters of the year (after opening in more than 1,000 theaters) are films you probably don't remember. Thanks to Exhibitor Relations' Twitter feed, you'll probably remember them for about another week!
5. Morgan
Opening Weekend Gross: $2 million
The market for genetic experiment movies just isn't what it used to be. While Jurassic World took the world by storm last summer, Morgan couldn't even muster buzz, either positive or negative, at the beginning of September. The doldrums of summer usually provide a good window for untested films to bust out onto the scene and make a difference. Morgan somehow couldn't manage to do that, despite a notable cast, and a story that sounded like it was almost a carbon copy of Ex Machina.
4. Rules Don't Apply
Opening Weekend Gross: $1.6 million
After more than a decade of being absent from the Hollywood scene, Warren Beatty was supposed to make his big comeback with his Howard Hughes-centered romp, Rules Don't Apply. Judging by the opening weekend's grosses though, it sounds like the invitations to the public got lost in the mail. Another big setback for Fox this year, the supposed romantic comedy's mixed tone showed in its marketing, which probably scared more potential audience members than it attracted.
3. The Disappointments Room
Opening Weekend Gross: $1.4 million
Thanks to the fallout of the Relativity bankruptcy / sale drama that ruled the company's fate last year, a lot of projects of theirs bombed after delayed release dates, with some of them still not being released to the public. The Disappointments Room probably wishes it was one of those unreleased films, as it lived up to its name with a pretty, well, disappointing showing. Kate Beckinsale will be fine though, as Underworld: Blood Wars should help audiences forget that she was involved with this ill-fated project.
2. Jane Got A Gun
Opening Weekend Gross: $835,572
Jane Got A Gun was a film that almost didn't get made, what with cast members and directors abandoning the film as if it were their job. Believe it or not, the film was actually released in theaters. We only say that, because based on the fact that this is the first film on our list that didn't crack $1 million with its opening, it seems like a lot of people forgot. In case you're curious, the film is available on Netflix's streaming queue, and it's worth a look.
1. The Bronze
Opening Weekend Gross: $386,328
And then we come to the big loser of the year, at least as far as opening weekends are concerned. The Bronze took the Gold in this year's worst opening Olympics, with the ceremonies failing to even match half a million dollars. Though we can't fault the film too hard, as it was another victim of the Relativity drama of last year, and it was handed its head by competition like Zootopia and 10 Cloverfield Lane. Still, one would have thought that with the buzz the film had pre-release, it would have stuck a better landing than it did.
