Why Speed Racer The Movie Failed

Anne Thompson, deputy on-line editor for Variety Magazine in the US, recently wrote a column as to why Speed Racer flopped at the Hollywood box office.

The movie opened with heavy expectations and had a notable cast and crew and starred Hallyuwood megastar Rain in a guest role as Taejo plus the film was directed by the Matrix creators the Wachowski Brothers. Plus, the film was about a cult anime which had a loyal and diverse following. So why did it fail?

Despite a wide opening on 3,606 screens, a massive marketing campaign and promo support from General Mills, McDonalds, Target, Mattel and Lego worth $80 million — the biggest in Warners studio history — the film bowed in third place to just $18.6 million. To date, the film only grossed US$ 42 million yet it took US$ 200 million to make and market the film.

Here’s the breakdown on why Speed Racer failed:

1. “Speed” was simply too costly to score a hit with its target audience.

The movie’s total cost, with global prints and ads, was $200 milllion but the $120-million movie came with a four-quadrant budget but only a half-pint demographic.

2. Producer Joel Silver is on a three-year losing streak.

Joel Silver is losing his magic touch. After producing several hit films like 48 HRS, Lethal Weapon and The Matrix, the producer is in a deep slump and has had a string of disappointing films like The Reaping, The Invasion, The Brave One, Fred Claus, Kiss Kiss Bang Bang and House of Wax.

3. Franchise fever.

Warner Bros. granted the Wachowskis final cut and more than $100 million to make “Speed Racer” but as one rival studio producer puts it: “(But Warners) gave them too much money for too small an idea. It always felt young in its construct.”

Instead of aiming at a PG-13 crowd of 10-year-olds and older, the movie wound up rated PG, or under 10. Warners believed it could make big toy deals (which demands PG) and still cross over to the wider family crowd.

4. Brand confusion.

The Wachowskis wanted to create their first family-friendly movie and Speed Racer was Silver’s first pic to score multiple toy tie-ins with the likes of Mattel and Lego. But many said the director and the producer weren’t being true to themselves and should have stuck with what they did best: making R-rated, violent, f/x epics.

5. Marketing Misdirection.

Warner Bros. thought it could sell the movie’s intense action but its execs were shocked at how young the film actually played: it showed that young boys who had never heard of Speed Racer were the ones responding to the film and not the grown-ups who have watched the anime in the 60’s and 70’s.

6. Pixel fatigue.

Too much lights and graphics proved too much of a good thing as many veered away. As critic Bob Mondello puts it: “How can something look so bright, move so fast, and be so dull?”

7. The pic’s soda-pop look might have worked better with older smarthouse audiences.

The Wachowski’s created a brand-new art form that was different and distinct. However, they failed to educate the audience and alienated many. As one Warners exec. said: “It was so different no one wanted to see it.”

8. The running time was simply too long for a family film. Many said the movie should have played at best for 90 minutes but the studio lost leverage with the filmmakers and the film played with its original 2 hour screening.

9. The movie didn’t work anywhere in the world.

Speed Racer’s glitzy CGI style left people feeling simultaneously overwhelmed and unmoored

10. The movie was ahead of its time.

Maybe Speed Racer wasn’t just meant to be for audience at this time. Several films like The Wizard of Oz, Citizen Kane and Blade Runner developed a loyal and bigger audience as time passed and achieved cult status. Whether that will happen to Speed Racer remains to be seen.

Source: Variety Magazine

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