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Kim Hollis: The Ryan Reynolds sci-fi thriller Self/less opened to just $5.4 million. What was the problem here?

Ben Gruchow: The movie's marketing let it down immensely. The trailer depicted a universe that was relatively complex and ambiguous, but it failed to complement that with any real hook, either visually or narratively. There was no payoff and no real tension displayed, and the release date was pushed back twice. The only thing that could've really turned things around for the movie leading up to release was positive critical or audience buzz, and it got neither of those things. Finally, the trailers and marketing buried literally the only thing about the movie that might've made it interesting for the cinema enthusiast: the director was Tarsem Singh, who's generally always been consistent in delivering on the visual aspect of his films. Then again: Self/less didn't look distinctive to begin with, and what prospective audiences were left with was a visually dull sci-fi film with a faintly interesting concept and a poisonous critical reaction. That failed to even rouse my interest, and I know and love Singh's aesthetic.

Matthew Huntley: I go to the movies often, but I actually never saw a trailer for Self/Less until just now, when I looked it up on YouTube. So to piggyback on Ben's response, I think the issue here was not only the ineffective marketing but also the relatively quiet marketing. With this in mind, the idea that Focus would throw the movie into the marketplace in the middle of July almost makes it seem like they wanted it to fail. It probably just should have gone to VOD/DVD/Blu-ray right away to save on prints and advertising costs, since viewer interest and awareness were just too low for a theatrical release to make much of an impact and ensure profitability. And with a nearly $30 million production budget (and probably $50 million advertising budget), profitability is anyway a stretch for this one. It's a shame, too, given the past projects of the director and cast. Who knows, maybe it's good, and I'll have to see it to judge it; I just better hurry because it likely won't be around long.

Ryan Kyle: I agree with the consensus above and chalk it up to a lack of good marketing or any marketing at all. Tarsem is a pretty visionary director so the fact that they went with a shot of Ben Kingsley and Ryan Reynolds as the poster instead of one of his awe-inspiring visuals is the first mistake. Self/less was bumped from a release date in February to April to this weekend, so it is obvious that the studio didn't know what to do with it or have much care for it. This was originally a FilmDistrict acquisition, but after being bought out by Focus Features, it seems as if this was one they just wanted to burn off rather than cultivate. The opening weekend take is a failure, but it's probably a sigh of relief for the studio that this ugly stepchild film came and went without much notice.

Michael Lynderey: Woman in Gold did pretty well, but Ryan Reynolds will have to wait for Deadpool to make his comeback. He's got a lot riding on that film. Tarsem is interesting because his last two films, visually splendid but critically unliked Immortals and Mirror Mirror, actually didn't do too badly at the box office (especially Immortals). This one didn't really stand a chance in what's getting to be a crowded summer for sci-fi movies.

Max Braden: This movie reminds me of Limitless, one of Robert De Niro's phone-it-in-for-the-money movies. In that movie the younger costar was Bradley Cooper, who was riding high after The Hangover and The A-Team, so it opened at $18 million. Ryan Reynolds I think is pretty well liked but just hasn't delivered a hit like Cooper has, and so he has no strong audience backing his movies at the theater. In both cases, though, the movies feature a gimmicky sci-fi premise and not much else.

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