"Turbo" Loses the Race

Sadly, our little snail friend couldn't reach the top spot at the domestic box office nor could it muster up enough to make for a good opening weekend total. DreamWorks' Turbo, after taking in a decent $10 million on Wednesday and Thursday, only opened with a paltry $21 million for the weekend.

This is one of the lowest openings for a DreamWorks film in the last 10 years, with Flushed Away ($18 million) and Sinbad: Legend of the Seven Seas ($6 million) below it. It's also more shocking because Flushed Away came out seven years ago and wasn't in 3D. That's not too good for this new DreamWorks release. The opening was even lower than Rise of the Guardians, which is what lead to the layoffs and schedule changes... I fear what this film may do to the studio.

Chalk it up to the fact that it's a film that's not based on anything, opening in a sea of sequels, prequels and spin-offs that families are likely to save their money for. Adult appeal wasn't there either, as the concept was downright kiddie on the surface. People just couldn't seem to get behind the idea, which I will admit, I thought was ridiculous at first. Fox gave it their all in the marketing, trying to make the concept and film appeal to moviegoers. The reviews are overall positive, but mostly mixed. It's got a good "A" CinemaScore, but who knows how far it will go since a sequel to big hit and a spin-off of a massive franchise are next in line. Turbo's going to have to gain Rise of the Guardians' excellent legs in order to make it to $100 million, but that'll still be disappointing.

Unless it's saved worldwide, this film is in trouble and I fear that it'll lead to more layoffs at DreamWorks... And more changes to the schedule. What's more troubling is the fact that DreamWorks already has the series ready (Turbo F.A.S.T.)... Maybe they jumped the gun a bit?

Hopefully the film is an underdog, much like the titular character. Maybe DreamWorks should've saved this for an autumn release. Who knows...