‘Mickey 17’ struggles at the box office, marketing a key factor

The news: “Parasite” director Bong Joon-ho’s new sci-fi comedy “Mickey 17” earned $19.1 million from 3,807 North American theaters during its opening weekend, placing it at the top of the domestic box office, but far below where it needs to be to profit on a $118 million budget.

• The film had a worldwide gross of $53.3 million.
• “Mickey 17” cost an additional $80 million to market—meaning it would need to earn around $275 million to $300 million to become profitable during its theatrical release, per Variety.
• Despite the overall disappointment, “Mickey 17” was still the biggest opening of the director’s career in 59 markets, including the US.

What caused the upset? The Warner Bros. Discovery film comes after Bong’s success with “Parasite,” the first foreign language movie to ever win the Academy Award for best picture. The movie’s positive reception encouraged Warner Bros. to invest big in “Mickey 17,” but without an established IP, success was always a long shot.

• The results likely boil down to how “Mickey 17” was marketed—or how it wasn’t. While Warner Bros. did push the movie with an NFL playoff spot, it failed to create a noteworthy marketing stunt in the five-month gap between its first trailer—which was relatively unsuccessful at generating buzz—and its second trailer.
• “Mickey 17” could have garnered more interest by marketing at events like San Diego Comic-Con and NYC Comic Con, where it was also notably absent. Combined with relatively average scores—a B on CinemaScore and a 79% on Rotten Tomatoes—the movie failed to create enough interest to warrant the massive budget.

Our take: Box office revenues are already struggling worldwide as more consumers opt for streaming over seeing movies in theaters. Without a unique angle and a heavy marketing push, high-budget films like “Mickey 17,” which already has a relatively niche audience of sci-fi lovers, will consistently struggle to be profitable.