‘Amsterdam’ Stands To Lose Near $100 Million: What This Means For Upscale Movies

The new movie Amsterdam has been in theaters for just one week, but it’s already been deemed a massive failure due to its disappointing box office performance.

“Every movie needs a rabbi,” the great and grumpy Robert Altman once warned fellow filmmakers. “You need at least one important critic to champion your cause.”

Rebecca Rubin Film and Media Reporter “Ticket to Paradise,” a romantic comedy that reunites Julia Roberts and George Clooney, is (surprise, surprise) charming audiences at the international box office. The movie has generated $60 million overseas to date, a promising start given the current challenges facing theatrical rom-coms. Of course, it helps when the genre gets a boost from megawatt stars like Roberts and Clooney. According to Universal, which is backing the film, “Ticket to Paradise” is outpacing recent meet-cute stories like “The Lost City,” “Last Christmas” and “Crazy Rich Asians” at the same point in their respective big-screen rollouts. Over the weekend, “Ticket to Paradise” earned $10.5 million from 61 territories, including debuts in France ($1 million), Mexico ($1 million) and Italy ($800,000). In holdover markets, “Ticket to Paradise,” which features Clooney and Roberts as exes who try to stop their daughter from marrying a near stranger, has been popular in Australia ($8.5 million), the United Kingdom and Ireland ($7.4 million) and Germany ($7.4 million). It opens Oct. 21 in the U.S. and Canada.

“Smile” has become the latest original horror film, joining Universal/Blumhouse’s “The Black Phone” and 20th Century’s “Barbarian” to find low budget success thanks to strong word-of-mouth among horror fans. Against a production budget of $17 million, “Smile” now has a 10-day domestic total of $50 million, creating an intriguing match-up next weekend as the theatrically exclusive film goes up against a franchise horror film, Universal/Blumhouse’s “Halloween Ends,” which has a much higher profile but will also be released day-and-date on Peacock this Friday.

Rebecca Rubin Film and Media Reporter David O. Russell’s star-studded period drama “Amsterdam” collapsed in its box office debut, earning an anemic $6.5 million from 3,005 North American theaters. The movie, which cost $80 million to produce, couldn’t overcome bad reviews and minimal buzz and is shaping up to be one of the biggest misfires of the year. This weekend’s other newcomer “Lyle Lyle Crocodile” also fell short of expectations with $11.5 million from 4,350 cinemas in its opening weekend. However, Sony’s animated family film, an adaptation of the popular children’s book about an  anthropomorphic reptile (who sings!) voiced by Shawn Mendes, won’t be as painful for the studio given its $50 million price tag.

David O Russell’s oeuvre, it’s that great film-making chops (Three Kings!) meet wildly divergent outcomes (often within a single film); Russell will fall out with some of his cast, and said cast will be star-filled. His latest is Amsterdam, a period crime romp led by Margot Robbie, Christian Bale and John David Washington, abetted by Robert De Niro, Anya Taylor-Joy, Chris Rock, Rami Malek, Mike Myers, Andrea Riseborough, Zoe Saldaña, Michael Shannon and Taylor Swift. Results may vary.

“Amsterdam,” the new David O. Russell historical mystery, has enough mega-watt stars to power a midsized American city.The cast includes (but is not limited to) Margot Robbie, John David Washington, Anya Taylor-Joy, Rami Malek, Chris Rock, Mike Myers, Zoe Saldaña, Timothy Olyphant and Matthias Schoenaerts. If there’s a lead in the movie, it’s Christian Bale, who developed the project with Russell and who stars as an injured veteran of World War I who is now looking to help his fellow wounded soldiers start their new lives in New York.

Christian Bale, Margot Robbie, John David Washington, Rami Malek, Robert De Niro, Chris Rock, Anya Taylor-Joy . . .

“Amsterdam” is a star-studded film.Its cast includes (deep breath) Christian Bale, Margot Robbie, John David Washington, Anya Taylor-Joy, Chris Rock, Zoe Saldaña, Andrea Riseborough, Rami Malek and Robert De Niro (among others). It’s a lively, spirited historical mystery about World War I and a vast right-wing conspiracy on American shores. But the movie becomes even more electric when two stars appear on screen together: Mike Myers and Michael Shannon.The two performers play spies who assist our heroes, first in the title city and later in New York, as they attempt to thwart a growing threat to democracy.

“The world is beautiful, this world is luscious and precise, and it takes specific people to create a living world,” director David O. Russell says in a new exclusive clip about the craft of his latest film, “Amsterdam.” While the film, which comes out this week on October 7, has been lauded for its sprawling, A-list cast—Margot Robbie, Christian Bale, and John David Washington as the three leads, plus a cavalcade of supporting actors like Chris Rock, Anya Taylor-Joy, Zoe Saldaña, Mike Myers, Michael Shannon, Taylor Swift, Rami Malek, and Robert De Niro— there are also several superstars below the line who worked on the gorgeous-looking movie.

A humbling moment. Christian Bale thought he and costar John David Washington were doing a great job singing while filming Amsterdam – until director David O. Russell had Taylor Swift step in to set them straight. 

Christian Bale’s Burt Berenstein character says he “left his eye in France” in David O. Russell’s fanciful, murder-mystery/ larger-conspiracy comedic thriller, “Amsterdam,” a movie named for the city where the films lead trio spends their halcyon years, living, loving and laughing together.

Amsterdam.” It’s a film from established auteur David O. Russell, whose reputation for delivering the goods allowed him to attract a murderer’s row of talent that includes Christian Bale, Margot Robbie, John David Washington, Chris Rock, Anya Taylor-Joy, Taylor Swift and Robert De Niro. And yet, the film, bolstering more stars than in the heavens, to quote an old line — and a budget that’s upwards of $80 million — is arriving in theaters having been pulverized by the critics who have published so far and hoping to rescue its investment by overcoming the reviews to be a commercial success.

Christian Bale and Rami Malek are stepping out to promote their new movie!