In what can only be deemed “truly outrageous,” Universal Pictures’ movie rehash of ’80s cartoon Jem has already been pulled from theatres after a mere two-week run.
Jem and the Holograms, a more saccharine and less punky version of the popular classic, pulled in a meagre $1.37 million (all figures USD) in its opening weekend.
From there, it continued to dive over its second week, making $160 on average at each American theatre playing the film, which, considering the price of popcorn, is not good.
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As a result, Universal has pulled the movie entirely from theatres, in what industry insiders are calling an unprecedented move.
The film studio sunk $5 million into the production of Jem and the Holograms, and managed to scrape $2.1 million out of moviegoers — leaving a $2.9 million gap.
It’s not all that much for a studio the size of Universal, but Jem and the Holograms now holds the distinction of having one of the worst openings in film history.
“Theatre chains are contractually obligated to hold a film for two weeks after booking it. However, in all my days as an analyst, I’ve never seen a studio actually stop reporting after two weeks,” Jeff Bock, senior box-office analyst at Exhibitor Relations, told Business Insider.
“This is unprecedented, and shows just how badly this film flopped. Not only is it the lowest-grossing debut for a studio film this year, but it’s the worst all-time — by a considerable margin — for any film released in 2,000-plus theatres.”
The pain for Universal will be temporary, since it’s had a banner year in 2015. The studio has produced three of the top five earners worldwide so far: Minions, Jurassic World and Furious 7.