Knives Out marked a return of the all-star ensemble murder mystery, and Hollywood took notes on that film’s financial success. In addition to shelling out huge money to turn Knives Out into a franchise (with The Glass Onion coming out soon), studios suddenly greenlighted several ensemble murder mysteries, including David O. Russell’s Amsterdam. Amsterdam stars Christian Bale, Margot Robbie and John David Washington and it features extended cameos by people like Chris Rock, Taylor Swift, Robert DeNiro, Anya Taylor Joy, Mike Myers and on and on. Well, maybe it’s the stink of David O. Russell or maybe it’s just a bad movie, but audiences have rejected Amsterdam. The film is probably going to lose more than $100 million for New Regency and Disney.

Amsterdam has been sent packing. David O. Russell’s new movie — featuring a star-studded cast led by Christian Bale, Margot Robbie and John David Washington — opened to a dismal $6.4 million in North America over the Oct. 7-9 weekend despite a wide release by New Regency and Disney in more than 3,000 theaters.

Amsterdam ultimately stands to lose anywhere from $80 million to $100 million, according to box office analysts and financing sources surveyed by The Hollywood Reporter. The film’s target audience — older adults — are unfortunately a no-show in terms of the numbers needed following poor reviews. New Regency fully financed the quirky period comedy, which cost at least $80 million to produce, and also spent $70 million on the global marketing campaign (some suggest the campaign cost closer to $80 million).

“This is a high-risk movie that is based entirely on execution,” says another source. “Why would they try to thread this needle at this price?”

Insiders say the movie’s original budget was $50 million, but that tens of millions were tacked on as a result of having to move the production from Boston to Los Angeles just before shooting was to begin because of the pandemic. (As with many other movies during the COVID-19 era, the production start date was ultimately delayed.)

At this pace, Amsterdam may only earn $18 million domestically and shy of $40 million globally.

[From THR]

What’s shocking to me is that they spent $80 million on this production and then topped it off with a $70-80 million marketing campaign! Who the f–k signed off on that? The brilliance of the “return to murder mysteries” is that those films should be (ideally) pretty inexpensive to make AND market. There is no need for expensive special effects or extensive post-production fixes. You literally just need actors acting and an interesting set. The “murder mystery” genre is actually perfect for streaming companies – inexpensive to produce, quick turn-around, easy to find top talent to work on a breezy six-to-eight week production. Trust David O. Russell to f–k it all up.

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Photos courtesy of New Regency/Disney.

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