Frank Miller's Epic Fail Epic Fails

Eat it, bitch. Frank Miller's Godawful adaptation of The Spirit came in at a laughable number nine in the weekend box office numbers, grossing $6,510,000. Including the week (this lump of coal arrived on Christmas Day), it comes in at $10,352,000. The budget of the film is apparently being withheld by distributor Lionsgate...which probably means it cost an obscene and, in retrospect, embarrassing amount of money to make this wretch.

Well, you get what you deserve. With that kind of opening, I'm guessing it's unlikely The Spirit will manage to break even before limping out of the cinema. Of course, it probably will manage that on DVD when everyone rents or buys it just to see if it really is that bad (it's worse). But turning a profit? Uh-uh. Let us hope this means Miller's pathetic directorial career is over before it starts. Despite what the cutesy "co-director" credit on Sin City might make you believe, The Spirit was his first directing job. It should be his last. He's as inept as Ed Wood, with none of the charm. More on that rightchere, and even more forthcoming as soon as I get my hands on a copy so I can do a right proper written review.

For now, my city cackles.



fun with numbers:

$10,352,000 total gross for a four-day period / 2509 screens = $4,126 per screen for the weekend

$4,126 / 4 days = $1,031.50 per screen per day

$1,031.50 / five showings per day (on average) = $206.30 per showing

Assuming an average ticket cost of 8 dollars: $206.30 / $8 = 26 tickets sold per screening.

Yeah, that sounds about right. Certainly approximates the amount of poor souls in the showing I went to.