Public domain characters are fair game, but based on how Dracula has been faring on the big screen recently, maybe it’s time for the legendary bloodsucker to be put on ice for a while after The Last Voyage of the Demeter got off to a start at the box office even rockier than the titular ship’s fateful voyage.
While the central concept is solid – and the memes were instantly flowing like a fine wine – audiences have voted with their wallets and decided that the latest reinvention of the Transylvanian terror isn’t worth their time or money. After a disappointing Thursday preview run, Demeter is on course for a domestic opening weekend in the $5.5-7 million range, which is awful for a production estimated to have cost $45 million.
Not only that, but it’s bombing even harder than the last Dracula-fronted bomb, which bombed less than four months ago when Nicolas Cage’s Renfield managed to bite into an $8.1 million debut on its way to coming nowhere even remotely close to recouping its hefty $65 million budget.
Even last year’s entirely forgettable The Invitation managed to recoup its modest $10 million budget almost four times over while still being designated a colossal misfire, so the evidence is mounting up that less Dracula would be beneficial to the bottom line after a string of notable disappointments.
Even though he’s on a boat this time, it still hasn’t been enough to entice the casual viewer into the multiplex to see what ol’ Vlad has been getting himself caught up in.