By Lee Pfeiffer
The concept for Dreamworks/Universals joint production of Cowboys & Aliens must have seemed like a sure-fire, can't miss proposition. Directed by red hot John Favreau, who has a fan following in his own rite, the film also boasts the superstar pairing of James Bond and Indiana Jones leads Daniel Craig and Harrison Ford. Add to this the fact that the story has its origins in a comic book at the precise time when audiences seem to be embracing comic heroes, and it's hard to see what could have gone wrong. Yet, the film has opened soft- almost $10 below its estimated take in its first weekend. Worse, the movie's grosses were virtually equaled by the original Blue Man Group- the Smurfs, whose feature film has performed better than expected. The studio brass will be doing some major evaluations of what went wrong. No one is calling the film an outright bomb- yet- but with a budget estimate of up to $200 million, the words "bomb" and "under-performer" are used interchangeably. The film benefited from a massive publicity campaign that began at the 2010 Comic-Con when the movie had just begun production. Harrison Ford, who regards doing PR appearances as though it is root canal surgery, was the good soldier, as usual, and made the rounds to promote the movie. Not so with Daniel Craig, who did little PR for the film despite having top billing. Reviews were predictably mixed but this is not a movie that was conceived to please critics and its doubtful that anyone cleared off a mantle to make room for Oscars. Generally, comic-inspired flicks are designed to be immune to reviews. One factor that separates this movie from other comic-films is that it is based on a rather obscure graphic novel whereas most other productions benefit from the pedigree of a legendary superhero.There is still a chance that grosses might build if word-of-mouth is strong and the overseas market, which loves big budget Hollywood action films, might prove to be a fertile ground for considerable business.
Here's a personal observation that is probably not relevant to the film's overall performance. While in Manhattan a few weeks ago, I observed a massive billboard north of Times Square for the film. Despite being a city block wide, the advertisement featured only the likeness of Daniel Craig. It was apparently felt that Harrison Ford, that legend of action cinema, would not be important enough to feature on the billboard. Obviously, marketing executives associated with the film feel that Ford might be past his sell date as a viable box-office draw. In show business, as in politics, if you value loyalty, you'd better get a dog. For more
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