0/5

Glee 3D bombs at box office

US audiences give Glee: The 3D Concert Movie the thumbs down, with just $6m on its opening weekend.

Keep Glee on the small screen, thanks.

That’s the message from audiences after the feature film Glee: The 3D Concert Movie bombed at the Box Office over the weekend.

In the US it earned a poor $6 million out of 2,040 cinemas, landing it way back in 11th place.

It trails other films in the same genre on their opening weekends:

Hannah Montana/Miley Cyrus: The Best of Both Worlds Concert Tour ($31.1m)
Justin Bieber: Never Say Never ($29.5 million)
Michael Jackson’s This Is It ($23.2 million)
Jonas Brothers: The 3D Concert Experience ($12.5 million).

The film has been criticised for not including enough backstage access of its cast, topping up its content with scenes of fans instead. Some may have been cynical about the 3D element. Others question the numbers for its second season and whether adult Glee fans would trek to a cinema to see a few songs.

One EW critic went as far as to call it a “generically big, loud, overchoreographed, over-mic’ed, post-Madonna production, programmed with songs to get the whole audience singing, screaming, and waving oversized red foam-rubber Glee hands that form the show’s trademark letter L.”

Rolling Stone said:
The movie is excruciating mainly because its stars, who all play misfits on the hit show, are off-putting as they strut around the stage like visiting royalty.  Even worse, the backstage interviews and footage of fans is overly triumphant,  to the point of turning show creator Ryan Murphy into a sort of messianic figure. It’s just gross.”

“Concert films are what they are. Bieber was a documentary of a musical sensation while Hannah Montana was a musical sensation coming off a sold out tour that sold out everywhere,” noted a FOX executive.

In Australia the film finished at #5, with $970,388.

Source: Reuters

19 Responses

  1. @Sway – shows like Degrassi, Daria, Heartbreak High, old 90210 have been doing the same thing for years.

    The only thing different about Glee is the singing.

  2. @ Davis. The answer to your question is that I am a tragic Glee fan, and the reason I bitch about it is because I’m invested in the show.

    @ Gil. Glee has one of the most ethnically diverse casts on TV, it has tackled issues of bullying, sexuality, teen pregnancy (among others) and least of all, brings a little bit of joy to the world with some kick ass musical numbers. I get why it doesn’t have mass appeal, but I’d much rather watch Glee than some Z-grade schlocky Australian drama about yet another subsection of the legal system.

  3. for those that went to see it – why? You’ve seen all the performances on the show. It might be [a small] something to see them live, live. But, a concert movie, well I simply don’t get it.

    That said, the production cost for this film is as close to $0 as you get. So a $6m “bomb” ($970k is ordinary too, but alright) still turns into real money. And there can be an associated album, and the 3D bluray version and… it goes on and on and on and on…

  4. I also paid $24! Felt a bit ill coughing it up but figured seeing my fave Gleeks busting out some show tunes would be worth it. Sadly, I cannot do anything but concur with the reviews. The 3D was wholly unnecessary, the clips of Glee fans and pseudo-documentary style vignettes were interesting but overstayed their welcome and the fact that the whole cast stayed in character was just plain WEIRD. I wanted more Lea, Heather, Naya, Chris, Darren etc not awkward in-character improv.

    I’d ask for my money back if it weren’t for Brittany doing Britney, Santana doing “Valerie” and Lea Michele doing what she does best….

  5. Hopefully that’s the end of this overrated program. The show is all about ‘special guests’ than good scripts/songs. How do we work Olivia Newton John in – yes Jane Lynch can like her. How can we do a Britney special……and so on.

    It all seems too forced and manufactured now. I give it one more season and then its goodbye.

  6. If you have ever read a Ryan Murphy interview you will know that he does see himself as some sort of messianic figure!

    Why does Glee think it is so special and popular – their weekly ratings don’t even wow anyone anymore do they? (in the US)

  7. Glee is just falling into the trap of, it was successful so now they are over exposing it and it’ll die way sooner than it needed to.

    Maybe that’s the plan. Make as much now because the longevity was never any good.

    I watched the first season, but never got into the second and now I kind of hate the whole “Glee” phenomena. It’s way over exposed.

  8. @Don
    $12 to watch it in 3D? I paid $24 for a ‘cheap Tuesday’ show and am going tonight… Granted v-max is always expensive…movies are far too expensive these days 🙁

  9. I mainly went to see Brittany doing Britney and she didn’t disappoint. Other than that, it was a good film to get me in the mood for a night out. Lets face it, it would have cost next to nothing to make, so even if it does bomb it will still make money.

  10. I like to watch the show, but I wasn’t interested in seeing it at the movies. I didn’t think there was enough to warrant a movie or whatever it was supposed to be.

  11. I saw it… wish I hadn’t. I thought I was seeing a concert and instead got an hour of fans telling me how much glee has changed their lives with a few songs thrown in from the actual performers. Also the 3D was not necessary. I want my $12 back.

  12. A big budget musical film version of Glee would’ve definitely worked and still could, but unlike the show it’d need to have original music. A concert film was just totally stupid.

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