The live-action Monster Hunter movie has had something of a difficult launch. While the film released in China first, it was quickly pulled amid controversy over a particular scene that Chinese audiences widely perceived as racist. While the studio pulled the scene and apologized, the U.S. release of the film was bumped up slightly from Christmas day to December 18th, where it has managed to top the box office despite a disappointing haul.
It is difficult to underestimate the significance of the Coronavirus pandemic to this year's box office numbers, as it has devastated the income and plans of nearly every major studio and theater. Monster Hunter itself had its release date shuffled around several times before finally landing on the December 18th date. While other projects getting pushed back could have made a good window for a film like Monster Hunter, the investment doesn't seem to have paid off.
Internationally the film has earned about $10 million overall, and the opening weekend in the U.S. brought in $2.2 million on top of that. While that was enough to take the number 1 spot in the box office, being number 1 isn't quite the accomplishment it was in the pre-lockdown era. The film had no significant competition to speak of, with the 2nd place spot being taken by The Croods 2, which came out about a month ago.
While $12 million dollars is certainly a lot of money for most people, it's nothing for a big budget film like Monster Hunter. Paul W.S. Anderson's previous Resident Evil films all opened at over $10 million in the past, and Monster Hunter reportedly cost about $60 million dollars to produce. All that is to say that Monster Hunter isn't exactly lighting the world on fire, and just might end up being a serious bomb for the studio.
It's difficult to estimate the impact of the Chinese box office on this total number. The controversy over the translation saw the film get pulled from nearly every theater overnight, which certainly damaged the film's reputation and earnings. At the moment, it is hard to say whether the film will ever have a serious foothold in China again, or if the incident has completely destroyed its chances with that market.
Regardless, it looks like Monster Hunter isn't going to the next big IP for Paul W.S. Anderson. With Milla Jovovich already hinting that she'd be willing to return to Resident Evil, perhaps his next film project will play it a bit safer with an established brand name.
Monster Hunter is currently in theaters.
Source: Anime News Network