Warner Bros’ hopes of building a franchise based on a once-popular 1960s TV series now seem mission: impossible.
Director Guy Ritchie’s The Man From U.N.C.L.E is an instant flop, opening with just $1.6 million in Australia and $US13.4 million in the US last weekend.
Against the trend of a soft weekend at Oz cinemas, Icon’s Last Cable to Darwin showed great resilience, dipping by just 11 per cent and taking $1 million in its second weekend.
Jeremy Sims’ road movie starring Michael Caton, Mark Coles Smith and Jacki Weaver has pocketed $3 million and, driven by word of mouth, could finish with $5 million- $6 million.
Among other local titles still in release, Mad Max: Fury Road has raked in $21.5 million, Ruben Guthrie has collected $402,000, Women He’s Undressed has $280,000 and Partisan $117,000.
The weekend B.O. fell by 26 per cent to $10.1 million, according to Rentrak’s estimate. In the US The Man from U.N.C.L.E was ignored by teenagers and young adults, resonating only with older folks who may have fondly remembered MGM's TV series which starred Robert Vaughn and David McCallum.
The 1960s-set movie's lack of major stars didn’t help as Henry Cavill, Armie Hammer and Alicia Vikander are hardly household names. This was Cavill’s first film since Man of Steel and Hammer’s first lead role since Disney’s clunker The Lone Ranger.
Universal’s Trainwreck easily retained pole position, easing by 34 per cent to $2.1 million in its second weekend, which propels its total to $9.4 million.
That other movie based on a 1960s TV show, Paramount’s Mission: Impossible- Rogue Nation, reached $12 million after banking $1.7 million in its third frame, down 36 per cent.
After a lousy opening, Fox’s Fantastic Four plunged by 60 per cent to $1 million, grossing nearly $4.4 million in 11 days.
Madman Entertainment’s Dragon Ball Z: Resurrection F, the 20th film in the Dragon Ball anime franchise, added more than 20 screens in its second weekend but dropped by 62 per cent, scoring $1.3 million thus far.
Among the art house releases, Becker’s 5 Flights Up, a comedy-drama starring Diane Keaton and Morgan Freeman as an aging couple who are forced to sell their Brooklyn apartment, took a tepid $99,000 on 30 screens.
Madman’s Iris, Albert Maysles’ documentary profiling his friend, 93-year-old New York fashion icon Iris Apfel, fetched a moderate $45,000 on 11 screens, and $67,000 with previews.