One of the most valuable pieces of advice that can be given in any competitive realm is the age old wisdom that they can’t all be winners. In the world of movies, that is definitely something that gets the attention of those who watch the market carefully, and it looks like this past weekend awarded 2019 its greatest cratering of the year so far. And it’s all because Poms couldn’t stick the landing.
Some specifics pertaining to Poms’ spectacular failure set this particular scene a little better. In particular, the film’s $5 million opening is the lowest for a film that’s opened on 2,700+ screens in wide release. This is against the backdrop of the film’s estimate $10 million budget, on a Mother’s Day weekend that saw the film compete against the likes of Pokemon: Detective Pikachu and The Hustle. The only newcomer that sank below the low water mark that Poms set in theaters was Tolkien, which opened on fewer screens, but only pulled in $2.2 million.
Intended to be a feel-good comedy about a group of women, led by Diane Keaton, who decide to start a cheerleading team in a retirement community, Poms hasn’t exactly been doing well with its reviews either. Sitting at a 32% on Rotten Tomatoes, the film does have an advantage in one respect: it outperformed The Hustle’s 17% Fresh rating in the same opening weekend.
Our own Eric Eisenberg saw Poms himself, and his response to the film was pretty much in line with the consensus of those reviewing the film. His review can be summed up with the following remarks:
There is hardly a single underdog sports movie cliché that isn’t employed at some point, and it’s difficult to feel entirely engaged with the story when you know exactly how every single scene is going to begin and end.
What makes this particular piece of news all the more upsetting for Poms’ parent studio, STX Entertainment, is that as Business Insider points out in its analysis, it’s a continuation of a pretty upsetting trend for the company’s release slate. It was just last weekend that the studio’s animated musical-comedy Uglydolls underperformed, with only $16 million of the film’s $45 million price tag being recouped through cinematic receipts thus far.
The one bright spot in STX’s fortunes has remained The Upside, which was released this past January, and rode a surprise wave of success that saw the Bryan Cranston/Kevin Hart dramedy sail to $122 million on a $37.5 million budget. However, Poms has now sent the studio plummeting back to Earth, waiting to see what the future holds.
STX Entertainment still has some pieces on the board that could make some surprise splashes in 2019. The studio’s next two films, the Chadwick Boseman-starring 21 Bridges and the Katie Holmes-led horror sequel Brahms: The Boy 2 have particular brands of thrills that might attract audiences to the movies this summer, putting this unfortunate setback behind the studio once and for all.
Poms is in theaters now, should you have missed it at the movies this past weekend. But if you’re looking for something else to go see at the movies, don’t forget to check out our 2019 release schedule, to see what else is playing.
