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Kim Hollis: Last week's biggest opener in theory but only second biggest opener in execution, Speed Racer, fell 59% to $7.6 million this weekend. The movie with the $150 million budget has earned just under $30 million in ten days of release. What has caused this disastrous result?

David Mumpower: In retrospect, I think that Speed Racer was a bit too cultish for mainstream success. The fact that this movie is a shockingly faithful adaptation in terms of the spirit of an anime cartoon only further places it into the counter-culture realm. I know that several of us here are a bit frustrated by this result, as at least five members of our staff give the movie an A. It's just too weird for most people, though. Speed Racer also has no A-List stars, and the trailers for the movie do not say anything about the story. They simply advertise a shiny, dizzying ride. Consumers have been burned far too many times by those types of titles to give this one a shot, which is a shame. It's an amazing IMAX release...as well as a solid candidate for worst financial result of any 2008 release.





Shane Jenkins: It's suffering from the whiff-of-failure syndrome. It certainly didn't break out last weekend, and there has been a great deal of media attention this week about its poor performance. So, unfortunately, it's been labeled as "damaged goods" to moviegoers who instead either opted for Narnia, or, more likely, to save their stimulus check dough for Indy next week. I assume it will find its kid/stoner audience on DVD, but that won't be enough to stop it from being a colossal B.O. bomb.

Reagen Sulewski: I compare this a little to Starship Troopers - it's a film that alienated large sections of the audience, while throwing right into the wheel house of a select few. I admire the Wachowskis for getting someone to give them money to do this. I suppose this is their "freebie" from the Matrix trilogy (which made Warners approximately 17 jillion kabillion dollars) but they're really going to have to deliver something more mainstream next time - if they haven't already used up their currency with the public.

Kim Hollis: I think it's a combination of things. I do believe that the Wachowskis are damaged goods after the Matrix sequels, but I also think that once again, the marketing could have been improved immensely. Get the Speed Racer song out there to get people singing and feeling nostalgic. Give us some better idea of what is happening. People unfamiliar with the cartoon had no reason to see the film. And it's too bad because it's a totally unique project.

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