Melissa McCarthy must wonder what the heck is going on with her career. Earlier this year she was nominated for an Oscar in “Can You Ever Forgive Me?” She’s a terrific actress and comedian. She won an Emmy for playing Sean Spicer so hilariously on “SNL.”
But her new movie, “The Kitchen,” is such a dud that Warner Bros. is pulling it almost completely from release on Friday. According to Exhibitor Relations, hey’re cutting its run from 2,700 theaters to just around 600. It’s over, dead, gone.
So far “The Kitchen” has earned just $11 million in its two and a half weeks. It’s been a big disappointment was Warners, as it co-stars Tiffany Haddish and Elisabeth Moss. They must also wonder what’s going on.
But no liked “The Kitchen.” Reviews were terrible. It has a very low 22 rating on Rotten Tomatoes.
Warners is in the soup right now. “Blinded by the Light” is also DOA after 5 days in release. They’ve made around $6 million (rounding up), but it’s over. The Bruce Springsteen-scored movie was supposed to be a big hit. Only, no one did marketing or publicity. The audience was confused, since “Yesterday,” a similar movie, is just finishing its run and has made $70 million. What a mess.
Now Warners is grappling with “It,” Chapter 2. The first installment was a monster hit. But now there’s been very mixed to bad reaction to early screenings. “It” hits on September 6th, and reviews will be held up to the last minute. This sounds like strike 3 in a bad summer.
The good news for Warners is that they’ve got “The Goldfinch,” which everyone has high hopes for, and “The Joker,” which should be a smash. In December they’ll have Clint Eastwood’s Richard Jewell movie. I’ve also heard great things about “The Good Liar” with Helen Mirren and Ian McKellen. So the fall will exceed the summer, and then no one will remember the bad times.
