Box Office: A Tale of Three Flops...

What do 'Tron: Ares,' 'One Battle After Another, and 'The Smashing Machine' have in common and how do they differ in terms of narrative and consequence?

Disney’s $180 million Tron: Ares barely cracked $25 million in its second worldwide weekend, giving it a $103 million global cume. That puts it on track to earn noticeably less in total than both Jared Leto’s $75 million Morbius ($167 million in 2022). Warner Bros.’ One Battle After Another has now earned $165 million worldwide. Even noting Oscar buzz, P.T. Anderson’s $140 million action comedy will still probably struggle to top $200 million globally while earning far below what would’ve been expected from a Leonardo DiCaprio vehicle. A24’s The Smashing Machine opened with just $6 million, dropped 69% in weekend two and then (while losing 2,500 theaters) fell another 83% for a $11 million 17-day cume.

Fun fact: Dwayne Johnson’s The Scorpion King earned $12.5 million in its first day 23 years ago. All three are, in pure “how much it costs to produce versus what it will earn in theatrical grosses,” unmitigated disasters. And yet, I wanted to dig in a little and both discern what the overall narratives — including perhaps my own — miss and how each film exists on its own and within its broader ecosystem. Are we being overly harsh on Tron: Ares? Are we being too kind to One Battle After Another? And who is the “biggest loser” amid The Smashing Machine’s commercial implosion? Yes, this might be one of those “wait for the restroom” epic poems, so let’s dive in.