Well, who didn’t see this coming? Ahead of its debut in North America next week, pre-release tracking for Joe Wright’s Pan points to the Peter Pan origin story struggling to earn as much as $30 million during its opening weekend, a dismal amount for a movie Warner Bros. has sunk a lot of money into in terms of the production budget and marketing costs.
While it’s possible that Pan will be one of those movies which makes its money back overseas, a weak start in Australia last weekend doesn’t seem to point to that being the case. However, the fact that it opens pretty much everywhere throughout October (including China) could end up helping it a great deal.
Pan cost $150 million to produce and has an impressive cast which includes Hugh Jackman, Garrett Hedlun and Rooney Mara. It’s the first blockbuster for Wright after he helmed well-received movies like Atonement, Hanna, and Pride and Prejudice, so its performance may also decide where his career goes next.
Adding to Pan‘s problems are the fact that the movie has so far received mostly negative reviews. While it’s obviously aimed at a very different audience, chances are The Walk could beat it next weekend at this rate, as word of mouth is unlikely to be too much of a help at this stage. Time will tell, but Pan is definitely looking like the Fall’s first big flop as of now.