After an initial weekend run at four theaters, “Beau is Afraid” has disappeared from the box office reports.
On Sunday, A24 reported huge per screen takes since, again, the three hour movie starring Joaquin Phoenix was in just four theaters. And each day after opening showed a drastic decrease. Word of mouth must not have been good.
But the interest in what’s said to be a very self indulgent fantasy may have ebbed. On Rotten Tomatoes the audience rating is just 71%, which isn’t very promising. There’s little interest in sitting though three hours of navel gazing even in a bunch of new metaverses.
“Beau is Afraid” of the ongoing box office report. There was none yesterday for Monday, and likely none today for yesterday (unless this item forces their hand). At the same time, A24 knows that this won’t play out like that other Emperor’s New Clothes movie, “Everything Everywhere All at Once.” You can’t fool the audience twice. And in the fall, Phoenix’s Oscar campaign is going to be for “Gladiator 2,” not this cinematic quicksand.
