Hypnotic who?
It’s unusual, to say the least, that a film by directors like Robert Rodriguez and starring Ben Affleck barely makes it onto the radar of new movies hitting the box office.
This lack of awareness helps explain why “Hypnotic” opened in 2,118 theaters over the weekend of May 14-16 for nearly $2.4 million, making it the worst national premiere of any film directed by Rodriguez or starring Affleck marked. Set to lose tens of millions after it reportedly cost $65 million to make, ‘Hypnotic’ reinforces what any savvy Hollywood studio exec knows: spending on marketing is essential.
The sci-fi action thriller suffered several setbacks en route to the big screen, culminating in the implosion of Solstice Studios in late 2021, which was supposed to be marketing and releasing the film.
Solstice, led by indie veteran Mark Gill, relied on Hypnotic to shape its future. But despite the modest success of 2000’s “Unhinged,” the fledgling company was derailed by the pandemic. (With the ongoing COVID-19 crisis, Russell Crowe’s road rage thriller did relatively well in theaters.)
Months earlier, Solstice formed a strategic partnership with Jeff Robinov’s Studios 8, and Hypnotic was their first project together (the two had worked together when Robinov was executive producer at Warner Bros. and the Gil Warner Independent).
Solstice has been tasked with marketing the film and handling US distribution as well as international distribution. The film generated significant interest from overseas buyers, who pledged a significant portion of the advertised $65 million budget after being assured it would hit theaters in more than 2,000 locations across the United States.
But when Solstice leadership pulled out, Hypnotic seemingly slipped off the radar until earlier this year, foreign buyers visiting the Berlin Film Festival market were informed that boutique Ketchup had come on board as a US distributor.
Ketchup did not respond to requests for comment.
The film was screened as a work-in-progress on South by Southwest earlier this year and premiered in the US in a midnight slot at the 2023 Cannes Film Festival. (The film’s financiers are no doubt hoping that the Cannes slot will boost foreign box office sales.)
In the US, the marketing campaign for Hypnotic was minimal at best, as Affleck did no press himself. Insiders are speculating that the film’s release date will align with the marketing campaign for Air, Affleck’s acclaimed Nike sports drama, which ran exclusively in theaters before debuting on Prime Video over the weekend.
In “Hypnotic,” Affleck plays detective Danny Rourke, who ponders the unsolved kidnapping of his seven-year-old daughter and tries to uncover the forces behind it. Alice Braga and William Fichtner also star.
According to Comscore, and not adjusted for inflation, 1998’s “Phantoms” marked the lowest wide opening of Affeck’s career ($3 million), followed by 2003’s “Gigli” ($3.8 million). “Wide” in this case is defined as 1,500 or more screens.