Animated Fantasy Flick Delgo Bombs at Box Office

Posted on December 17, 2008

What happened with the animated fantasy film Delgo? The Chicago Tribune reports that Delgo set a record for the least-attended film ever to open on over 2,000 screens. Freddie Prinze Jr., Jennifer Love Hewitt and Chris Kattan were some of the voice actors for the film.

A philosophical question: If a film bombs at the box office, but almost no one is there to see it, is it still a bomb?

The answer is "yes" if that movie is "Delgo," a stiffly animated fantasy in the storytelling tradition of "Lord of the Rings." The film secured a special place in cinema history over this week as the least-attended film ever to open on more than 2,000 screens.

Only two people--including this reporter--attended the 1:50 p.m. showing of "Delgo" on Tuesday at AMC Loews 600 North Michigan 9. The other patron snored through half the film, obscuring the vocal talents of Freddie Prinze Jr., Jennifer Love Hewitt, Chris Kattan and the late Anne Bancroft.

Box Office Mojo also notes the film's incredibly low attendance.
Meanwhile, Delgo had by far the worst opening ever for a movie playing at over 2,000 theaters. The computer-animated fantasy scrounged up $511,920 at 2,160 sites, far less than the already record low $916,000 the movie's distributor estimated on Sunday.
Delgo can't be that bad. It must have been extremely under marketed. It's likely that most people are hearing about this film for the first time only because it become a record setting bomb. Either that or exactly the same people who would go and see a film like Delgo went to watch The Day the Earth Stood Still instead.




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