Back in July, we posted a list of the 8 worst wide-release openings in box office history, and sadly it looks like we’ll need to update that list to include We Are Your Friends. The film, directed by Max Joseph, opened this weekend in 2,333 theaters, but it made just $1.8 million.
That’s horrible news for Max, Zac Efron, Emily Ratajkowski, and Warner Bros. The good news for WB is that they spent just $2 million to acquire it out of the American Film Market, which means they won’t be losing much on this project. “We’re disappointed. We believe in Zac and this was a passion project of his.” Jeff Goldstein told Variety.
When you see a number like $1.8 million, it makes you wonder what the critics said to scare everyone away. But really, the film didn’t receive shockingly low numbers on Rotten Tomatoes. It’s currently sitting at 43%, which is higher than the War Room‘s 29%. And the War Room shocked everyone this weekend by taking home $11 million from just over 1,000 locations. It was filmed for $3 million, so it’s already tripled its production budget.
So what happened to We Are Your Friends? It’s hard to say. It could be several things. It was a movie clearly made for its niche, but they obviously didn’t realize just how small their place in the market was. They probably figured adding a name like Zac Efron would balance things out. It didn’t work though.
It’s a little disappointing. Director Max Joseph seems like a good guy, and from what I read, it doesn’t sound like his directing was the problem. The story just wasn’t there. I found this line in ScreenRant’s review of the film to be pretty interesting…
“If this movie is any measure, Joseph is a much more advanced cinematic storyteller than he is a narrative one.”
Sounds like he just needs to team up with someone who has a great story.
