Space Flop?

Think we're going to have to say that now. Space Jam: A New Legacy needed a month long run of big weekends to even get close to the supposed 150 million dollar budget. Not reaching 10 million (9.6 million according to Box Office Mojo) is very much a death sentence. You can chalk this up to many factors. The pandemic is too easy of an answer, but some states are rising in cases, making it kind of difficult for some to go to the movies.

But the pandemic is not the only thing holding it back. HBO Max has it for free. As I said in a blog about it being number one last week, this is getting panned. The original was also panned, but not as severely. The first Space Jam's concepts are rather forgettable and you forget the first half unlike something like Rocky where you're engrossed in all of the film. With the sequel, it didn't do anything for critics. LeBron James' being a factor is there, too. What he does off the court and his behavior, this is not the type of guy you're going to have lead a box office.

The original's director, Joe Pytka, talked to TMZ recently and tried to justify why he viewed his film to be better than the sequel. I'm assuming he's had to defend himself a number of times. Yes, there's Bill Murray and Danny DeVito. You have a soundtrack that is very memorable. NBA players that provided funny moments. Big name ones that Michael Jordan competed against. But Pytka doesn't seem to realize that his film is not a masterpiece. There's issues. It has fans, but the fans are not in huge numbers that Warner Brothers was hoping they thought they had.

If the pandemic didn't occur, I'd argue it would have still came up short, but the bleeding wouldn't be so severe. Worldwide, this should make more than the budget, but I'm not seeing this making any kind of profit. It didn't need 150 million dollars. Maybe these studios should stop relying on CGI driven films and look back at the past of why a number of movies did really well and netted them huge profit. This overly expensive films will come back to bite them.