The numbers do not always tell the whole picture, but in King Arthur: Legend of the Sword's case, they do tell a story. Coming in the wake of lukewarm reviews at best, the Guy Ritchie title was written off as a silly version of a classic tale that took itself too seriously.
Locking horns with the Marvel giant Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 at the box office this weekend, the reboot has been completely demolished. Warner Brothers will be hoping the superhero movie love will help them recoup their feature investments when Wonder Woman and Justice League open this year, as the poor performance in theaters likely puts the brakes on any potential larger universe for King Arthur.
No Lies, Just Statistics For Stellar Guardians Sequel
Delving into sheer figures over Mother's Day weekend, the Marvel romp has cashed in on the momentum brought about by a terrific $145m opening weekend to soar ahead in week 2. Topping the charts with $63m, the Amy Schumer and Goldie Hawn comedy Snatched would be next best of the rest with a healthy $17.5m.
This left the Charlie Hunnam and Jude Law action installment taking a blow, only managing a mere $14.7m. For a budget of $175m, that is a seriously underwhelming showing as the likes of The Fate of the Furious, The Boss Baby and Beauty and the Beast strolled into weeks 5, 7 and 9 respectively.
| WEEKEND | CUME | THEATERS | WEEK | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 | $63m | $246.2m | 4,347 | 2 |
| Snatched | $17.5m | $17.5m | 3,501 | 1 |
| $14.7m | $14.7m | 3,702 | 1 | |
| $5.3m | $215m | 3,067 | 5 | |
| $4.6m | $162.4m | 2,911 | 7 | |
| $3.9m | $493.2m | 2,172 | 9 | |
| $3.8m | $26.1m | 1,123 | 3 | |
| $2.4m | $2.4m | 295 | 1 | |
| $1.74m | $18.9m | 2,132 | 3 | |
| $1.7m | $1.7m | 900 | 1 |
Has King Arthur Fallen Victim of Franchise Folly?
With a little bit of Monday Morning Quarterback occurring at THR, analyst Chris Hartwell believes the problem with King Arthur: Legend of the Sword lied with director Guy Ritchie and the studio Warner Brothers. Citing the examples of The Amazing Spider-Man 2, 2015's Fantastic Four and Suicide Squad, Hartwell argues that these titles bite off more than they can chew when it comes to establishing a larger world before a foundation is earned.
"King Arthur was at one point conceived of as kicking off a shared universe, and the film does set the stage for potential sequels and spinoffs," he writes. "As much fun as a large, interconnected universe can be, what King Arthur — and too many studios and filmmakers have failed to grasp is, if the individuals installments fail to justify its continued existence, what’s the point? Even as the aforementioned films did showcase a measure of their directors’ personalities and styles, either the studio or the filmmaker or both just couldn’t wholly reconcile that with servicing the larger universe."
Any spinoff or sequel after these numbers would be a genuine shock from Warner Brothers.
Source: Box Office Mojo, THR
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