Is Overexposure of Dwayne Johnson Hurting Box Office Numbers?

Dwayne Johnson’s latest movie, ‘Skyscraper,’ fell far short of expectations over the weekend, raising concerns that the action star has become overexposed.

The actor’s newest outing on the big screen, Skyscraper, opened well behind expectations over the July 13-15 weekend, raising concerns that Johnson has become overexposed. At the moment, he’s the busiest actor on the planet, having now starred in five films in the short span of 14 months. And he’s already got four more slotted for 2019, although most of those don’t begin rolling out until the latter half of the year.

Skyscraper — described as Die Hard meets The Towering Inferno — took in an estimated $25.5 million in North America and $40.4 million overseas from its first 57 markets, coming in well behind expectations and losing on both fronts to Hotel Transylvania 3: Summer Vacation in an embarrassing upset. Unless Skyscraper scales huge numbers in China, where it opens July 20, the summer event film stands to lose money for Legendary and Universal.

“While Dwayne Johnson’s star power remains undeniable, the performance of Skyscraperunderscores the issue of ‘too much of a good thing’ and diluting interest in known brands, franchises and stars where there is not enough breathing space between each project,” says box-office analyst Paul Dergarabedian.

Skyscraper stars Johnson as a former FBI hostage rescue team leader and amputee now assigned to provide security for a towering skyscraper in China. He must spring into action when his wife (Neve Campbell) and children are trapped inside the world’s tallest building after villains set fire to it (Johnson’s character is framed for the fire, of course).

(Excerpt) Read More at: HollywoodReporter.com

 

Category: Featured