The legend says that King Arthur, in a fit of desperation, yanked Excaliber from a stone, granting him the title of 'King of Britain'. It's a legend that's been portrayed all around the world for hundreds of years. Guy Ritchie's latest reimagining of the story has left a lot to the imagination, and after 2015's Macbeth; maybe it's time for directors and writers to close the medieval legends book and stare defeat in the face.
The digits
'King Arthur's' budget was significant, not huge by today's standards, but... significant. $175 million dollars worth of significant, to be exact.
As we skip into the second week of the summer box office, the numbers grow more and more contested. 'King Arthur' has, since its opening, been projected a $20 million score at the box office. That's a swift arrow to the knee.
Where's the money going?
Well, it's definitely not going to 'King Arthur'.
This is exactly what happens when you open your film whilst a Marvel movie is doing its rounds. For years Marvel has been the black hole of the box office. There have been many cases of otherwise great movies going overlooked because Captain America has another enemy to defeat, or Spiderman gets bit by another spider. 'Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2's' release threw a blanket over Ritchie's latest adventure, with almost $500 million in sales to date.
As much as the phrase "with every good film comes a box office hit" is untrue, the phrase "With every bad film comes a box office flop" is true, in most cases. This sheds light on 'King Arthur's other problem – It's rating. Metacritic and rotten tomatoes have a great responsibility in the industry, they're the 'hit or miss' guys of the box office.
A lot of people would follow their preaching's like disciples, and when they flag a film with a 20/100 then a huge chunk of the audience turn a blind eye to the movie. It's a sad story of miss opportunity and chance. In most cases, if Metacritic or Rotten Tomatoes puts your film below 30/100 then you won't see any piles of money.
How could they have improved?
It's a fairly simple equation; marketing makes a movie. Take a look at the biggest movies of this year, 'Guardians of the Galaxy 2', 'Beauty and the Beast', Logan – all of them had incredible marketing. From engrossing trailers, to talk show rounds, they are proof that the marketing is 50% of the pre-production. 'King Arthur' either just didn't see this or was too unambitious with its marketing. Either way, they paid the price, both literally and figuratively.
