$$ Speed Racer $$

I have not been interested in Speed Racer since the first time I found out they were making it into a live action movie at the Comic-Con last year. I disliked the cartoon intensely and thought it was a dumb decision to turn it into a live action film, even with the Wachowski brothers at the helm.

I cannot manage to feel guilty that Speed Racer flopped at the box office this weekend.

Sure, $20.2 million is a respectable sum for an opening weekend - if it's November or March and you have a small budget movie; however, when your film cost an estimated $150 million to make and $100 million to market (which Warner Bros. won't confirm) $20.2 million is a dismal flop that spells disaster.

Of course you can argue that the #1 film Iron Man had a 50% drop from it's revenue last weekend, but it dropped as expected. Opening weekend Iron Man made $100 million in the US alone, no one expected it to make that again and this weekend it made $50 million...this is $30 million more than Speed Racer made. Speed Racer only made $0.2 million more than What Happens In Vegas a predictable romantic comedy with Cameron Diaz & Ashton Kutcher that no one expected to be ground breaking technologically or in any other means. The studio expected Speed Racer to be huge, and have drawing power.

If I see Speed Racer it will be several weeks from now, and only because I'm sure the visuals will lose some of their vivaciousness when translated onto my 13" tv. Yet, I feel no need to race out and see it now. I'll make sure I see the movies I actually want to see first.