By Kavi Shahnawaz
The “Barbenheimer” trend of Summer 2023 not only delighted the public but revived the movie theater business post-Covid. Barbie alone grossed $1.446 billion and Oppenheimer racked in $977 million at the box office. With numbers like these, it was reasonable to assume that bringing together a star from each film would result in another superhit blockbuster.
So, in May of this year, 87North Productions and Entertainment 360 released The Fall Guy: a movie led by Ken and Kitty, i.e., Ryan Gosling and Emily Blunt. By casting these familiar actors, studio executives aimed to recreate the magic of Barbenheimer. In addition, they blended the genres of action, comedy, and romance to attract as many people as possible.
The Fall Guy tells the story of seasoned stuntman Colt Seavers, who is slowly winning back his ex-girlfriend Jody by working on the set of her directorial debut, Metalstorm. The fictitious evil Hollywood producer then uses deepfake technology to frame Colt for killing the lead actor of the film. Amid intense combat, the audience thinks that Colt is dead—until he swims to safety and gets his revenge on the higher-ups who plotted against him. Colt and Jody get back together while the Metalstorm trailer premieres at San Diego Comic-Con and becomes a smashing success.
Although the “movie-in-a-movie” flourished, The Fall Guy did not fare well in the real world. According to Screen Rant, The Fall Guy needed to make around $335 million to break even from the cost of advertising and its $125 million budget. However, the film only ended up making $180.5 million. In other words, while this film broke a Guinness World Record for most cannon rolls in a car, it did not even come close to breaking box office records.
This underperformance is a shame considering the film is very enjoyable and visually impressive. Several memorable scenes stick with viewers, such as Colt crying in his car to “All Too Well (Taylor’s Version)” and trying to fight while under the influence. So, why did this well-crafted, hilarious movie with generally positive reviews fail to sell tickets? There is no singular, definitive answer, but a few possible explanations exist for why The Fall Guy flopped.
Ineffective promotion
Besides being under-advertised, the few trailers circulated online and on television did not highlight the movie's best parts. The promotional material overemphasizes the action scenes instead of highlighting the comedic and romantic qualities that set The Fall Guy apart and prevent it from being monotonous. By portraying the movie as one-note, it is no wonder why audiences weren’t sold.
Competition
A week after The Fall Guy was released, Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes came out. This film had a more extensive promotion and benefited from continuing the legacy of an already hugely popular franchise. Therefore, The Fall Guy practically stood no chance. With a budget of $160 million, Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes significantly outperformed its competitor by grossing $397 million.
Premise that nobody asked for
The general public could have hesitated to see Gosling and Blunt play characters so different from what they were used to. For example, people might like Gosling as a goofy side character but not an adventurous leading man. In that case, they would rewatch Barbie rather than go out to see The Fall Guy. Moreover, although this film is not strictly a “sequel,” it is loosely based on a show of the same name from the 1980s. The original Colt and Jody even have cameos. But, it is hard to profit off of a throwback that no one expressed a desire to see.
Besides, the crew behind The Fall Guy considers this film a “love letter to stunt performers,” which isn’t necessarily a meaningful sentiment for lay people. The disregard for this profession is reflected in the original show’s theme song, “Unknown Stuntman,” which Blake Shelton covers in the movie’s credits. So, the filmmakers seemed to have knowingly taken the risk of using a niche concept and hoping it would sell. Of course, the risk did not pay off, and the film was never bound to reach the same heights as Gosling or Blunt’s previous entries in the 21st-century zeitgeist.
The Fall Guy is an excellent case study into how films cannot thrive on a star-studded cast alone when so many other factors are unattractive to mainstream audiences. The movie is still worth a watch and is now available on Peacock for those who want to decide why it did not become the next "Barbenheimer".
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