Tuesday, March 19, 2024

Sony Sink: “Flatliners” Reboot Flatlines with Just $6.7 Mil Weekend, Scores Rare Zero on Rotten Tomatoes

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UPDATE: SURPRISE the total was $6.7 million. DOA.

UPDATE: Friday night box office was $2.1 million for a likely $5 million weekend. Time of death: now.

Twenty seven years ago, Sony released Joel Schumacher’s “Flatliners.” The cast was amazing: Julia Roberts, Kiefer Sutherland, Oliver Platt, Kevin Bacon, Billy Baldwin, Hope Davis. Michael Douglas was one of the producers. The movie was a hit, careers were launched.

Now comes the “Flatliners” reboot. Why, oh why? Directed by Niels Arden Oplev, whose main credit is the original 2009 Swedish “Girl with the Dragon Tattoo,” the new version is a Disaster. It was so bad Sony embargoed review til the last minute. The result: a rare Zero on Rotten Tomatoes.

As in O. Goose egg.

The new “Flatliners” features Ellen Page, which is a good thing. Diego Luna is in it, and he’s talented but not a star. Nina Dobrev, from TV’s “Vampire Diaries,” is not Julia Roberts from 1990. James Norton is British, and known so far to fans of the BBC’s “Grantchester.”

Basically, everything has gone wrong.

Now Sony waits for Friday box office numbers. On Thursday night, Sony skipped preview showing altogether, which is rare these days.  The original made $61 million, which $116 million in 2017 dollars.

Oh and that zero on Rotten Tomatoes? It is really really rare.

So stay tuned…

Roger Friedman
Roger Friedmanhttps://www.showbiz411.com
Roger Friedman began his Showbiz411 column in April 2009 after 10 years with Fox News, where he created the Fox411 column. His movie reviews are carried by Rotten Tomatoes, and he is a member of both the movie and TV branches of the Critics Choice Awards. His articles have appeared in dozens of publications over the years including New York Magazine, where he wrote the Intelligencer column in the mid 90s and covered the OJ Simpson trial, and Fox News (when it wasn't so crazy) where he covered Michael Jackson. He is also the writer and co-producer of "Only the Strong Survive," a selection of the Cannes, Sundance, and Telluride Film festivals, directed by DA Pennebaker and Chris Hegedus.
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