Animated movie scores worst box office opening ever!!!

[Brian Damage]

The all-time roster of bad box office performers is much longer than that of blockbusters, so we rarely have the opportunity to see a movie break a negative financial record. This past weekend, however, offered such a sad instance, when the animated flick Delgo garnered honors as the worst wide opener in box office history. How bad did it do? Well, the film opened in 2,160 theaters and grossed just $511,920, for a per-venue average of $237. Yikes! That's by far the worst debut ever, besting (er, worsting) the $2.1 mil that P2 grossed in 2,131 locations last year.

http://hollywoodinsider.ew.com/2008/12/delgo.html

[comedyfreak]

I've never even heard of this movie. So much for marketing, LOL.

[70s show watcher]

Originally Posted by comedyfreak

I've never even heard of this movie. So much for marketing, LOL.

i was going to say the same thing

[Jude The Obscure]

it played at my local movie house for 1 week and was promptly yanked.

[tv star collector]

Like they say, "It pays to advertise" ... which, obviously, they didn't!

They must have gone over budget and had no money left to promote the film.

[Zoneboy]

[Jude The Obscure]

Anne Bancroft?? how long ago was this made to just be released in 2008??

[80sTrivia]

Originally Posted by Jude The Obscure

Anne Bancroft?? how long ago was this made to just be released in 2008??

I was thinking the same thing, as she died a few years ago..

[TJL]

Hard to believe a move featuring the talents of Freddie Prinze Jr, Jennifer Love Hewitt and Burt Reynolds would do so poorly.



Seriously, how can a movie with no advertizing budget whatsoever (since none of us have ever heard of this movie) get such a wide release?

[TJL]

I checked out the ONion, and one of thier film guys did a very funny article about this film:

http://www.avclub.com/content/featur...floppiest_flop

It's worth the read because it explains the story behind this bomb.

Apparently it was made by a very very independent animation studio in Atlanta and it's been in the making for 10 years - which would explain Ann Bancroft's involvement in the film. See recorded her part long before she passed away in 2005.

[waichingliu81]

no offence, but judging by that 'poster' and the design of those characters, i guess it's no wonder that it flopped, big time.

[Brian Damage]

The phrase “Delgo vs. Avatar” has taken on multiple meanings over the last week, from the uncanny comparisons between Hollywood’s biggest animated flop and its most ambitious film ever, to my inner masochist praying for a big-screen, Alien vs. Predator-style showdown between the two somewhere down the line. But I much prefer the latest interpretation, with Delgo’s downmarket animation studio alluding to legal action against James Cameron and Fox.

A press release headlined “James Cameron’s Big Budget Avatar Compared to Animated Indie Film Produced by Fathom Studios” arrived last night at Movieline HQ, laying out a number of Web sites and critics who had pointed out visual parallels, thematic overlaps, and other odd similarities between the films. Apparently not understanding that Avatar’s connections to Delgo were in fact a criticism of Cameron’s high-tech blockbuster, the Fathom gang commenced saber-rattling anyway:

A spokesperson for the studio said, “From what we have seen, we are amazed by the visual similarities between the two films and we are reviewing what legal options may be available to us.”

Delgo is an independent film that took over a decade from conception to release. The initial proof-of-concept was available on Delgo.com in 1998 with work-in-progress from the feature production accessible via the website’s Digital Dailies since 2000. According to The Hollywood Reporter, Avatar began production in 2006 after a rewrite of the script.

Look, I was as eager as the rest of you to let this go after a few funny comparisons. But now, considering the utterly misconceived failure that Delgo was, I am all about seeing how Fathom would prove its veiled allegations in court.

I want to meet the crackpot copyright lawyer who would take Fox on. I want to see Freddie Prinze Jr. on the witness stand, pointing to Sam Worthington when asked if he saw the man who manipulated his character as a giant blue Nav’i, then breaking down under withering cross-examination (“Isn’t it true, Mr. Prinze, that you scalped no fewer than 10 tickets to ‘Avatar Day’ previews at the Bridge? Isn’t it?”) while Jennifer Love Hewitt’s attorney strikes a deal in the hallway outside. I want to see Cameron show up spitting mad, wearing military fatigues that probably cost more than Delgo earned per screen. And ultimately, of course, I want to be a fly on the wall at the U.S. Supreme Court, where Delgo v. Avatar lands after several years of litigation, and where Chief Justice John Roberts dispatches one clerk to research precedent and another to research his query, “Delgo? What the **** is Delgo?”

Anyway, it’s not like Fox isn’t loving this; their home-video side is currently distributing Delgo on DVD, which is probably as popular now as it will ever be. Here’s hoping they continue to take advantage of it; the exploitation game is surely big enough for both parties.

http://www.movieline.com/2009/08/del...connection.php

[browneyes106]

Originally Posted by waichingliu81

no offence, but judging by that 'poster' and the design of those characters, i guess it's no wonder that it flopped, big time.

I agree the designs of the characters look really bad.

[Schmoopie]

Never heard of this movie either, so they must not have marketed it too much.

[TJL]

The folks who made the mega bomb Delgo are probably looking for more publicity, since thier film just came out on DVD.