Dwayne Johnson’s latest film Skyscraper has bombed at the domestic box office. Despite a huge marketing push attempting to drive viewers to theaters nationwide, the film has failed to deliver financially. Opening to mixed reviews, anyone who had doubts about Skyscraper’s success now has their feelings validated.
Skyscraper - a film pretty clearly inspired by the 1988 action classic Die Hard - follows security consultant Will Sawyer (Johnson) - a U.S. war veteran and FBI hostage rescue team leader - as he’s assigned to assess the safety of the world’s tallest building in Hong Kong. Before long though, Sawyer finds himself fighting wrongful accusations, as a fire engulfs the massive structure, trapping his family inside. While fighting to clear his name and save his family, Sawyer finds there is more to his current circumstances than meets the eye. The film also stars Neve Campbell, Pablo Schreiber, and Noah Taylor.
As reported by Deadline, Skyscraper pulled in just $25.4 million this weekend, falling into third place at the domestic box office behind Hotel Transylvania 3: Summer Vacation and Ant-Man and Wasp, which made $44.1 million and $29.5 million, respectively. Considering Skyscraper cost Universal Pictures an estimated $125 million to make, its lackluster performance at the box office solidifies its status as a bomb. $25.4 million is also well-below industry predictions for Skyscraper’s opening, which just a few days ago ranged between $35 and $40 million.
The failure of Skyscraper to shine at the box office might likely be related to the high amount of recent films starring Johnson. This is the third film released in the last 6 months with Johnson fronting the cast. Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle, released Dec 2017, was the biggest domestic box office success of Johnson’s career thus far, bringing in $404 million, while Rampage, released April 2018, raked in $99 million domestically during its run. As illustrated by the recent financial hit taken by Disney’s Solo: A Star Wars Story, sometimes its best to give audiences a chance to breathe for awhile before releasing one’s next project. For now though, this is slated to be Johnson’s last starring film role of 2018. His 2019 risks being overly packed again however, with Hobbs & Shaw, Jungle Cruise, and Jumanji 3 all on deck.
While Skyscraper failed to measure up to its projected earnings, Universal has many more films in the pipeline this year that may prove to be more successful, and help soften Skyscraper’s blow. Halloween will be returning in October, resurrecting iconic slasher boogeyman Michael Myers, and the horror audience tends to be one of the most dependable out there. Also, Mamma Mia: Here We Go Again! - a sequel to the 2008 musical that made over $600 million worldwide - arrives soon, as does the heavily buzzed about The House With a Clock in Its Walls. Either way though, Skyscraper certainly won’t be the last audiences see of The Rock, who remains very personally popular, even if every one of his movies doesn’t end up breaking the bank.
More: Jumanji 3: Dwayne Johnson Confirms December 2019 Release Date
Source: Deadline
