A Dog's Life

Last year, The Birth Of A Nation was the hot film from Sundance that would make money and win a bunch of awards. Then an old charge of rape against the director came out, and he didn't seem apologetic.  The film didn't do that well, and has been forgotten at Oscar time.

Maybe it would have happened anyway, but it's the ultimate nightmare for a producer.  The film is made, ready to be released, and something not related to its quality brings it down.

Looks like it's happening again with A Dog's Purpose.  I saw the trailer a couple months ago and figured it wasn't for me.  But the producers probably thought they'd made a crowd-pleaser (it scored an A with test audiences) that would turn a solid profit.

Then a behind-the-scenes video that allegedly shows animal abuse came out. (I haven't seen the video so I can't comment.) The people who worked on the film claim it's taken out of context, but the damage has been done.

Which I why, over at the IMDb, this top-testing film has been rated by those who visit the site a 1.8.  You have to understand that a bad film will get, say, a 5.2.  A 1.8 is reserved for a film where people are trying to show their hatred for its existence.  I doubt any of these people have even seen it.

The film isn't flopping, but is performing below expectations.  It's inexpensive enough that it may make a profit, but you get the feeling it'll do tens of millions less than it would have, and may even be tossed down the memory hole, never to return.