Entertainment
- Warner Bros.' "The Goldfinch" made $2.6 million domestically over the weekend, the worst box-office debut of the year for a movie opening in over 2,500 theaters.
- The movie cost $45 million to make, so it will struggle to earn back its budget.
- It's another disappointing result for Warner Bros. While "It: Chapter Two" won the weekend, the studio released back-to-back flops last month.
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Warner Bros. won the weekend box office again with "It: Chapter Two," but its latest release dramatically crashed and burned.
"The Goldfinch," an adaptation of the 2013 Pulitzer Prize-winning novel of the same name, debuted over the weekend with $2.6 million domestically. It's the worst opening weekend of the year so far for a movie premiering in over 2,500 theaters and the sixth-worst opening of all time for a movie opening in that many theaters.
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To make matters worse, "The Goldfinch" cost $45 million to make (before marketing costs), so it will struggle to earn back its budget, especially with the international box office also lacking. The movie made a combined $985,000 in 12 international markets over the weekend, according to Box Office Mojo.
The movie entered theaters with terrible reviews, which didn't help its chances. It has a 25% critic score on Rotten Tomatoes. Indiewire called it a "gauzy, bloated slab of Oscar bait." The Washington Post wrote that it's "overstuffed, overlong, and utterly uninvolving."
"The Goldfinch" is the latest bomb for Warner Bros. in a lackluster year. It released two devastating flops in back-to-back weekends last month with "The Kitchen" and "Blinded by the Light," and its tentpole $200 million summer release, "Godzilla: King of the Monsters," disappointed.
While "It: Chapter Two" is currently dominating the box office, the studio still needs another win. It will likely get it when "Joker" premieres next month.