Why Blade Runner 2049 Flopped So Hard

4. Jared Leto And Ryan Gosling

Both Ryan Gosling and Jared Leto are very interesting actors, and great figures to cast in movies. That's why it tends to happen with comfortable frequency for them. What neither of them is, however, is a box office certainty.

Gosling exists in the curious dead zone where he can't translate how much the Internet seems to love him into actual box office drawing power. He is not a lead that you pin a $180m movie to if you want to immediately draw in money on your first weekend. He's great, sure, but his box office track record suggests that audiences just don't flock to him regardless of how good he is.

And then there's Jared Leto, who has gone from being one of the best supporting character actors in Hollywood to being that guy who ruined The Joker in public perception. Thanks to Suicide Squad's marketing campaign - and the decision to double down on his "antics" on set - he's emerged from that movie with a grubby reputation that extends well beyond the performance. It's ridiculous, but it's still true.

Add to that the fact that 2049 didn't appear to offer many substantial roles for women or minority roles - something that massively helped Mad Max: Fury Road - and the casting definitely had some impact.