THE LOVE GURU

This career derailing turkey for star Mike Myers was leaked onto the web a day before its theatrical release in the US, but after months of atrocious marketing material and horrible reviews, the film rode a wave of bad buzz into its opening weekend.  Paramount and Spyglass Entertainment split the costs for this $62 million disaster, plus tens of millions more from a heavy marketing push.  The Love Guru opened against the comedy Get Smart and between having to compete for similar auds and the toxic buzz, it flopped with $13,907,130 — placing #4 for the weekend led by Get Smart and The Incredible Hulk.  The Love Guru sank 61.6% in its second frame to $5,340,895 and continued to post huge weekly declines, ending its box office run with $32,235,793.  The bad buzz traveled overseas, where The Love Guru was dead on arrival, grossing just $8.6 million.  The worldwide total was $40.8 million, which would leave Paramount with about $22.4 million after theaters take their percentage of the ticket price, falling far short of the hefty P&A spend and leaving the budget at a loss.  Recorded domestic home video sales were $9.5 million (less after resellers take their cut and manufacturing costs).  Paramount Film Group President John Lesher and production President Brad Weston were fired in 2009 because the few in-house productions at Paramount were box office flops, Imagine That, The Love Guru and Dance Flick.