A Year of Ups and Downs for Warner Bros. Film Chiefs
Warner Bros. film chiefs Pamela Abdy and Michael de Luca had a wild year, with the cash failure of back-to-back films, including Bong Joon Ho’s Mickey 17 and Barry Levinson’s The Alto Knights, at the beginning of the year. Things became so bad that rumors about their possible firing circulated. However, the story changed almost overnight with a trio of blockbusters – A Minecraft film, Sinner, and Final Target Lines. Together, the three films grossed almost $1.5 billion worldwide.
The Biggest Bomb of the Year
The Alto Knights remains the biggest bomb in the studio’s year. The film is now available to stream on Max, where it is actually doing quite well. According to Flixpatrol, The Alto Knights was the number one film on Max on June 10th, following Mickey 17. Both films underperformed at the box office but are standing out on the streaming platform, along with Jesse Armstrong’s recently released satirical drama Mountain Head, which received negative reviews from audiences.
A Mixed Reception
The Alto Knights earned 475 points on June 10th and has accumulated over 2,000 points this year, mainly from iTunes sales and rentals. The film was released theatrically in March and grossed under $10 million worldwide against a budget of $50 million. The Alto Knights features Robert De Niro in two roles as gangsters Frank Costello and Vito Genovese. The film received mixed reviews and currently sits at a 39% Rotten Tomatoes score, although the audience score on the aggregator website is significantly more positive at 71%.
De Niro and Gangster Films
De Niro is synonymous with the gangster genre, having appeared in several classic films of the genre, including Mean Streets, Goodfellas, The Godfather Part II, Casino, Heat, and The Irishman. He also directed the film A Bronx Tale and recently received an Oscar nomination for his supporting performance in Martin Scorsese’s Killers of the Flower Moon. The Alto Knights also stars Debra Messing and Cosmo Jarvis, who was recently seen in Alex Garland’s War and gained massive popularity after the FX series Shōgun last year.
Streaming Performance
The film’s performance on Max is a testament to the fact that streaming platforms can give new life to films that underperform at the box office. With the rise of streaming, films like The Alto Knights can find new audiences and gain popularity, even if they didn’t do well in theaters. As the streaming landscape continues to evolve, it will be interesting to see how films like The Alto Knights perform and whether they can find new success on platforms like Max.
