So the retina-scarring nightmare that was “Speed Racer” shit the bed as we hoped and predicted it would. “Iron Man” topped the box-office again (earning $50.5 million in its second week) and the $160-million dollar-costing ‘Racer,’ chugged into a dismal second place with $20.2 million. “Our tracking was stalled toward the end,” said Dan Fellman, president of Warner Bros. who may or may not have been using unintentionally ironic and amusing sports-racing metaphors. “Unfortunately it didn’t perform to our expectations.”
But Nikki Finke (via Vulture; thanks for the image too) says other studios are claiming that even Warner Bros.’ shitty-looking Ashton Kutcher vehicle “What Happens in Vegas…” outperformed ‘Racer’ at the box-office and that WB inflated the numbers to save face and make the flop of their first tent-pole movie aside a dumb rom-com (which really shouldn’t be able to match it box-office-wise) seem less embarrassing.
“Their estimate is utterly laughable!,” a top exec at a rival studio told Finke (Vulture assume it’s 20th Century Fox).
Ouch, if this is true, it is rather painfully embarrassing. An Ashton Kutcher film with Cameron Diaz that has a Rotten Tomatoes rating of 27%??? (Then again that audience give’s a flying rat’s ass about reviews). Someone over at WB is being fired as we speak, count on it.
At least WB apparently aren’t trying to juke the stats all that much. “That being said, from what I’ve heard, they are not trying to dress up the pig. They’re resigned to it being a disaster… just not enough to stop them from fabricating a number to jump Fox for the #2 position,” the source told Finke.
You know we did call it from day one and we assumed it would be a flop, but man, this is like Titanic-level disaster (*snicker*).
I read somewhere that Robert Downey, Jr.’s wife is a higher-up within the production company responsible for Speed Racer. I wonder how things have been going in Downey household these past few days.
Great sex.
I too, call this movie to be a dismal failure and I’m thrilled that it was.
I was and am a huge fan of the original Speed Racer cartoon and this movie is just another in a long line of thoughtless adaptations which ultimately ruin what was once a happy childhood rememberance.
The title to the posting should have read, “Speed Racer Crashes and Burns.”
Cheers!!
most of the chick flicks i’ve seen with Ashton Kutcher have been at least halfway decent, A Lot Like Love is one example
Patrick,
Seek help.
xo