George Clooney is headed for another flop with his latest film, the Jodie Foster-directed financial thriller Money Monster, box office analysts predict.
Money Monster — which stars Clooney as a Jim Cramer-style TV finance guru who is taken hostage on air by a disgruntled viewer — is projected to open in the low-teen million range this weekend, according to tracking estimates in the Hollywood Reporter.
The studio behind the film, Sony/Tristar, projects an even softer opening, at $10 million.
If those estimates hold, it would be a disappointing opening for the star-studded film, which reportedly carried a production budget of $27 million and will open on roughly 3,000 screens.
The film — which reunites Clooney and actress Julia Roberts for the first time since 2004’s Ocean’s Twelve — was set to premiere Thursday night at the Cannes Film Festival in France.
Industry tracking suggests the film will ultimately open in the $12.5 million range, Deadline reported earlier this week.
Money Monster faces stiff competition from the second weekend of Captain America: Civil War, which raked in a staggering $179.1 million in its first weekend of release. The Marvel superhero juggernaut is expected to take in an additional $75 million in its second frame.
Money Monster is just the latest misfire for Clooney, whose Coen Brothers-directed film Hail, Casesar! cratered with an $11.4 million opening weekend in February on its way to a tepid total domestic take of $30 million.
But Hail, Caesar! was more of an ensemble film and was only budgeted at a reported $22 million. The failure of that film was nothing compared to that of Tomorrowland, the $300 million-plus Brad Bird-directed Disney climate change drama that brought in an anemic $41 million from nearly 4,000 theaters over Memorial Day weekend last year. That flop led Disney to take a more than $100 million write-down on the film.
Money Monster is Jodie Foster’s fourth outing in the director’s chair, and the first since 2011’s Mel Gibson-starrer The Beaver. Early reviews for the film are positive, with an early score of 68% at ratings aggregator Rotten Tomatoes. In addition to Clooney and Roberts, the film also stars Jack O’Connell, Dominic West and Giancarlo Esposito.
Money Monster opens Friday, May 12.
Follow Daniel Nussbaum on Twitter: @dznussbaum
COMMENTS
Please let us know if you're having issues with commenting.