It was less than a month ago we wrote an obituary for Simon Kinberg’s star-studded action thriller The 355 when it tanked in its opening weekend, bringing in just $4.5 million to secure the unwanted status of becoming 2022’s first major box office bomb.
On the plus side, there’s always going to be another movie that comes along and flops even harder, and that distinction has fallen to Roland Emmerich’s Moonfall. Sure, the disaster epic is poised to almost double The 355‘s opening weekend haul, but a debut in the $9 million range for a $140 million blockbuster is the stuff of nightmares.
$10 million gross-out comedy sequel Jackass Forever has been tracking over 50% ahead of Moonfall since yesterday, and that’s set to be the theme of the weekend, with the middle-aged daredevils on course for a $20 million bow, while Emmerich’s latest effects-driven romp won’t even make it to double figures.
The filmmaker might be regretting his decision to end Moonfall on such a galling sequel-baiting note, because there’s no chance his return to the genre that made him a household name is going to turn a profit, unless it surprises everyone by becoming a monster hit overseas.