Could ‘Jupiter Ascending’ Be The Biggest Flop For The Wachowskis?

Andy and Lana Wachowski’s Jupiter Ascending opened nationwide on Friday, but moviegoers don’t seem that interested in seeing the latest big-budget, sci-fi spectacle from the creators of the Matrix trilogy.

According to Deadline, even with the addition of 3D pricing and large premium theaters such as IMAX and Cinemark XD, Jupiter Ascending will most likely fall below its projected $20 million opening weekend. Its opening day brought in $6.7 million from 3,181 theaters, and analysts are now predicting the film will bring in $18.4 million in its debut.

In addition to moviegoers not showing interest in Jupiter Ascending, film critics have not been too kind to the Wachowskis’ latest. As previously reported by the Inquisitr, Jupiter Ascending has a 22 percent approval rating from critics on Rotten Tomatoes.

Rolling Stone film critic Peter Travers wrote that he is uncertain what the future holds for the Wachowskis, since he hasn’t been that impressed with their work after the first Matrix film.

“I haven’t given up on the Wachowskis — thoughtful mischief is still an endangered species in Hollywood. But I sure as hell don’t want anything more to do with ‘Jupiter Ascending,’ the first of their films that seems motivated by box-office (3D IMAX, a whopping $175 million budget) and not by their own churning, crazy-a** worldview.”

Richard Roeper of the Chicago Sun-Times also slammed the movie.

“There’s no defending ‘Jupiter Ascending.’ There’s no explaining ‘Jupiter Ascending.’ There’s no way ‘Jupiter Ascending’ isn’t making an appearance on my list of the Worst Films of 2015.”

Jupiter Ascending marks the fourth box office dud in a row for the Wachowskis. It started back in the fall of 2003, when The Matrix Revolutions brought in just $139 million domestically, according to Box Office Mojo. Both the second and third Matrix films cost $150 million to make. And while the second film wasn’t well received, it did bring in $281 million domestically.

Ever since then, all of their directorial efforts haven’t even come close to matching what the last Matrix film earned. Speed Racer brought in $43 million in the U.S., and Cloud Atlas brought in just $27 million domestically. Those films respectively cost $120 million and $100 million.

With the release of Jupiter Ascending, the Wachowskis have another flop on their hands. But it is also the most expensive film the duo has released, costing $175 million to make. And with a separate Deadline report saying that Fifty Shades of Grey is expected to have a strong opening next weekend, it looks like Jupiter Ascending will be forgotten by moviegoers, and it could become the biggest flop for the Wachowskis.

Did you see Jupiter Ascending?

[Image credit: Warner Bros. via Blastr]