Hollywood’s latest attempt to lure audiences back to theaters performed abysmally, with “Monkey Man,” a movie framed as being the next action-packed, John Wick-type movie, flopping even worse than expected with a dismal opening. In fact, the new movie did so badly that it barely managed to scrape up two-thirds of the low-end expected of it.
That low-end estimation was $15 million. Before it opened on April 5, BoxOfficePro estimated that it would haul in somewhere in the range of $15 million to $20 million. It did not. Instead, it barely managed to scrape up $10 million in ticket sales with over its opening weekend of April 5 to 7, a horrifically bad opening for the action-packed movie hoped to be the next thrilling blockbuster.
BoxOfficePro did indicate it would face challenges with its opening, noting, “Marketing and social footprints have left something to be desired in The First Omen‘s case, leading to thus far underwhelming pre-sales” and “Monkey Man could be a slightly challenging sell as an original film in a market that’s been crowded by other male-driven releases in recent weeks.”
However, the “woke” nature of the plot could have also been a significant factor in the movie’s dismal opening and the general lack of audience interest. The Los Angeles Times, reporting on the film’s plot, noted, “Monkey Man is far more successful at exploring sexuality in the genre via a group of transgender women who teach the Kid how to harness his pain into power.” Similarly, Variety reported, “The movie also includes a group of trans and gender-nonconforming characters who join Kid in his fight against India’s elite.”
Similarly, Dev Patel, the star and director, noted the film’s “sexuality,” saying, “We should be fighting for [one another], not against [one another]. For me, it has become rigid over time. When you look at the old carvings in these temples in India, the freedom, the sexuality, all of it, the philosophy was so ahead of its time, I wanted to dive into it and make that the lore of the film.”
Speaking to Variety about the inclusion of transgender individuals in the movie and how that connects to India, Patel said, “For me, this is an anthem for the underdogs, the voiceless and the marginalized. Together they wage this war for the good and the just, and for me, I really wanted to include the hijra community, the third gender in India.”
While most of America remained uninterested in the revenge-focused action movie with decidedly political overtones about the “underdogs,” transgender individuals to whom it was screened apparently loved it. Such is what Vipin Sharma, who plays a trans woman named Alpha in the move, said after attended a screening of the movie for the trans community. Sharma told Variety, “I was almost in tears when they said they loved it, they loved the representation and they were very happy about it. That just touched my heart.”
Featured image credit: By Ariela Ortiz Barrantes – Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=146394857
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