With Jared Leto-fronted Tron: Legacy generating a meagre $33.5 million against a $180 million budget during its opening weekend, the Tron series looks set to go into retirement. The disappointing figures slipped well below estimations of $40-45 million in the US and Canada and similar predictions overseas. Weekend box office results were even more dire than Leto\u2019s previous flop Morbius, creating financial chaos for the cinema industry. These catastrophic failures surely signal Leto\u2019s departure from future lead roles, yet the actor\u2019s recent performances have nonetheless garnered a significant following from online viewers in the form of memes, which have produced intriguing \u2013 and somewhat misguided \u2013 reactions from the filmmakers themselves.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
While Leto has experienced financial flops in his past work, Morbius represented a distinct change in the way the film\u2019s failure intersected with online buzz. Anyone who was anywhere near their Twitter account at the time were unlikely to miss the phrase: \u2018It\u2019s Morbin\u2019 time\u2019 popping up on their feed. For the uninitiated, it might seem like a key quote spoken during the film\u2019s narrative. But any of the rare few who had witnessed the film itself would recognise that the line was entirely made up; a poor critical reception failed to stop a deluge of ironic interest and trolling online. Although it\u2019s now a fairly common event to watch people pile on negative reviews on Rotten Tomatoes before a film is released to try and reduce hype and financial success, some users posted photoshopped images of overwhelmingly positive Rotten Tomatoes scores. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
The meme word of choice around this period? \u201cMorbiusweep\u201d. Genuine haters of the film employed their meme powers to deride the film by posting images of empty theatres, while others would paste edited images of Morbius sitting in the ranks of the highest-grossing films of all time. The now-mythical phrase \u2018It\u2019s Morbin\u2019 Time\u2019 derived from the Power Rangers phrase \u2018It\u2019s Morphin\u2019 Time\u2019, but the new, edited quote went outside the film sphere to be recreated in the speech bubbles of other characters. Despite the fact that the ironic internet frenzy didn\u2019t lead to the Morbius sequel that many dreaded, Sony still came to the unfortunate conclusion that the memes were a sign of the film\u2019s renewed popularity, deciding to re-release the film to 1,000 theatres in the hopes of a major box office resurgence. The new release bombed even more significantly, bringing in a total opening weekend hall of a pitiful $280,000.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Comic book overexposure could have been contributing factor in Morbius\u2019 box office failure, but it\u2019s difficult not to blame the movie\u2019s central star. Leto was already known for his off-screen antics in Suicide Squad (the actor apparently sent dead rats and bullets to his co-workers as part of his Joker \u2018method acting\u2019 process), and the story gained widespread media attention. While Leto kept his Morbius method acting limited using crutches and a wheelchair off camera, this nonetheless reportedly caused major delays to the crew. Leto\u2019s build-up of anecdotal behind-the-scenes incidents has very likely had an impact on viewer perceptions of his characters in trailers before they\u2019ve considered watching the trailers. While Leto may have put in watchable performances in previous films like Requiem For a Dream and Dallas Buyers Club in smaller roles, the idea of a film advertised with the hook \u2018starring Jared Leto\u2019 just brings a sigh of disappointment at this point. The actor still insisted on bringing a certain irritating method element into Tron: Ares, apparently only responding to his character name \u2018Ares\u2019 on set. Leto has tried to downplay this behaviour, but we\u2019ve only got Leto\u2019s word for it. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Even though Leto\u2019s recent venture hasn\u2019t drawn quite the same meme attention as Morbius, Leto has started to become more of a meme himself as his central starring roles cripple box office sales. While more chaotic movie trends have taken place in the real world as suited men hurl bananas at screens (The Rise of Gru) and people gleefully chucking around popcorn upon hearing the phrase \u2018chicken jockey\u2019 (A Minecraft Movie), it\u2019s nice to know that we\u2019ve got slightly less cinematic anarchy with the Jared Leto memes. Especially with the recent articles about an insider reporting that Ryan Gosling could\u2019ve saved the box office of TRON: ARES if he\u2019d been in Leto\u2019s shoes. It\u2019s worth remembering that, while Blade Runner 2049<\/em> was critically adored upon release (and contained one of Leto\u2019s strongest secondary character roles), it performed poorly at the box office in the same way as the original film. And at the end of day, Gosling probably couldn\u2019t have done much with the film\u2019s lifeless screenplay. In the current climate, Leto is nonetheless a seriously weak link who needs to stay away from the spotlight and give filmmakers a chance to recuperate a stable box office.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" With Jared Leto-fronted Tron: Legacy generating a meagre $33.5 million against a $180 million budget during its opening weekend, the Tron series looks set to go into retirement. The disappointing figures slipped well below estimations of $40-45 million in the US and Canada and similar predictions overseas. Weekend box office results were even more dire … <\/p>\n