Posted on 12/16/2008 10:51:46 AM PST by raccoonradio
The CG animated feature Delgo opened last weekend and nobody went to see it. According to Box Office Mojo, Delgo had the worst opening ever for a film that opened in more than 2,000 theaters earning just $511,290 or $237 per theater.
Moments like this really make one pause and reflect. What is the world coming to when an animated film with the voices of Freddie Prinze Jr., Jennifer Love Hewitt, Chris Kattan, Anne Bancroft, Eric Idle, Val Kilmer, Lou Gossett Jr, Malcolm McDowell, Michael Clarke Duncan, Burt Reynolds and Kelly Ripa isn’t a box office blockbuster? A story that makes sense and visuals that don’t make you want to heave are quaint touches, but the filmmakers behind Delgo understood where it really counted: celebrity voice actors. They hired every B- and C-list actor this side of Dancing With the Stars and somehow still failed. You know the recession is affecting Americans deeply when they no longer want to see Chris Kattan and Kelly Ripa voicing their CG characters.
Here’s a little taste of what all of America missed last weekend.
We saw a preview when we went to see Bolt on Thanksgiving day. Previews have been all over the tv.
My girls are 11 and 8. The older one thought it looked too intense. The younger one was not interested at all.
And here’s another computer generated animation “success” story (yeah right), DOOGAL! (2005/2006 in US)
from Wikipedia:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Magic_Roundabout_(film)
>>In 2006, the film was released in the US as “Doogal”. As of March 16, 2006, it grossed a total of 7.2 million dollars in the United States, which is considered exceptionally low by CGI animated film standards (the average domestic gross for a computer animated film is $134,571,721). In the North American version of the film, where audiences are unfamiliar with the series, the majority of original British voices have been replaced by celebrities more familiar to the American public, such as Jon Stewart and Chevy Chase. Only two original voices remained - those of Kylie Minogue and Ian McKellen.
>>The US version also featured narration by Judi Dench and a new storyline made to accommodate multiple pop culture references and flatulence jokes (neither of which were present in the original release). Americans panned the movie. It has a 2.7/10 score on IMDb, a 7% approval rating from Rotten Tomatoes, an F rating from Entertainment Weekly magazine, and is considered to be one of the worst animated films of all time. After being advertised for a short time, its distribution ceased, but is widely carried in United States retail outlets such as Safeway as a children’s DVD in retail stores and rental shops.
“I never even heard of it. Anyone else?”
Haven’t heard of it and wouldn’t watch it for free.
In a world where everyone carrying an Y chromosome is portrayed as incompetent ...
When the Delgo trailer came on she looked at me, wrinkled her nose, stuck her hand out and gave it the thumbs down.
I'll take her word and save my money.
See my post 26.
My 9 year old agrees with your 8 year old.
...ONE MAN...
Nope. Maybe that’s a reason it did so poorly...
Colonel, USAFR
All Jar-Jar. All the time!
"Me-sa wants you-sa drive less. Okey-dokey?"
BTW, Wikipedia notes "It holds the record for worst wide release opening ever with total earnings of $511,920." That's pretty bad when gross receipts barely pass half a mil.
You’re nine-year-old has good taste.
I fell asleep in the theater for most of that one, looks like I didn’t miss much.
Nope, apparently this film maker/studio forgot about MARKETING.
>>Nope, apparently this film maker/studio forgot about MARKETING.<<
We’ve seen the commercial for this about a BILLION times on Cartoon Network and Boomerang.
Although that was half as many times as we saw the commercial for Prince Caspian on Disney.
I thought Paris Hilton made a movie that crashed HORRIBLY at the theaters, supposedly the worst of all time. Apparently this one tops that.
Don’t have cable, so if you don’t advertise on networks or broadcast its an empty marketing campaign as far as I’m concerned.
This film is rated PU.
She did and this was her last acting performance even though it was just voice.
JB
I saw some previews for it. Looked bad, boring cookie cutter story. Not terribly surprised it crashed.
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