Astroboy...HUGE box office BOMB!!!

[Hector]

It cost $65 million to make...and it was released in 3000 movie theaters.

Most insiders predicted it was going to be a sure number one champ in its first opening week.

Well...

In its first weekend...it made a paltry $7 million...and finished in 6th place.

"Astro Boy," which animation studio Imagi Entertainment produced at a
cost of $65 million, opened to a dismal $7 million. Summit
Entertainment distributed the movie, which drew a very modest family
crowd and will be a tough blow for Hong Kong-based Imagi, which was
financing its own movie for the first time.

The reviews have not been pretty for Astro Boy.

Heads will be rolling in this one...

[toys2cool]

lol! dam, but who the hell spends $65 mil on that? I'm sorry but that was stupid

[AUSSIE-Rebooted-AMM]

UG! (space filler dues to 6 character posting limit)!

[Meule]

Anyone thinking that would've been a box office hit needs to lay off the meds

[Gorn Captain]

I wonder how it will do in Japan, where Astroboy is an icon?

[SlipperyLilSuckers]

What a shame. I think I will go see it anyway.

[jds1911a1]

Astro boy's american high water mark in popularity (other than the original airings) was the ealry days of the anime craze of the 80's. I like astroboy boy ALOT and was really loooking forward to the film but was waiting for the post opening weekend crowds to die down guess that wasn't really a problem.

[Earth 2 Chris]

Apparently McDonalds had confidence in it. They have Happy Meal toys from the movie right now. My son really wants to see it. I guess I'd better take him this weekend before they pull it!

Between this and Speed Racer, I think it's safe to say American audiences just don't care for movies based on Japanese toons. Don't expect a Battle of the Planets movie any time soon.

Chris

Chris

[censy]

too bad

Being a huge fan of Osamu Tezuka (Astro’s creator), I will go see this. Though I must admit, it doesn’t look great and the reviews aren’t very encouraging.

Chris, there actually is a Gatchaman/Battle of the Planets film in the works I hear. I think there was a sneak peek at San Diego Comic Con.

Chris

[Mikey]

You guys seem to all know and love the original, but I never heard of it.

I also know for a fact none of my buddies in school heard of it or have seen it either ... This would be between 1970 and 1979 ... If any of them did see it we would have talked about it at least once.

This leads me to believe the show (the original) is/was not as popular in the United States as some believe.

The movie-makers probably based their viewing and popularity facts (of the original) on a few fan-boys who might have seen it in their particular area... which was probably a big mistake... This probably hyped them up to spend a zillion dollars thinking they would make it back.

As an example
I could go around and find a handful of Americans who love Rocket Robin Hood, but that doesn't mean 99.999% of the country has ever heard of it.

A nostalgic movie like this needs parents who know the original so they want to take their kids to the remake... This didn't happen in this case.

That's why I think this movie bombed

[megoscott]

The marketing of this seemed pretty lame to me.

[Toy Talk]

Astro Boy Who?

I have six children who go and see nearly every kids related movie that comes out. Not because I demand they do, but because they harass me until they get to go. Although they have seen the media blitz for Astro Boy, not once have any of them asked to go see it; that is even after playing with the McDonald's toys. I guess maybe the generation gap was too great of a void to jump. Either that or Astro Boy does not have the appeal here in the U.S. that he has in Hong Kong. Who knows.

Predicting a winning movie is never a science.

[jessica]

My kids went to see it yesterday and they enjoyed it. I chose to do something else. They said the neatest thing about Astroboy was that he had guns in his butt. That doesn't sound very appealing.

[Gorn Captain]

What works for the Japanese, not always works for the West.
Astroboy is a lot of fun, but you have to adapt yourself to a very different kind of style.
Over here, baseball isn't popular at all.
Doesn't mean it's no good, we're just not used to it.
And I guess only the British like cricket.

[Mikey]

What works for the Japanese, not always works for the West.
.

Yea, vending machines selling real school girl panties would just not fly in America