Blame it on the big green ogre. DreamWorks has been spoiled by its outlandish influx of money from the Shrek movies, and they have grown to expect an instant goldmine every time.
Well, not this one. According to Animation Magazine, Flushed Away has failed to thrill at the box office, prompting DreamWorks to end its partnership with animation studio Aardman. Just how bad is it? DreamWorks invested approximately $142.9 million in the movie, and it’s only made approximately $39 million the past 2 weeks.
However, DreamWorks may be pulling the plug a bit too quickly on this one. Flushed Away has only seen a 12% dropoff from its opening weekend, and it hasn’t even hit international markets yet—it will debut in France on Nov. 29, in the U.K. on Dec. 1, and other countries thereafter. Plus, Aardman's previous film Wallace & Gromit: Curse of the Were-Rabbit took a little time to get moving, but eventually raked in $192.4 million worldwide.
In an era where T.V. shows get cancelled after 2 episodes because of low ratings, it’s no wonder that similar knee-jerk reactions are happening in the movie world. Everyone wants their money, and they want it yesterday.
