The much-overhyped and overblown epic about Alexander the Great has fallen flat on its face; not because of the acting, but because of sexuality. For those that don't know, Alexander is portrayed in the film as a bisexual.
The studio must have realized that this would be a social test that could go either way, so the smart money would have been to have a smaller budget, and see how it went. But instead they rammed $155 million into the production of the film and $55 million into promoting it and hoped for the best. It appears they got the worst.
Box Office Mojo reports that as of today, November 29th, the film grossed $21 million.
Here are some other films with big budgets that made it because they were more acceptable to a wider audience:
Lord of the Rings: Return of the King....$144 million to make & market, made $377 million (U.S.), $1.1 billion (worldwide). Opening weekend in U.S.: $72 million.
Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers...$139 million to make & market, made $326 million (U.S.), $926 million (worldwide). Opening weekend in U.S.: $62 million
Lord of the Rings: Fellowship of the Ring...$143 million to make & market, made $314 million (U.S.), $871 million (worldwide). Opening weekend in U.S.: $47 million.
Titanic...$240 million to make & market, made $600 million (U.S.), $1.8 billion (worldwide). Opening weekend in U.S.: $28 million. This one was a gamble too, but Leo's star power and James Cameron's attention to detail made it work.
Braveheart...$72 million to make, made $75 milion (U.S.), $210 million (worldwide). Opening weekend in U.S.: $9 million.
Though I am loathe to admit it, the studio should have followed Michael Moore's example with Fahrenheit 9/11 ($9 million to produce, $15 million to market, $100 million plus in ticket sales in the U.S. , $100 million plus worldwide for a total of $220 million in ticket sales.) Bush-bashing was/is very popular worldwide, but Moore was smart enough to keep his budget down. As much as I disliked his distortions and hatred, it was targeted at a specific (unhealthy) emotion that was present in the American and global public before the election.
But with Alexander, the studio took a huge gamble and missed the mark. The only thing that can save the studio from a loss will be if the movie is a hit in other Western nations, which it could well be.
Re-imagining the Alamo didn't work either. They spent $75 million on making it, and made $25 million worldwide. I liked this film as I thought it was more realistic than what American history has made it out to be over the years. The "Was Davey Crockett captured and executed?" debate continues to rage on.
The lesson here is for movie studios to go conservative on the budget with their movies that have controversial issues. Better yet, don't even produce movies that contain raging social issues as they will be perceived as having a political agenda as "Alexander" is being described in some circles.
(All the figures above come from www.boxofficemojo.com)
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