It seems somewhat ironic that Roland Emmerich’s disaster epic Moonfall looks set to become an epic disaster as it failed to form a gravitational pull with early audiences. The film opened on Thursday in around 2300 locations across the U.S. but managed only to pull in $700,000, putting it well behind its attention-seeking rival, Jackass Forever, which opened to more than double the takings at $1.65 million. With reviews not being kind towards the latest movie from Independence Day director Emmerich, the box office figures certainly look set to be waning over the weekend.
Only days after Emmerich was quoted as saying Marvel and Star Wars franchises are destroying the industry and making it harder to make successful disaster films, it looks like he could have just been making an excuse for what was to come. As well as being thrashed on opening night by a movie that is, in essence, a series of stunts played out by a group of teenagers in men’s bodies attempting to injure themselves in hilarious and mind-bogglingly stupid ways, Moonfall has also been thrashed by the Jackass team when it comes to the review stakes.
Initial reactions to Jackass Forever have seen the movie pick up a 89% fresh rating from critics, which at one point peaked in the mid-90% range, and the film is projected to hit up to $18 million over the weekend, which would be enough to nab the top spot in the charts from Spider-Man: No Way Home. When it comes to Moonfall though, it is currently languishing with a 42% approval rating, and a weekend projection of anywhere between $9 and $14 million, which is not what any $146 million budget movie wants to see on its opening weekend.
Is Moonfall Really That Bad, Or Is Emmerich Right About Franchise Movies Killing The Industry?
From a general consensus, it appears that however much director Roland Emmerich claims that disaster flicks like Moonfall are suffering as a result of the spectacle of Marvel, DC and Star Wars movies, his latest film just appears to be a really bad, clichéd and unoriginal movie. This is more than a little ironic considering his main gripe with the big franchises is that they “offer nothing original.” Perhaps it is a case of people in glass houses should be careful where they play baseball.
Moonfall’s reviews don’t seem to peak above average at best, with the Rotten Tomatoes consensus stating, “Whether Moonfall is so bad it’s good or simply bad will depend on your tolerance for B-movie cheese – but either way, this is an Emmerich disaster thriller through and through.” Considering the budget of the movie, which both rivals that of many Marvel films and is mega in size compared to Jackass Forever’s pitiful $10 million budget, and the star names like Halle Berry, Donald Sutherland and Patrick Wilson being attached to it, it is hard to understand how the film seems to have failed with most reviewers, and it seems audiences.
As the reviews note, it is without doubt an Emmerich movie, and you can almost line the film up alongside Independence Day, 2012 and The Day After Tomorrow, and line up the clichéd story points like a chart of the points on Orion’s Belt. Those that like those movies may get a kick out of seeing the same plot played out in a different scenario, but for everyone else, it seems that rather than franchise movies killing off disaster movies, the real reason for their demise is perhaps a little closer to home.
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