In my view, there are various possibilities as to why Kristen Stewart (for those who agree with me that Goldwyn used her as a "hook") failed as a box-office magnet. I have them listed below as questions that I adapted from my previous post on the subject.
The questions center on Stewart because as far as I can tell (see reasons elsewhere in this post), that was how Welcome to the Rileys — which lacked strong reviews and/or awards-season buzz — was sold.
As a "name," Stewart would theoretically have lured patrons in even if only to check out Bella Swan in skimpy clothing and saying "fucking" ten times per sentence. Clearly, the public-at-large couldn't care less, but what about the fans?
Were Kristen Stewart's fans unaware the movie was playing (in other words, the problem lay with Samuel Goldwyn's marketing approach)? Were they put off by the negative reviews? Did they find the film's theme unappealing? Were they too young to go without a parent or "guardian"? Do they want to see Stewart only as Bella Swan or facsimile?
As a follow-up to that last question, I give the last words on this matter to @DrownInIt:
… the Twilight factor totally distorts Stewart's box[-] office potential as well. She is an extremely gifted actress … but Twilightisn't popular [because] of her. It's popular and she happens to be a part of it; there's nothing suggesting Twilight fans will follow the main cast to other projects (as we learned with Robert Pattinson and [Remember Me] in March which did fine, but not exceptionally well).
***
Of course, hindsight is always 20/20. Pundits can affirm that Welcome to the Rileys flopped for this reason or that reason. Yet, only a thorough investigation — interviews with the moviegoing public, concrete data on money spent on marketing and the chosen venues, etc. — will reveal the true cause(s) for Welcome to the Rileys' below-par box-office performance.
Also inspired by some of the comments posted on the Welcome to the Rileysarticles, in the not-too-distant future I'll write a post on what may happen with the careers of the three Twilight Saga alumni: Stewart, Robert Pattinson, andTaylor Lautner.
Many have predicted a dire professional future for all three — especially the first two. Even though that's certainly a possibility, I beg to differ.
Welcome to the Rileys, by the way, has already disappeared from New York, Los Angeles, and Boston. It's currently playing in secondary (and even smaller) markets: Austin, New Orleans (where the movie is set), Portland (Oregon), Scottsdale, Palm Springs, Camarillo, and Santa Ana.
A silver lining: Welcome to the Rileys will surely do better on DVD. The Runaways has sold more than 200k copies, pulling in $3.9m according to The Numbers.
altfg
xoxo
Carrie
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