It was a rough weekend for Searchlight/Disney, formerly Fox Searchlight.
Wes Anderson’s “The French Dispatch” went wide and didn’t catch the ball. The omnibus film with a large celebrity cast had a big Friday with just over $1 million. But then reality set in as word of mouth must not have been good. Saturday and Sunday each showed successive declines. In 788 theaters after 2 weeks, “French Dispatch” stands at under $5 million. C’est la vie!
Searchlight also introduced “Antlers,” a horror movie from Scott Cooper, best known as the director of Jeff Bridges’ “Crazy Hearts.” The hope was for $5 million for the weekend. But “Antlers” was a moose– a mess- at just $4.1 million. And that’s on Halloween weekend. Certainly terrifying.
Something is wrong. Either Disney isn’t helping Searchlight, or Searchlight isn’t smart as a Fox anymore. Their “Eyes of Tammy Faye” is also dead at the box office. And the doc “Summer of Soul” may not qualify for the Oscars because it has so much previously released material. (It will do well with the Critics Choice Doc Awards, though.) Time to re-group for next year!
PS Also dead is “The Last Duel,” a possible $150 million write off for Fox-Disney. Total is now $10 million.
