“The Last Voyage of the Demeter” Sinks at the Box Office: Dracula Revival Fails to Impress
©Universal/Courtesy Everett Col
“The Last Voyage of the Demeter,” the highly anticipated period horror film, had a disastrous opening weekend, sinking without a trace and earning a meager $6.5 million at the box office. Distributed by Universal, this is the studio’s second attempt at reviving Bram Stoker’s iconic vampire, Dracula. Last spring’s “Renfield,” a campy take on the bloodsucker, also failed to attract audiences and flopped at the box office.
Despite the lackluster performance of “The Last Voyage of the Demeter,” another movie continued to dominate the global box office. Warner Bros.’ “Barbie” earned an impressive $33.7 million, securing its position at the top for the fourth consecutive week. The film has now amassed a total of $526.3 million, glittering with success.
In second place, Universal’s “Oppenheimer,” a biographical drama about atomic bomb creator J. Robert Oppenheimer directed by Christopher Nolan, earned $18.8 million over the weekend. The film’s domestic ticket sales have reached an impressive $264.3 million, making it Nolan’s fourth-highest grossing movie in the US. It trails behind his other hits like “Inception,” “The Dark Knight,” and “The Dark Knight Rises.”
Paramount Pictures’ “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem” took third place, earning $15.7 million. The animated feature, produced by Nickelodeon Movies and Point Grey Productions, has made a total of $72.8 million domestically after just two weeks of release. On the other hand, “Meg 2: The Trench,” a Warner Bros. adventure film, dropped 60% from its $30 million opening weekend, earning $12.7 million. The movie’s total domestic earnings stand at $54.5 million.
“The Last Voyage of the Demeter” had a production budget of $45 million, adding to the list of box office disappointments for Amblin, Steven Spielberg’s production company. Recent releases like “Easter Sunday” and “The Fabelmans” have also underperformed commercially. However, “The Fabelmans” managed to garner numerous Oscar nominations and positive reviews. Unfortunately, “The Last Voyage of the Demeter” did not have the same luck, receiving a dismal 27% approval rating from top critics on Rotten Tomatoes. Audiences seemed to agree, giving the film a lackluster B- rating in a Cinema Score survey.
With the lack of success surrounding Dracula movies and reboots, it remains to be seen whether this failure will deter future attempts. The problem with undead movies is that they seem to have a notoriously hard time staying dead.