“Blade Runner 2049” was meant to be one of the year’s biggest blockbusters, but after a disappointing weekend at the box office, Warner Bros. is admitting the audience for the film, made up of mostly men, was “narrower” than they expected.
As IndieWire reports, the long-gestating sequel opened with only about $32.7 million over the weekend, on a budget that was over $300 including marketing costs. It had been expected to make north of $40 million.
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It turns out that part of the reason the Ryan Gosling and Harrison Ford-starring sci-fi film failed to do better was because it appealed mostly to men. Over 65 per cent of the audience for the film were men, and 77 per cent were over 25 years old.
“The core of enthusiastic and loyal ‘Blade Runner’ fans were over 25 and predominantly male and propelled the film as expected to the top spot,” a media analyst for ComScore told IndieWire, “but a lengthy running time and lesser interest among females made it tougher for the film to reach the original weekend box office projections.”
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Warner Bros. is also aware of those failings. “The audience for it was narrower than we anticipated.” Jeff Goldstein, Warner Bros.’ domestic distribution president, told Reuters. “We did well in the major and high-profile markets. Alcon and [director Denis Villeneuve] made an amazing movie.”
Though, as IndieWire also points out, “Blade Runner 2049” managed to get an A- from CinemaScore, which may bode well for its word-of-mouth appeal as the weeks go by.
