Johnny Depp’s latest film, Alice Through the Looking Glass, tanked at the domestic box office over the Memorial Day holiday weekend as calls to boycott the actor over his alleged physical abuse of wife Amber Heard continued to grow louder on social media.
According to Deadline, Alice is projected to take in $34.1 million over the four-day holiday weekend, roughly half of the $60 million that industry analysts had predicted as late as this week.
The sequel to 2010’s Alice in Wonderland earned a paltry $8.1 million on Sunday, down 11 percent from Saturday; the film has performed even more poorly than Disney’s 2015 Memorial Day weekend release mega-bomb Tomorrowland, which earned $42.7 million over the four-day holiday frame but cost substantially more to make.
Alice carried a $170 million price tag before marketing and promotional costs.
The numbers for Alice were a little better overseas, where it topped the international box office with an estimated $65 million to bring its total overseas take to $99.1 million. But any way the numbers are cut, the film is a huge bust for Disney, which has otherwise enjoyed a strong year.
Industry analysts maintain that the controversy surrounding the alleged domestic violence accusations against the film’s star, Johnny Depp, did not play a factor in the film’s poor opening. But calls for a boycott of the film have intensified over the weekend as sensational headlines over Depp’s divorce from wife Amber Heard have made international news.
https://twitter.com/sammyanderson63/status/737005175810981888
https://twitter.com/lucynosurname/status/736338869055070208
Heard, a model and actress who met Depp on the set of 2011’s The Rum Diary, appeared in California court Friday to allege that the Pirates of the Caribbean star was verbally and physically abusive toward her for the majority of their 15-month-long marriage.
Photos of Heard’s bruised face, which she claimed was sustained after Depp wound up his arm “like a baseball pitcher” and threw a cell phone at her, were widely circulated on the Internet over the weekend.
The 30-year-old actress filed for divorce from Depp on Monday. Depp has vehemently denied the abuse allegations.
Meanwhile, X-Men: Apocalypse led the Memorial Day weekend box office with a $65.3 million three-day opening. The film is estimated to pull in just north of $80 million for the four-day frame.
Follow Daniel Nussbaum on Twitter: @dznussbaum
COMMENTS
Please let us know if you're having issues with commenting.