'White House Down' flops at the box office: What went wrong?

zap2it ^ | July 1, 2013

[SMGFan]

"White House Down" was supposed to be one of the surefire hits of the summer.

Channing Tatum became a bona fide movie star last year with a sleeper hit trifecta of "The Vow," "21 Jump Street" and "Magic Mike" (not to mention being named People's Sexiest Man Alive). Jamie Foxx was coming off his biggest box office success to date with the Oscar nominated "Django Unchained." And director Roland Emmerich has experience both directing blockbuster hits ("2012," "The Day After Tomorrow") and destroying the White House in a patriotic summer movie sensation ("Independence Day").

But even with that pedigree and high profile pre-release hype dating all the way back to Jimmy Kimmel's post-Oscars ABC special (where Foxx and Tatum turned catchy/silly slow jam "Channing All Over Your Tatum" into a viral hit), "White House Down" shocked Hollywood with a embarrassingly limp $25.7 million estimated opening weekend.

[Dalberg-Acton]

Amen, Sarah!

None of my money will go to Jamie Fox.

[Carbonsteel]

I went and saw Star Trek and Man of Steel. Both were very good.

This was on my list of movies to see this year along with Riddick but only because Roland Emmerich was involved with the project.

My dislike for Jammie Fox won over for my like of Emmerich, so I’ll wait till it comes to Red Box.

The only other movie I’m seeing this year is Riddick.

There are so many really talented Black actors in Hollywood. Why the hell do they keep putting that no talent piece of garbage Fox in everything?

[chris_bdba]

Let’s see the tirade Jamie Foxx made on SNL a few months back combines with the fact that many just can’t afford to go to the movies anymore because they don’t have a job or because the job they have can’t keep up with rising prices plus the fact that most Americans are tired of a black President now = failure.

[reformedliberal]

Is it different for TV series?

I saved NCIS season 10 over a year ago and it will also release in August. Season 3 of Walking dead has still not released.

[gov_bean_ counter]

if I want to be insulted, I can tune in ABC cbsnbclsdhsgftv channel.

Or you can hang out at Free Republic

SORRY!!!

[BenLurkin]

Good point!

[discostu]

Depending on the network/ production company the two most common release schedules I’ve seen for TV are 2 or 3 months after the last episode of the season airs, or 1 or 2 month prior to the first episode of the next season airs. Walking Dead (and all the AMC shows) I know is on the right before next season schedule, don’t know anything about NCIS.

[Monty22002]

This is the 2nd movie with the same subject this year and it wasn’t marketed well. Also, it looked far goofier than the earlier one.

[BenLurkin]

Bingo!

[SparkyBass]

three words: ray si zim.

[SC_Pete]

Agreed: Foxx is a racist.

[lurk]

Speaking for myself, Computer Generated Images in filming have coincided with bad script writing and lame shallow untalented acting, leading me to stay away from more and more movies.

Plus I am not able to enjoy a movie if I am aware of the intellect and/or political leanings of the actors or directors.

[Jmouse007]

You are correct, our entire family wants nothing to do with the BLACK RACIST Jamie Fox who said he loved being the star of "Django Unchained" where he got paid to "kill white people". Jamie Fox is dead to us and box office poison! Emerich was a fool to cast him as the president because Fox does not represent America or American values. He hates white people and enjoys playing characters that get to "kill white people" on screen. As a result we are boycotting anything and everything he appears in. The same holds true for the anti-American Will Smith who raised a half a BILLION dollars to put the black dictator Obamessiah back into power. Smith's latest film After Earth also bombed big time because we want nothing to do with him or his son who I am sure follows in his fathers liberal political foot steps. Smith was trying to make After Earth a coming out vehicle hit for his son to boost his budding acting career. Big mistake because the overwhelming majority of Americans want nothing to do with him or his black racist, anti-American political positions.

My big hope is that the major movie studios lhave learned a painful financial lesson and see what box office pariahs Fox and Smith are and dump them from future productions as a result. If not, they will end up spending hundreds of millions of dollars on future box office failures because the movie going public wants nothing to do with Fox or Smith.

[Vermont Lt]

I went to see it.

I saw Olympus has fallen earlier in the summer. The movies were so similar, it is uncanny that the studios would release them within months of each other.

Jamie Foxx was fine in it. He did not macho up Obama. He tried to play him honorably....that was a stretch. Tatum was OK too. All in all, it was a shoot’em up movie that just did not have the star power, writing, or plot to bring in people.

The bad guys were right wing nuts, but it really wasn’t political (in that they needed some “enemy” that would sell overseas—why not US?)

Generally speaking, there was so much wrong with the movie that you really had to suspend any type of reality. I guess I can do that OK, some folks cannot and I understand that.

I love movies. I got to the movies whenever I can. Matinees and early bird movies are pretty reasonable. I have been going to years and years.

It was an OK movie. Not horrible, walk out in the middle...but just an OK movie.

[Fledermaus]

Armageddon made money while Deep Impact was a snoozer. Having Tea Lenoi didn't help. Has she played any character other than a neurotic whiner?

Same dichotomy with “Tombstone” (epic man's movie) and “Wyatt Earp” (whiny, slow, gayish Kevin Costner snoozer).

[BigEdLB]

At least “Olympus Has Fallen” had N Korea as the villains, more believable as bad guys, though far fetched in the capabilities of Baby Kim and the Gang...

[Ruy Dias de Bivar]

I get the SONY HD tv channel. Right in the middle of a good movie they suddenly have a box pop up advertising their “White House Down” movie. It is so distracting I will never go see that movie.

[Ruy Dias de Bivar]

*** they just want to see superhero movies and sophomoric sex comedies.****

We have a local theater with six screens. I check movies there on line, and as long as I can remember, they usually have FIVE si-fi fantasy movies and a cartoon movie. Rarely anything I would be interested in.

It was built about 2004 and I have seen ONE movie there, the remake of True Grit.

[Fledermaus]

He made a “coming out vehicle hit” for his son serveral times. “Pursuit of Happyness” and then the “Karate Kid” remake.

[OldMissileer]

I have noticed a trend with Hollywood movies.

During a Republican presidency their movies portray the President as a crook , fool, evil, or all three. During a Democrat presidency they always try to portray the President as some great hero. That worthless Harrison Ford movie during the Clintoon era is another example.

I stay away from these movies as much as possible to keep my blood pressure down.