MOSCOW, RUSSIA - JUNE 06: Actors Chris Hemsworth and Tessa Thompson attend the "Men In Black ... [+] International" press conference on June 06, 2019 in Moscow, Russia. In the wake of Dolittle’s abysmal opening weekend at the box office, experts project a loss of $100 million for Universal — the studio’s second consecutive failure after Cats. (Photo by Albert L. Ortega/Getty Images), EY & Citi On The Importance Of Resilience And Innovation, Impact 50: Investors Seeking Profit — And Pushing For Change. Dr. John Dolittle, an Englishman from a small village in the United Kingdom, specializes in providing medical care for and verbally conversing with various Fauna.Because of his care for animals, his practice with patients has fallen by the wayside. There’s lots of “What went wrong?” takes to be had, and I’d like to again emphasize the madness of that budget.

Yes, Dolittle is going to be a costly bomb for Universal and friends. In a prior time, his good looks, comic instincts, gravitas and onscreen charisma may well have made him a “face on the poster” draw in various original and/or high-concept studio programmers. But he’s not a butts in the seats movie star outside of Iron Man movies. They are second fiddle to the characters whom they play. I've studied the film industry, both academically and informally, and with an emphasis in box office analysis, for nearly 30 years. Dolittle (English) Collection - Check out Dolittle (English) box office collection till now. For reference, Universal “only” spent $170 million on Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom, that that’s after Jurassic World earned $1.671 billion worldwide. Financial analysis of Doctor Dolittle (1967) including budget, domestic and international box office gross, DVD and Blu-ray sales reports, total earnings and profitability. But being a terrific actor and/or a genuinely good/nice person does not automatically translate into being a box office draw. (Photo by Tibrina Hobson/FilmMagic), International" press conference on June 06, 2019 in Moscow, Russia.

It’s why Will Smith as the Genie in Aladdin can top $1 billion worldwide, Gemini Man ends up below $200 million global and then Bad Boys For Life can open with $73 million in four days of domestic play. We’ve seen this over and over. (Photo by Albert L. Ortega/Getty Images). See the Box Office tab (Domestic) and International tab (International and Worldwide) for more Cumulative Box Office Records. Even for the biggest stars in the world, the character or franchise comes first. Not every great actor is a movie star. Yes, it’s embarrassing coming so soon after Cats, even if $29 million for the Fri-Mon frame likely would have been okay had Dolittle cost what Cats did ($95 million) instead of $175 million. Nor, and this is key, does starring in a hugely successful IP and/or character-specific franchise translate into audiences wanting to see you in any other movie outside of that franchise. Copyright © 2020 Hungama Digital Media Entertainment Pvt. For a description of the different acting role types we use to categorize acting perfomances, see our Glossary. All Rights Reserved, This is a BETA experience. DEAUVILLE, FRANCE - SEPTEMBER 08: Actor Johnny Depp attends the "Waiting For The Barbarians" ... [+] Premiere during the 45th Deauville American Film Festival on September 08, 2018 in Deauville, France. There’s a lot that went wrong with Dolittle. Follow me at @ScottMendelson and "like" The Ticket Booth on Facebook. (Photo by Foc Kan/FilmMagic). (Photo by Tibrina Hobson/FilmMagic). I have extensively written about all of said subjects for the last 11 years. After a dismal opening weekend, “Dolittle” is lined up to lose up to $100 million, according to Fox News.

SAN SEBASTIAN, SPAIN - SEPTEMBER 20: Actors Ben Stiller (L) and Robert Downey Jr (R) attend the ... [+] photocall for "Tropic Thunder", at The Kursaal Palace during the 56th San Sebastian Film Festival on September 20, 2008 in San Sebastian, Spain. This is only a problem if Hollywood, as it often does, sees a breakout success like Iron Man and thinks “Gee, Robert Downey Jr. is now a Tom Cruise-level movie star.” We saw this with Johnny Depp, who had several years of genuine bankability after Pirates of the Caribbean: Curse of the Black Pearl (and Tim Burton fantasies like Sleepy Hollow and Alice in Wonderland) but otherwise was still “box office poison” who was generally only a big deal in Burton flicks and Jack Sparrow adventures. Brendan Fraser got $12.5 million for The Mummy Returns but wasn’t dumb enough to try to get that kind of paycheck for anything else.

Statistically speaking, you probably did not.

Sherlock Holmes arguably capitalized on Iron Man in the same way that The Grudge (a $39 million opening in 2004) capitalized on being the first big Asian horror remake after The Ring two years prior, but success is success. © 2020 Forbes Media LLC. Heck, I’ll argue they’ll pose a real challenge to Disney in 2021, when they’ll release the “final” chapters of Fast & Furious, Jurassic World and Halloween alongside Sing 2 and Wicked. In the new normal that is Hollywood over the last decade, actors and actresses have been replaced by brands, IP and character-specific franchises.
There’s a lot that went wrong with Dolittle. But save for Sherlock Holmes (which I will get to in a moment), Downey Jr.’s draw in movies like The Soloist ($38 million worldwide in 2009), The Judge ($76 million worldwide in 2014) and now Dolittle is clearly no stronger now than it was prior to becoming Tony Stark. I've studied the film industry, both academically and informally, and with an emphasis in box office analysis, for nearly 30 years. But a big issue, even if the budget had been closer to $100 million than $200 million, lies in its top-billed star.

A physician who can talk to animals embarks on an adventure to find a legendary island with a young apprentice and a crew of strange pets.

Chris Hemsworth is worth his weight in gold as Thor, but he’s not worth much in essentially any non-MCU movie he’s made since the first Thor back in 2011. (Photo by Fotonoticias/WireImage). were supporting roles. And they are now useless when playing “just a guy” or “just a woman.” That’s why Tom Hardy can have bomb (Lawless) after bomb (Child 44) and still be a huge draw AS Venom or AS Bane or AS Mad Max in Venom, The Dark Knight Rises and Mad Max: Fury Road. But today, audiences who love Thor don’t show up (or barely showed up) for Rush, Blackhat, In the Heart of the Sea, 12 Strong and/or Huntsman: Winter’s War. Contact Us Email Seller Video Chat WhatsApp (417) 855-7068 Sold By: Springfield Trailer Inc. Springfield, Missouri 65803. Marshals in 1998, The Shaggy DA in 2006, etc.) But Robert Downey Jr., prior to Iron Man making him proverbial king of the MCU, was never a genuine draw.

That said, A) Sherlock Holmes cost 51% less than Dolittle and B) just because audiences wanted to see a blustery (but surprisingly good and true to the spirit of the character) Sherlock Holmes movie doesn’t mean they want to see Downey Jr. essentially playing that same character, or really one ironically closer to Dr. Gregory House (with an arc closer to Batman Beyond), in a “epic-ified” Doctor Dolittle movie that resembles an episode of Duck Tales. That’s not exactly a critcism, as Downey Jr., off-screen issues with addiction notwithstanding, was just a very respected and well-liked actor who tended to make bad movies watchable and good movies better. Dolittle, the adaptation of Hugh Lofting’s 100-year-old series of childrens books, ... whose $175 million gross was the distributor’s highest domestic earner for 2019.

Yes, audiences wanted to see Iron Man and the fact that Robert Downey Jr. was playing him made the project more interesting/enticing to general moviegoers. One such unforced error was presuming Downey Jr. was a big enough draw outside of the MCU to justify a massive budget for a Doctor Dolittle movie. They earned $524 million on a $90 million budget in 2009 and $545 million on a $120 million budget in 2011. Dolittle helps a seal escape a circus by dressing her as a human.

The show’s global gross as of 2012 was $3.5 billion. You probably loved Black Panther, but did you see Chadwick Boseman’s 21 Bridges in theaters? Audiences want to see him as Iron Man (and occasionally Sherlock Holmes), not as Doctor Dolittle. Dolittle (English) Movie Box Office Collection, Box Office Collection Of Dolittle (English), Dolittle (English) Total Collection Till Today, Dolittle (English) Movie Box Office Collection, Dolly Kitty Aur Woh Chamakte Sitare Review, Shubh Mangal Zyada Saavdhan Public Review, BHOOT: Part One – The Haunted Ship Public Review, Beats Of Radhe Shyam | Prabhas | Pooja Hegde, Ramaraju For Bheem - Bheem Intro - RRR Movie |…, Suraj Pe Mangal Bhari | Official Trailer | Diljit…, RRR - Official Teaser | Ram Charan | Jr. NTR |…, BellBottom | Official Teaser | Akshay Kumar,…, Mere Desh Ki Dharti: Song Teaser | Anant Vidhaat…. Like most modern "movie stars," Robert Downey Jr. isn't a draw outside of his marquee franchise. So when people hold up that movie as the kind of film Hollywood won’t make anymore, don’t be fooled.

His best movies (offhand, True Believer, Soapdish, Home for the Holidays, The Gingerbread Man, Wonder Boys, Zodiac, etc.) With Robert Downey Jr., Antonio Banderas, Michael Sheen, Jim Broadbent. tended to be critical darlings and/or under-performers. To be fair, Todd Phillips’ Due Date, which teamed a post-Iron Man Robert Downey Jr. with a post-Hangover Zach Galifianakis, earned $211 million worldwide in 2010 on a $65 million budget. (Photo by Foc Kan/FilmMagic), photocall for "Tropic Thunder", at The Kursaal Palace during the 56th San Sebastian Film Festival on September 20, 2008 in San Sebastian, Spain. And, yeah, Guy Ritchie’s Sherlock Holmes movies, which amounted to a strong “star+character” with a well-known IP/character whose translation into an action blockbuster format made sense. Certain actors are worth “it” for flagship roles, but most aren’t outside of marquee franchises. I have extensively written about all.
My outlets for film criticism, box office commentary, and film-skewing scholarship have included The Huffington Post, Salon, and Film Threat.

WESTWOOD, CA - OCTOBER 01: Actor Tom Hardy arrives for Premiere Of Columbia Pictures' "Venom" held ... [+] at Regency Village Theatre on October 1, 2018 in Westwood, California. Ltd. All Rights Reserved. In just two months, Universal will lose $170 million on these star-studded and CGI-heavy movies. Directed by Stephen Gaghan. You may opt-out by.