If you’re a fan of box office stats, then we have a treat for you. As of last Friday, Peter Jackson’s World War I documentary, “They Shall Not Grow Old,” which is great, has outgrossed one of the biggest bombs of 2018, and other Jackson project, “Mortal Engines” at the domestic box office. You read that right. The massive sci-fi franchise-starter was beaten by 100-year-old archival footage.
In all the talk about “Alita: Battle Angel” and the possibility of it becoming a major bomb, which in fact it looks to be only a modest box office success (and still not profitable), the cautionary tale of “Mortal Engines” was brought up quite a bit. You see, “Mortal Engines” and ‘Alita’ share a lot of the same characteristics. Both were based on successful source material. Both relied heavily on CGI and sort of silly premises. And both carried major filmmakers as producers and writers, with Jackson on ‘Engines’ and James Cameron on ‘Alita.’
However, at the end of the day, ‘Alita’ survived and “Mortal Engines” died a quick and painful death. The box office crater that was left by the “Mortal Engines” bomb was so deep, it’s reported that the film will likely cost the studio upwards of $150 million. But perhaps the biggest embarrassment of all is the fact that the filmmaker’s arthouse documentary about WWI that was quietly released in select theaters has outgrossed “Mortal Engines.”
As of this writing, the totals are (per BoxOfficeMojo):
“Mortal Engines” – $15.95 million domestic
“They Shall Not Grow Old” – $16.4 million domestic
Granted, “Mortal Engines” received a huge global release and has earned a worldwide total of $82.9 million, but with “They Shall Not Grow Old” not getting an international release, it’s difficult to make a true apples to apples comparison. So, we’re stuck with domestic results, which paint a truly grim picture for ‘Engines.’
What does this mean for Peter Jackson’s future in Hollywood? Probably not much. Is he going to forgo narrative filmmaking and live the documentarian life? Obviously not. But perhaps a studio is going to think twice before throwing the filmmaker $100 million to make a risky film.