Is America Over Dwayne Johnson?
by EG
Dwayne Johnson's latest action thriller, Skyscraper, debuted this weekend, and for the most part, America was unimpressed. The problem might have been, at least in part, overexposure on the part of the movie's star, who has been in four highly hyped action movies in less than a year. Read on for details on how that's going.
It's Dwayne Johnson to the rescue again in his latest movie, but it turns out he may be the one in need of rescuing — at least from starring in too many movies.
The actor's newest outing on the big screen, Skyscraper, opened well behind expectations over the July 13-15 weekend, raising concerns that Johnson has become overexposed. At the moment, he's the busiest actor on the planet, having now starred in five films in the short span of 14 months. And he's already got four more slotted for 2019, although most of those don't begin rolling out until fall of next year.
Skyscraper — described as Die Hard meets The Towering Inferno — took in an estimated $25.5 million in North America and $40.4 million overseas from its first 57 markets, coming in well behind expectations and losing on both fronts to Hotel Transylvania 3: Summer Vacation in an embarrassing upset. Unless Skyscraper scales huge numbers in China, where it opens July 20, the summer event film stands to lose money for Legendary and Universal.
"While Dwayne Johnson's star power remains undeniable, the performance of Skyscraper underscores the issue of 'too much of a good thing' and diluting interest in known brands, franchises and stars where there is not enough breathing space between each project," says box-office analyst Paul Dergarabedian.
Skyscraper stars Johnson as a former FBI hostage rescue team leader and amputee now assigned to provide security for a towering skyscraper in China. He must spring into action when his wife (Neve Campbell) and children are trapped inside the world's tallest building after villains set fire to it (Johnson's character is framed for the fire, of course).
Get the rest of the story at The Hollywood Reporter.
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