UPDATE: AP confirms: “Green Zone” opens to a dismal $14.5 million.
The moral of the story? If you’re going to trash America and the troops, use Smurfs.
Universal’s “Green Zone” became the latest Iraq War-themed movie to fall down the box office rabbit hole, debuting to just $5 million in the U.S. and Canada Friday, according to studio estimates. …
“Green Zone” could find little traction, getting out to a pace that will give it less than $15 million for its premiere weekend.
That would be even less than the modest pre-release expectations for the $100 million film, which reteams star Matt Damon and director Paul Greengrass, who worked on the Universal’s last two “Jason Bourne” franchise installments. The film was put into production during the co-chair term of Marc Shmuger and David Linde.
Read the full story here.
Compare that to the opening weekend figures for the two previous collaborations between director Paul Greengrass and Damon:
Bourne Supremacy: $52.5 million
Bourne Ultimatum: $69.2 million
Gee, I wonder what the difference was?