2009's summer movie season has its first outright flop, as Land Of The Lost's first day suggests a weekend debut tally around $10 million lower than what the studio claimed it "needed" to succeed. Sorry, Will Ferrell.
Lost made just $7.2 million in its first day, leading many to predict an opening weekend somewhere around $20 million (Placing it third, behind The Hangover and Up, holding up well in its second weekend). But, as Nikki Finke points out, that's not good enough for Universal, the studio behind the movie:
Universal told me its expensive Land Of The Lost needed to debut with at least $30M for the studio not to sweat. It's now officially one of the first turkeys of the summer. (Because aren't dinosaurs related to birds?)
Despite winning Annalee over, the movie was generally badly received by critics, with only a 27% rating on Rotten Tomatoes.
'Hangover' has a good night at boxoffice [Hollywood Reporter]