Earlier this month, Borderlands arrived in theaters to horrendous reviews and bad box office numbers. At the time, many assumed it might be the biggest cinematic dud of 2024. But, that title is now held by the newly released Crow reboot.
The idea of rebooting The Crow was already a strange and controversial one. Sure, the original 1994 film was a small but profitable hit, but it is more widely known for the tragedy surrounding the death of Brandon Lee during its production. The following sequels to the OG Crow failed to find success. Most people believed it was wrong to even reboot the series. Yet, Hollywood went ahead and made a reboot anyway. And what do you know, it’s flopping hard!
The Crow reboot released on August 23 to negative reviews from critics and moviegoers. After its opening weekend, it only earned $4.6 million domestically at the box office. Yikes! In comparison, Borderlands made over $8.5 million during its first weekend.
After about five days in theaters, The Crow has made less than $10 million. Meanwhile, Borderlands—which is reportedly already getting a home release in late August—is sitting at a cool $25 million worldwide at the box office.
I mean, how do you typically hear about movies? I saw trailers for both at the last movie I was at, and Borderlands had a pretty big ad run.
Yeah I never go to theaters. I hadn’t heard anything about the crow but borderlands was pretty much unavoidable. I saw ads for that thing absolutely everywhere.
I didn’t, but I would have gone to see it if I knew.
No… Don’t say that about your self. Life is worth more than that.
Nah it ain’t
Sometimes I watch Mystery Science Theatre 3000, I have literally no narrative standards.
I don’t go to movies very often, but I might if I heard more about what is playing. Targeting ads at people already viewing them regularly seems unsustainable.
Although they are the ones who go to the cinema regularly. Targeting them at people who don’t go seems a waste.
But if they stop going at any point then they stop hearing about it. Its a naturally shrinking demographic.
You need to reach out to new audiences to replace old ones. We need ads at locations and on platforms frequented by youth (under 30) to see good box office returns for obscure films.
Since I don’t go to the theater, watch tv, use adblock on the internet, and don’t follow any movie related news sources… I learn about movies by people complaining about how bad they are.