Evan Almighty Sinks at the Box Office

In what might be the biggest box office upset since "Waterworld," "Evan Almighty" brought in a low $32.1 million over the weekend.

While $32.1 million might not sound so bad to some, it's no doubt sounding a bit low to Universal who spent a reported $175 million producing the film. The sequel to the successful Jim Carrey vehicle, "Bruce Almighty," has the distinction of being the most expensive comedy film to date.

As reviews began to trickle in before the film's release, it was clearly evident that "Evan" would not share the good fortune of its dry predecessor. For while "Bruce" seemed to divide critics straight down the middle, "Evan" seemed unable to weather the flood of unsavory criticism.

"It's an almighty, humorless bore," wrote Claudia Puig of USA Today.

Unfortunately for "Evan Almighty," even the good reviews failed to be convincing. "This is idiotic, but it's so good-natured I didn't mind," quipped Chicago Reader reviewer, Jonathon Rosenbaum, in one of the film's more positive reviews.

"Evan Almighty" centers around the character of Evan Baxter (Steve Carell), the egotistical newscaster and nemesis of Jim Carrey's Bruce in "Bruce Almighty." In "Evan Almighty," Evan, now a congressman, is given the task of building an ark by God (Morgan Freeman).

While some entertainment outlets blame poor reviews, Entertainment Weekly writer Joshua Rich cites film audiences growing fatigue with one sequel after another. This summer, movie audiences have been treated to a number of sequels including Pirates of the Caribbean 3, Spider-Man 3, Shrek 3 and Fantastic Four: The Rise of the Silver Surfer.

However, iesb.net believes that there's an entirely different issue to blame: bad marketing. In an age where more film studios are reaching out to fans to market their films by attending conferences such as Comic-Con and WonderCon, Evan Almighty failed to do so and, instead, made a last ditch effort to market to members of Gather.com. With only two weeks until its release, Universal sent out unsolicited emails to Gather members requesting they join "Evan's" group. Those who joined were sent more emails including an invitation to write a short essay on where they'd like to plant a tree. Winners of the essay contest will win promotional items such as t-shirts and posters. Some might say that handing out promotional items after the film's release is too little too late.

While "Evan Almighty" made the #1 spot for the week, it was closely followed by the thriller, "1408," starring John Cusack and based on a short story by Stephen King. The thriller exceeded expectations, bringing in $20.2 million. The film has already received a number of glowing reviews, including a "thumbs-up" from Ebert & Roeper's own Richard Roeper.

SOURCE: http://www.ew.com/ew/article/0,,20043618,00.html
SOURCE: http://www.iesb.net/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=2761&Itemid=99