TOMORROWLAND

Tomorrowland

Tomorrowland was financed by Disney for $190 million and the project was shrouded in secrecy and was to be the mouse house’s big end of year release in 2014. It was first dated for December 19th, 2014 and then pushed up a week to December 12 and then delayed until May 22nd, 2015. Disney spent more than $150 million to market the picture worldwide and launched a vague marketing campaign that tried to keep the premise a secret and it clearly worked against the commercial potential. It was not clear if Tomorrowland was aimed at children or older audiences and mixed reviews only added to the ambivalence surrounding the picture.

After the marketing blitz, which included a seven minute sneak preview before IMAX screenings of Avengers: Age Of Ultron, Tomorrowland opened in the US over the Memorial Day frame, against the Poltergeist remake. It pulled in $33,028,165 for the weekend and $42,679,200 over the 4-day holiday — placing #1 at the box office, but coming in way under expectations. There were no family targeting movies opening for another month, until Disney’s Inside Out and Tomorrowland was expected to play well over the upcoming weeks, but its attendance dropped a steep 56.7% in its second frame to $14,303,679 ending its chance at breaking out. Tomorrowland closed its North American run with a very disappointing $93,436,322.

Overseas, the film pulled in a less than blockbuster $115.7 million, with China posting the highest gross at $19.2 million. The worldwide cume was $209.1 million, which would leave the mouse house with about $109.4 million after theaters take their percentage of the gross, leaving part of the P&A costs in the red and the budget as all red ink — making Tomorrowland one of the biggest box office bombs on record.