The movie had a reported $40 million production budget, which turned out to be a huge waste. Deadline reports:
Booked at 3,022 locations, Joneses is one of the lowest debuts for a saturated theater count of that size. Though billed as an ensemble comedy, Joneses comes as the second misfire for its Hangover star Zach Galifianakis, four weekends after his other PG-13 comedy Masterminds bombed with a $6.5M opening and current running cume of $17M.
Joneses may have failed for many reasons—little support from the studio; the fact that its main stars lack comedic chemistry—but the bottom line is that it’s not funny. Despite the plethora of white talent involved (Zach Galifianakis, Isla Fisher, Gal Gadot), the trailer was also bad and criminally dry to begin with, which didn’t help matters.
One source said, “The studio kept encouraging to go broader, always asking ‘Where’s my trailer moment?’ Somebody falls three times in the trailer”:
“The comedy is as unoriginal as the title,” snarked one critic to me at the Jack Reacher 2 all-media screening last week. How bad is Joneses? So bad that New York Times critic Ben Kenigsberg indicated to audiences that they’re better off staying at home in their living rooms.
Box office analyst Jeff Bock told USA Today, “It felt like the wrong film at the wrong time. The action-comedy caper is a tough genre to pull off. Unless you have the chemistry like Mr. & Mrs. Smith, it’s almost impossible to make your money back.” In other news, Boo! A Madea Halloween made $27.6 million.
