Demi Moore, Queen of Flops
This week's home-video release of LOL marks Demi Moore's tenth straight bomb. The film, which Lionsgate virtually buried during its miniscule theatrical run, took in a reported $46,500 at the domestic box office — about $10.95 million less than its budget. The movie is bad, the reason the Razzies exist.
After 1997's G.I. Jane (which grossed $48 million domestically) and Deconstructing Harry ($10.6 million), Moore evaporated from pop culture for a few years. Between 1998 and 2005, she appeared in just two movies: the widely mocked Passion of Mind ($769,272) and the sequel Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle. Though the latter was the first (and only) Moore movie since 1993's Indecent Proposal to gross over $100 million at the U.S. box office, its $100.8 million haul was less than its budget ($120 million). It was a disappointment, as well.
Then, with 2006's Bobby ($11.2 million), Moore seemed to attempt a conscious comeback. She started appearing regularly in movies again, turning out unremarkable performances in a string of unremarkable films. Moore's charisma — her greatest strength that made adequate acting so watchable — had dimmed. She was, as Tyra Banks might say, resting on pretty.
Of this new wave of Moore films, almost all of them were panned, none of them were particularly successful. They included 2007's Mr. Brooks ($28.5 million), and last year's Margin Call ($5.4 million) and Another Happy Day, which grossed a jaw-droppingly low $8,464. Jules just can't pull it together.
It's a hell of a thing to come back and realized how much nobody missed you. Hollywood gets really rough for women of Demi Moore's age, and she's making it harder for herself by picking such lousy material. Only Margin Call received overwhelmingly positive praise — it has an 89 percent on Rotten Tomatoes. The only thing she did last decade that ranks "fresh" on the Tomatometer is The Joneses (61 percent of its reviews were positive).
Up next for Moore is a role in Very Good Girls. She'll reportedly play a hippie mom to Elizabeth Olsen, who has much better taste in material (but probably many more options and Silent House was weak). This will be her first post-hospitalization role, the first thing she's filmed after splitting with Ashton Kutcher. This will be the first time Moore's appearance on screen will immediately conjure images of whip-its for her audience.
It would seem to be a dark time for Moore's career and life. Things can only get better from here, right?
[All box office information besides LOL courtesy of Box Office Mojo]
[Image via Getty]