Mars Flops in Singapore with Disastrous Results

6 April 2011

MARS NEEDS MOM has made only US$129,704 (S$163,400) up to the last weekend.

The new animated Easter theme film HOP debut at No. 1 over the weekend with US$350,104 (S$441,058) - that's close to three times as much as what MARS has grossed in 4 weeks.

Two other recent animated films - RANGO has made US$969,122 (S$1.22m) to date and GNOMEO AND JULIET US$736,902 (S$928,342) - both far ahead of MARS.

Even taking into account a crowded marketplace filled with films for families and kids, it's hard to think of any recent major Hollywood release that have fared so badly at the Singapore box office - either animated film or live action.

Last year's lowest grossing American animated film was ALPHA & OMEGA - it opened on 14 screens for a total gross of US$105,531 (S$138,464) after 3 weeks. But it beat MARS in terms of average per screen - it's first weekend per screen average of US$2,543 (S$3,396) was about twice that of MARS' US$1,402 (S$1,776). And it was playing on fewer screens without any benefit from the Disney brand name or 3D either.

To date, the US$150 million production has grossed about US$36.3 million worldwide. So what went wrong? Was it a film that nobody really wanted to see?

--

Fly Entertainment's first venture into filmmaking under A.I. Pictures - PERFECT RIVALS has raked in US$120,794 (S$152,175) after 3 weeks in release. It's way ahead of Wee Li Lin's FOREVER, which was last reported to have collected S$41,000 in a Today article after 2 weeks in release.

Opening next week is THE ULTIMATE WINNER - TV actor Li Nanxing's debut as director and star. Local films featuring local TV stars do not usually perform well, as evident from the Christopher Lee vehicle KIDNAPPER (S$436,033), the Fann Wong led HAPPY GO LUCKY (S$223,027) and LOVE CUTS starring Zoe Tay (S$150,087).

Without the benefit of a huge marketing campaign and the general lukewarm reception of the local audience to most local films, it's possible that THE ULTIMATE WINNER may open with a per screen average gross in the same range as PERFECT RIVALS (US$5,773/S$7,345) and last year's OLD COW VS. TENDER GRASS (US$6,556/S$8,980).

Also opening is AKU TAK BODOH - the Malaysian remake of I NOT STUPID. It'd be interesting to see how well this one does - as data for Malay films is usually left out of Box Office Guru.

The number of local films released this year now number six with Liao Jiekai's RED DRAGONFLIES slated to open on May 5.

The other films released this year are: IT'S A GREAT GREAT WORLD - US$1.9m (S$2.42m); THE GHOSTS MUST BE CRAZY - US$1.13m (S$1.45m) and HOMECOMING - US$1.09m (S$1.39m).

---

Oscar nominee THE KIDS ARE ALL RIGHT finished off with about US$53,320 (S$67,212). Not too shabby for a 1-print release after 5 weeks that kicked off with lots of controversy when the MDA restricted the R21 film to only 1 print and 1 location.

A SINGLE MAN, also an Oscar nominated gay theme film grossed US$76,510 (S$104,954) from 4 screens when it ran for 4 weeks back in 2010.

ALL ABOVE LOVE, which opened recently collected only US$18,472 (S$23,503) after a 3 week run on 2 screens without facing the same legal restrictions placed on KIDS.

So the answers we'd never know are: without the controversy, would the film have done as well, or would it have done much better if it was allowed to screen at more locations?

Sources:
http://www.boxofficemojo.com/intl/singapore/
http://www.smf.sg/SFC/Documents/Box%20Office%20Information%20for%20Singapore%20Films%20from%201991.pdf

Notes:
The box office figures reported are just estimates based on the above sources.