10 Recent Box Office Bombs EVERYONE Saw Coming
5. The Day the Earth Blew Up: A Looney Tunes Movie
Warner Bros. strikes again, because though they produced The Day the Earth Blew Up: A Looney Tunes Movie through their Warner Bros. Animation label, they opted not to release the film themselves, instead auctioning the rights off to Ketchup Entertainment.
Though Ketchup did get the film released in almost 3,000 cinemas around the U.S., as a boutique label without the money for a major marketing spend, the theatrical bow was ultimately incredible low-key.
There is, however, also the unavoidable truth that Looney Tunes' popularity has declined significantly in recent years, especially with younger audiences, and then there's the tendency for 2D animation to severely underperform compared to 3D.
Even with strong reviews working in its favour, then, it wasn't at all surprising that The Day the Earth Blew Up opened to just $3.1 million in North America. Alongside a meagre international release, this ensured that even with its mere $15 million budget, there's just no path to big-screen profitability.
Though the filmmakers have passionately campaigned to keep the film in cinemas in the hope that positive word-of-mouth might give it a nudge, it's basically over. Hopefully the movie might find a second life when it hits streaming.