Complete concept rejection is always a killer. It's the same idea of pushing a plate of smoked tofu in front of your 3-year-old: not a single bite. Already this summer, the studios have spent fortunes on two movies that audiences rejected within minutes of their landing at the multiplex. Warner Bros. and Village Roadshow invested at least $150 million in "Speed Racer," while Paramount and Spyglass split the bill on the $70-million "The Love Guru," with multiple millions more spent on marketing both releases. Despite the wall-to-wall marketing blitzes, neither film will gross $45 million domestically in theaters.
Fox can sell snow to Eskimos, but not all the time. Revered within the industry for its ability to peddle successfully even the most middlebrow movies, Fox started the summer with a typical flourish, drawing audiences to "What Happens in Vegas" despite terrible reviews (a 28% fresh rating on Rotten Tomatoes) and opening a week after "Iron Man." The Cameron Diaz comedy has almost grossed a strong $80 million. But the Fox marketing magic ("It's rated R!" "It opens on Friday the 13th!") couldn't overcome M. Night Shyamalan's "The Happening," which will be his biggest flop behind "Lady in the Water."
