Yikes — Owen Wilson’s new movie just set a record-low opening at the box office

If you're used to Owen Wilson swanning about in comedies that always seem to rake in cash, his latest effort has thrown a bit of a spanner in the works. After a few quieter years away from massive blockbusters, he was right back in the spotlight lately, first with Apple TV's comedy series Stick and then this year's action caper Runner opposite Alan Ritchson. Both landed pretty nicely with critics and the general public, so you might assume that train would keep rolling. But no—Rolling Loud: The Movie has just launched onto cinema screens, and it's managed the rare feat of tripping over its own feet at the box office.

Rolling Loud: The Movie made less than half a million dollars in its entire opening weekend—Wilson's worst opening ever.

You might not even know the film is out. Rolling Loud had one of the quietest marketing runs you'll see for something with a top-name lead—a bit odd, given its central stunt involved Owen Wilson filming at a real-life Travis Scott gig. That bit went viral at the time, but here's the twist: the actual concert footage is from almost two years ago. By the time the film finally showed up in theatres, all the sizzle from that viral moment had pretty much evaporated, leaving it launching with all the fanfare of a damp firework.

How bad did it do?

The numbers aren't pretty. With an opening weekend total of only $475,019, this is officially Wilson's lowest-grossing debut in cinemas. To add some perspective, the film wasn't given a massive push in terms of screens—it was on just 868 theatres across the US. Big studio releases typically go much bigger: recent comedies like Verity and Digger both played on over 3,000 screens in their first weekends.

• Rolling Loud: 868 theatres, $475K opening
• Verity & Digger: 3,000+ theatres, much higher takes
• Zoolander (2001): $15M opening in tough times, $60M total by end

You might be tempted to compare this to Wilson's other box office wobble: Zoolander. But there's a difference—Zoolander opened mere weeks after the September 11 attacks, upending the whole box office climate, and still managed to make over $15 million in its debut. Plus, it eventually became a cult favourite on DVD, giving it a whole second act. Rolling Loud hasn't managed either, at least not yet.

What's the film actually about?

Wilson plays Hank, your garden-variety furniture salesman who veers into classic 'overprotective dad' territory. He takes his 13-year-old son—played by Christian Convery—to the Rolling Loud music festival, but (naturally) neglects to mention any of this to his wife (played by Jolene Blalock). Things go south fast: he loses the lad in the crowd, then spends the rest of the night desperately trying to find him. He ropes in his hopeless coworker (Matt Rife) and a festival volunteer (Christine Ko) to help in his comedic shuffle through the chaos.

Audience reaction and what's next

It's not all doom and gloom on the reception front. The film actually picked up a 69% audience score on Rotten Tomatoes—decent enough, and probably better than the box office trajectory would have you believe. If Zoolander is any guide, there's every chance Rolling Loud could find more love later in the home market, even if its big screen adventure proved so anemic.

Wilson, for his part, isn't likely to lose sleep over this one. His next big outing is right around the corner: he'll be back as Kevin in the latest Meet the Parents sequel, Focker In-Law, reuniting with Ben Stiller and Teri Polo. That one lands on Nov. 25—Thanksgiving corridor, classic studio move.