An Australian cinema complex in the regional town of Emerald, Queensland, is at risk of foreclosure after Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga failed to attract audiences.
Chris Hemsworth’s long-awaited blockbuster is struggling to break even on its $168 million (A$251 million) budget, despite a huge marketing campaign.
Stephen Goddard, manager of Emerald Cinema Complex in QLD, sold just 222 tickets for the struggling epic in its first week and said these disastrous figures could spell the end of his 20-year business.
‘Furiosa is actually a really good movie, but it won’t matter. “I can say with enough confidence that we won’t make it to December,” admitted the business owner, who said a hit movie would typically sell 1,050 tickets in a week.
‘We will probably close. Between 2006 and 2009, the best films sold between 4,500 and 5,000 seats. We got 66,000 seats during that entire period.
An Australian cinema complex in the regional town of Emerald, Queensland, is at risk of foreclosure after the long-awaited Chris Hemsworth blockbuster (pictured) Mad Mad: Furiosa failed to attract audiences. Furiosa is struggling to break even on its $168 million budget.
‘We’ll possibly get 30,000 seats this year if we’re lucky. Our costs have skyrocketed. I don’t understand how we’re still here.
‘We’ll probably close, honestly, and I know Mount Isa (the cinema) is in the same boat. I’ve spoken to them and they are looking at it.’
He added that what was surprising was that Furiosa had received positive reviews from the public and yet failed to attract paying customers.
Goddard also blamed the poor performance of expected hits such as Fall Guy, Planet of the Apes and Indiana Jones for his recent commercial problems.
Australian audiences have not turned out to see the apocalyptic thriller, according to the box office website. number reporting that it earned only $3.3 million in its opening weekend.
Stephen Goddard, director of Emerald Cinema Complex in QLD, said these disastrous figures could mean the end of his 20-year business.
The film has suffered a similar fate in the United States, where it premiered last week.
The four-day Memorial Day holiday weekend is usually one of the biggest box office events of the year, although that wasn’t the case this year.
Furiosa topped the box office with an estimated $25.5 million, via Deadlinewith The Garfield Movie right behind with $24.8 million.
It was the lowest-grossing Memorial Day weekend in 29 years, since Casper topped the box office in late May 1995 with $22 million, not counting the 2020 box office, when theaters were closed due to the shutdown. of COVID-19.
‘Furiosa is actually a really good movie, but it won’t matter. “I can say pretty confidently that we won’t make it to December,” Goddard told NewsWire.
Furiosa screened in 3,804 theaters over the holiday weekend, earning an average of $6,703 (A$10,000) per screen.
The soft debut means there’s a long road ahead for the film, which has a hefty production budget of $168 million, not counting publicity and commercials.
Many box office analysts had projected a debut for Furiosa in the $40 to $50 million range, but, like competing film The Fall Guy, it fell far short of expectations.