Teen movie "Jem and the Holograms" was essentially declared dead on arrival when it pulled in a measly $1.37 million its opening weekend. Despite wide release, "Jem" only managed to average about $545 at each of the 2,413 screens showing it.
The movie, based on a 1980s animated series, continued to tank in the week that followed, making about $160 at each theater. Distributors decided to pull it from theaters after only two weeks, at which time it had only brought in $2.1 million.
Universal sunk $5 million into the movie, so it's not a huge loss for the studio. But the "Jem" did manage to rank fourth among the worst opening weekend wide releases since 1982.
"This is unprecedented, and shows just how badly this film flopped," said Jeff Bock, senior box-office analyst at Exhibitor Relations, in an interview with Business Insider. "Not only is it the lowest-grossing debut for a studio film this year, but it's the worst all-time -- by a considerable margin -- for any film released in 2,000-plus theaters."
Another Universal movie, "Steve Jobs," also continues to struggle. At a cost to Universal of $30 million, the movie has so far pulled in just $16 million since its Oct. 23 opening weekend. According to Box Office Mojo, the movie was pulled from over 2,000 theaters, leaving it to screen at only 421 venues.
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