Why Sony Needs Its 'Annie' Remake To Do Well
Produced by Will Smith and Jay Z, the film shows the orphan (played by "Beasts of the Southern Wild" Oscar-nominee Quvenzhané Wallis) growing up in a modern-day Harlem with Cameron Diaz starring as the mean orphanage owner.
The trailer for "Annie" isn't awful; however, the snippets we see of Diaz as Ms. Hannigan definitely don't look great.
Many viewers have responded negatively across social media.
Here's a sample of what people are saying about the film on Sony Picture's Facebook page:
Granted there is some positive feedback as well, but so far this isn't good news for Sony.
The studio's most recent release, "Pompeii," a disaster flick about the city's destruction by Mount Vesuvius, bombed opening weekend. The $100 million film made $10 million in theaters.
Though the film is playing out better overseas, in two weeks the film has made $18 million domestically.
While that sounds like a lot, out of the 7 big movie studios, Sony Pictures and Columbia came in fifth behind Warner Bros., Disney, Universal, and Fox. Top-earning studio Warner Bros. brought in $5 billion at theaters.
Among Sony's big releases this year are three sequels: "The Amazing Spider-Man 2," "22 Jump Street," and "Think Like A Man Too" with Hollywood's current hot star, Kevin Hart. Sony is starting to rely heavily on its Spider-Man franchise to bring in money for the studio, recently confirming that spinoff films focusing on villains are in the works.Currently, there is no reported budget for the "Annie" remake. With a planned December release, it's a while away from distribution. However, this early on, Sony may want to rethink the way the film is currently being marketed with less of a focus on Diaz and more of Wallis.