In its first three days at the box office, the new film from Academy Award winners Matthew McConaughey and Anne Hathaway, titled “Serenity,” posted the worst opening weekend ($4.4 million) in both of their careers. And according to a new report, they aren’t happy at all with this result. But how could a film with two A-listers debut to such a low box office total? Apparently, it all comes down to advertising. Or the lack thereof.
Deadline is reporting that Aviron Pictures, the distributor behind “Serenity” might have led the two actors and filmmaker Steven Knight to believe that there would be a big advertising push for the film. However, as the date of release came closer, the distributor pulled back on those plans and basically dumped the film, much to the chagrin of the actors and filmmaker.
According to the report from Deadline:
“Sources said they believe maybe only nine spots aired in obscure locales and not in any time slots that would have helped create awareness for the film. And sources said it wasn’t until the night before McConaughey and Hathaway got on a plane for the Los Angeles junket that Aviron execs finally leveled and told them that there would be no P&A spend.”
When a film with such high-profile talent involved bombs on the level of “Serenity,” there’s usually a level of embarrassment. However, even though the film was a disaster with critics and audiences (23% on Rotten Tomatoes and a D+ CinemaScore), the actors and filmmaker believe that the film could have caught on and made more money if people actually knew it existed. You know, with commercials and junkets and whatnot.
According to Aviron, they had the best of intentions but saw the writing on the wall and made a budget-conscious business decision. “Regardless of the spend, it’s next to impossible for an adult-skewing drama to overcome a 23% score on Rotten Tomatoes and a D+ CinemaScore. To have spent more would have been irresponsible to our capital partners and wouldn’t have made prudent business sense for an independent distributor,” said Aviron in a statement.
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Regardless of the reasons, and how the distributor may or may not have misled McConaughey, Hathaway, and Knight, “Serenity” looks to be a blemish on the careers of those involved. Luckily for them, it would appear the film will fall off the face of the Earth in the coming weeks and will soon be forgotten.
Here’s the full statement from Aviron:
“We had the best intentions for ‘Serenity.’ We were excited for the opportunity to release this uniquely original movie and work with such a stellar cast and talented filmmakers. As much as we love this film and still hope it finds its audience, we tested and retested the film — with audiences and critics alike — and sadly, the data demonstrated that the film was not going to be able to perform at our initial expectations, so we adjusted our budget and marketing tactics accordingly. Regardless of the spend, it’s next to impossible for an adult-skewing drama to overcome a 23% score on Rotten Tomatoes and a D+ CinemaScore. To have spent more would have been irresponsible to our capital partners and wouldn’t have made prudent business sense for an independent distributor. We have enormous respect and admiration for the talent and all the hard work they put into the film and wish the box office results were better.”