Deepika Padukone‘s big Hollywood debut may be the number one movie worldwide with almost $70 million business but it hasn’t really set the cash register ringing in its domestic market that is North American box office. The film in its first weekend made only $20 million against a budget of $85 million and it was surprising as well as shocking for many because it lost the weekend box office battle to M Night Shyamalan’s small budget psychological thriller Split made on a meagre budget of just $9 million, earned a whopping $40 million in its first weekend, double of what xXx: Return Of Xander Cage made. And that made Split the number one movie at the US box office.
So, let’s analyse, why xXx which was expected to be a blockbuster isn’t really setting box office on fire. Here are five reasons I could think of, that explains its fate at the US box office:
#No recall value
Unlike the Fast and the Furious franchise, xXx franchise is not something which was popular among the pop culture audience. Even though both started around the same time, their frequency was uneven. While F&F churned out in total eight sequels so far, in last sixteen years, with eighth all set to release this year. xXx, on the other hand which started in the year 2002, could make only three in last fifteen years. Also the last xXx: State of the Union which starred Ice Cube was a disaster. So that didn’t help either.
#Same old story
There was no novelty factor in xXx: Return Of Xander Cage. The story was been there done that. The premise is basically Fast and Furious meets The Expendables meets Captain America: Winter Soldier. There is a scene between Vin Diesel and Deepika Padukone showing off their tattoos that will remind you of a similar scene in Jaws. Nina Dobrev’s geeky tech genius is so Felicity Smoak from TV series Arrow. Also read: Sorry Deepika Padukone, but I couldn’t take my eyes off Vin Diesel at the xXx: Return of Xander Cage press con
#Vin Diesel’s box office standing
While Vin Diesel is a huge star around the world but that mainly has to do with the success of his blockbuster franchise, Fast and the Furious series. Apart from that, his films haven’t really worked that well at the box office. Check out the last few films of Vin Diesel and its box office collections at the US box office:
Billy Lynn’s Long Halftime Walk (supporting role) – $1.7 million (approx) on a budget of $40 million
The Last Witch Hunter – $27 million (approx) on a budget of $90 million
Guardians of Galaxy (voice role)- $333 million (approx) on a budget of $170 million
Riddick – $42 million (approx) on a budget of $38 million
Babylon A.D. – $22 million (approx) on a budget of $70 million
You got the gist…right?
#Split – The darling of critics
M Night Shyamalan, after the surprised success of his last, a horror comedy, The Visit returned to what he does best. Delivering mind bending stuff. The synopsis of Split goes, “Three girls are kidnapped by a man with a diagnosed 23 distinct personalities, and must try and escape before the apparent emergence of a frightful new 24th.”
The film has garnered rave reviews from the critics and xXx: Return Of Xander Cage hasn’t been liked by critics. On Rotten Tomatoes, Split holds a strong 76 percent rating after 149 critic reviews on the other hand xXx: Return Of Xander Cage holds a rotten 43 percent rating after 80 critic reviews. Also read: Deepika Padukone’s performance in xXx: Return of Xander Cage gets the royal snub from major foreign press
#January – the Dump month
Not just in Bollywood, Hollywood too suffers in the month of January, usually. January is usually considered as the Dump month. It is when there are lowered commercial and critical expectations for most new releases. Audiences during these periods are smaller than the rest of the year. Also, as has been the case in the past usually low budget horror/thrillers like Cloverfield, The Devil Inside and Mama have worked at the box office. So Split had an advantage there due to its genre.
Having said that, as I mentioned at the start, the film may not work at US box office, which is its home country, it’s still making money at the box office worldwide and is number one.