Weekend Box Office: Speed Racer = Roadkill

The real Speed Racer is supposedly very embarrassed about the movie.  

Was it Pat Riley or Bill Parcells or someone else who said, “Second place is really first loser”? Whatever the answer, it basically sums up Speed Racer’s situation–second place has rarely looked as bad as it does when it’s filled by a multimillion dollar, high profile production meant to stake a claim to the summer box office crown and possibly set up a franchise. Walloped by Iron Man in week two of its release, Speed Racer has bust written all over it.

Variety reports that Iron Man took in $50.5 million, droppping 49% from its opening weekend. That still was a big jump over Speed Racer, which earned $20.2 million. That amount might look really fantastic from a horror movie released in the third week in January, but again, was hardly what Warner Brothers had in mind for a summer tentpole. To add insult to injury, Speed Racer’s box office take was a photo finish with that of the comparatively no-budget comedy What Happens in Vegas–it’s possible that once final numbers come in, Speed Racer could drop to third place.

Wait, let’s add more insult to injury–Speed took in only $33 million in its international release. Ouch.

Most tickets, as expected went to children (presumably with pained adults). Variety points out that with family-targeted Prince Caspian opening next week, this means that an uptick in ticket sales next week is unlikely.

What went wrong? Well, massively bad reviews, uninspiring commercials, and if they were counting on adult nostalgia for the cartoon, well, that doesn’t really carry you very far when word gets out that you’ve screwed up what people might be nostalgic for.

So Speed Racer, welcome to the pantheon of box office debacles. Fortunately it is not a lonely place.

Moving on (as Warner Brothers stated in Variety they are trying to do), it’s interesting to note that female audience members for Iron Man increased this weekend, thus indicating that positive word of mouth is expanding the audience beyond comic book aficionados and young men out for an action-adventure flick. It’s the, “No, wait, it’s really good” factor.

Comedies Made of Honor, with $7.6 million, and Baby Mama, with $5.8, rounded out the top five.