This Week at the Box Office — Record-Setting Flops

The Wall Street Journal reports that none of the new nationwide releases reached the top of the box office last weekend and one or two of them may end up breaking the record for worst-ever ticket sales.

A frightening showing at the box office this weekend featured five disappointments—including two of the biggest flops in history.

“ Steve Jobs,” “The Last Witch Hunter,” “Paranormal Activity: The Ghost Dimension,” “Rock the Kasbah” and “Jem and the Holograms” all fell short, with only “Witch Hunter” cracking $10 million. “Kasbah” and “Jem” now rank among the worst openings of all time, and “Paranormal” missed expectations after weeks of anticipation over its divisive distribution strategy.

Instead, holdovers “The Martian” and “Goosebumps” came in first and second place, respectively. “The Martian” grossed an estimated $15.9 million in the U.S. and Canada, bringing the space drama’s total to $166 million.

What happened? There’s a lot of speculation. Poor reviews may explain the lack of interest in “Jem” and “Kasbah” and the weak showing for “Witch Hunter.” And the last in the “Paranormal Activity” series suffered from a dispute with theater owners, who were angry that it was being made available by VOD only 17 days after the theatrical release. The one that is hard to understand is “Steve Jobs,” which had mixed but mostly positive reviews and an all-star team on screen and behind the camera.