Posted on 03/01/2020 5:28:20 PM PST by EdnaMode
Harrison Ford’s canine adventure “The Call of the Wild” is shaping up to be the latest box office dud for the Disney-owned 20th Century.
The film, based on Jack London’s best-selling novel, has made $45 million in the U.S. and $79 million globally after two weeks in theaters. That wouldn’t be a bad result, had “The Call of the Wild” cost a moderate amount to make and market. However, it carries a price tag above $125 million, meaning the film needs to make between $250 million and $275 million to break even, according to sources close to the production and rival studio executives. Given the unlikeliness that it’ll reach those ticket sales, “The Call of the Wild” is expected to lose around $50 million. TSG co-financed the film, which will help mitigate damages for Disney.
After Disney broke box office records last year with billion-dollar blockbusters like “Avengers: Endgame,” “The Lion King” and “Captain Marvel,” the studio is well positioned to withstand a hit or two. Since formally acquiring 20th Century Fox last year, Disney has jettisoned off a string of box office misfires. Most notably, the company blamed much of its $170 million quarterly write-down in August on “X-Men” spin-off “Dark Phoenix,” a film that cost $200 million and tapped out with $250 million globally. “Underwater” with Kristen Stewart, buddy comedy “Stuber” and the animated “Spies in Disguise” were also theatrical disappointments.
“The Call of the Wild” received mixed reviews from critics, though audiences seemed to like it more and gave it an “A-” CinemaScore. The film debuted to $24.8 million last weekend, ahead of expectations. Box office analysts believe it benefitted as Ford’s first major on-screen film role in years. “The Call of the Wild” declined 46% in its sophomore outing and brought in $13.3 million in North America, an average result for a family film. Internationally, “The Call of the Wild” has made $33 million from 50 foreign markets, representing 91% of its overseas footprint. However, Coronavirus has closed theaters in China, Italy and Korea, which could hinder ticket sales abroad.
“The Call of the Wild” was written by Michael Green (“Logan,” “Blade Runner 2049”) and directed by Chris Sanders. It follows a man (Ford) who crosses paths with a dog named Buck, who was captured from his California home and sold to freight haulers.
I’ve read some books about the serum run. The scene with the dog pulling the team to safety was accurate
Thought about it.
Then thought about his recent anti-Trump curses and rhetoric.
Then decided to “Screw it. I’ll remember the book.”
Yuppers. The pair was the book I got. Call of the Wild (dog to wolf) and White Fang.
The CGI dog stunts looks fake in the previews, then he opened his dumbass mouth and trashed Trump, so I said screw his movie!
“Wasn’t Jack London a socialist?” I didn’t know so I went and looked it up. Yes he was a socialist. But what made him a socialist was large companies hiring cheap foreign labor to cut wages of white men. I’ll give him a pass on that.
In 1910, London also wrote a story called “The unparalleled Invasion”. The Chinese modernize under Japan and then turn around and defeat Japan, Korea, Formosa (Taiwan) and then go on to threaten European colonies. In the end, Ottoman Turks use germ warfare to kill millions of Chinese, ending their expansion. Wonder what Hollywood’s version based on that, would look like.
For what its worth, Jack London was a hard core Socialist.
So by boycotting you’re getting two for the price of one!
Jack London’s books end with death and freezing cold. Great if you have a couch and a warm blanket, but not box office magic.
Awwwwww!
Question:
Did Hollywood slip a gay dude into this movie too?
They probably don’t....I’m guessing that Jack London’s works are not on school reading lists any longer.
The novel - Jack London
The movie script - Michael Greene
He doesn’t care; he already made his money.
Oh, he does care. This film bombing is most likely his obituary as a leading man outside of another Raiders movie.
It was a dog movie...as for a great adventure movie it was not...
must say the computer dogs and wolves were pretty good...
Ford was in the movie maybe a third of it...
Not worth seeing ...not worth a 1.60 at red box....
Disney is on a long downhill side...
Wasn’t Jack London a socialist?
Yep. To this day he’s pretty much an icon among a certain segment of the socialist set.
In fairness to London however, socialism had not really been tried yet during his lifetime. He died in 1916, just a year before Russia became the first country to actually put it in place. We know the rest of the story.
I'm sure it seemed like a good idea at the time.
“A few months ago, I saw Togo from Disney.”
I watched probably less than half of it and had to stop. I just knew something bad was going to happen to Togo...couldn’t watch it happen. I guess I was still traumatized by Old Yeller as a kid. Anyway, the next day, I asked the wife how it ended (she watched the whole thing). She told me it was a happy ending, so I watched the rest. :-)
Great flick.
Yes I think your right......once a Hollywood leftist celebrity speak out politically before a movie release you can bet it’s going to affect the profits.
I laughed out loud when Mayor Pete dropped out tooday....first thing I thought of was Kevin Costner saying “This is His Moment”....which actually passed just a couple weeks after he endorsed Pete! LOL
I started to watch it on Kodi/Exodus and gave up after five minutes.
CGI dogs are just lame.
Just tripped across this. https://www.adn.com/alaska-life/2020/03/02/togo-was-the-true-hero-dog-of-the-serum-run-its-about-time-he-got-his-due/
I heard he’s awful in it.
People are split on the CGI dog.
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