What happened with 'Ambulance,' one of Michael Bay's best-reviewed movies that disappointed at the box office

• Michael Bay's new action movie "Ambulance" underperformed at the box office in its opening weekend.
• Unless word of mouth is strong, it could struggle in the coming weeks.

An action movie from a proven hitmaker. Hollywood stars. Decent critic reviews. Years ago, this would have been enough to sell a new theatrical release.

Today, audiences seem to be more selective about what they spend money on in theaters, a trend that had been evident before the pandemic, but has been accelerated further by it.

The latest victim of this shift in moviegoing is "Ambulance," director Michael Bay's latest action spectacle starring Jake Gyllenhaal and Yahya Abdul-Mateen II. The movie, which Bay has said was made on a $40 million budget, earned $8.7 million at the US box office in its opening weekend — below the $10 million the studio Universal was expecting.

Even with a modest budget, especially by Bay standards, the outlook for the movie isn't great. It's earned $33 million globally so far. Unless word of mouth is tremendous and it has robust legs in the coming weeks, "Ambulance" will go down as a box-office flop.

The movie's performance has raised questions about the future of original action, adult-oriented movies in theaters.

Bay's last movie, "6 Underground," was released on Netflix, where it was the streamer's No. 9 most-watched movie ever by viewing hours in its first month. It was also torn apart by critics, and had a 36% Rotten Tomatoes critic score.

By contrast, "Ambulance" has been received much more warmly by critics, with a 69% critic score. In fact, based on Rotten Tomatoes scores only, it's his best-reviewed movie, topping the 68% for his 1996 film "The Rock."

The Atlantic's David Sims called 'Ambulance' a "strong entry in Bay's maximalist canon, his best assault on the senses since his underrated 2013 comic thriller, 'Pain and Gain.'"

Moviegoers who have seen it also quite liked it. It has an 88% user score on Rotten Tomatoes and received an A- grade from CinemaScore, which surveys audiences on a movie's opening night. Word of mouth could still give the film legs at the box office.

But it also has more competition coming with the third "Fantastic Beasts" movie this weekend, "The Northman" next weekend, and Marvel's "Doctor Strange" sequel on May 6.

So, what happened with "Ambulance"? It may not necessarily mean the death of original action movies in theaters, but a few notable factors likely contributed to its underwhelming box office.

Michael Bay isn't as bankable at the box office as he once was

One major reason the movie underperformed could be that Bay (and the film's movie stars) don't have as much pull with audiences as they once did.

Bay used to be a reliably bankable director.

• "Armageddon" was the No. 2 movie in the US in 1998 with over $200 million.
• "Pearl Harbor" was the seventh highest-grossing movie in the US in 2001 with nearly $200 million.
• His five "Transformers" movies made about $1.6 billion in the US combined.

But each "Transformers" movie made less money than the one before it in the US, beginning with the third entry, "Dark of the Moon."

And Bay's last non-"Transformers" theatrical release, "13 Hours," made $69 million worldwide off of a $50 million budget.

In an industry dominated by franchise IP, few directors can sell a movie based on name alone.

The theatrical market may not be able to sustain multiple major releases in one weekend

"Counterprogramming" also may not have as much power in this current pandemic-raddled theatrical market as it once did.

Overall, the theatrical market is still far from pre-pandemic levels, even though the overall box office is up 391% compared to this time in 2021, according to Comscore, thanks to films like "Dog," and the blockbuster "The Batman."

Before the pandemic, when the theatrical-release schedule was full of new films, studios would try to release movies against others that might attract different audiences.

But theaters struggled heading into 2022 with fewer releases from the major studios compared to pre-pandemic years, as media companies focused more on their streaming businesses and the pandemic continued to delay films.

This past weekend, though, multiple major wide releases went up against each other.

Universal released "Ambulance" on the same weekend as "Sonic the Hedgehog 2," which earned an impressive $72 million in its debut — the biggest for a video-game adaptation in the US. It didn't lift any other movies up with it.

While "Sonic 2" appeals to kids and families, a demographic that has been slow to return to theaters, it also appeals to male fans who grew up with the video games. The audience for "Sonic 2" in its first weekend was 57% male, according to Box Office Pro, meaning a large of chunk of the potential audience for "Ambulance" likely saw "Sonic" instead.

With audiences having more to watch at home than ever before, and the pandemic still impacting theatrical attendance, it might be a while before we see a theatrical market that can sustain multiple major competing releases.