In a world where every movie release is now a major gamble, it must be rough days being the studio executive who decided it was a good idea to greenlight “Ella McCay.”
After 15 years away from directing, “Ella McCay” marks the return of James L. Brooks—once a great filmmaker who has had his latest film outright panned by critics. The film, currently in U.S. theaters, has just had its January 7 release canceled in France by Disney.
Why was its French release canceled? Nobody really knows. Toxic word of mouth might have done it, but French critics were one of the few corners of the world that actually liked Brooks’ last film, “How Do You Know,” and I had spoken to Les Inrockuptibles’ Jean Jacky Goldberg last week, who told me he had absolutely loved the film.
“Ella McCay” had one of the worst wide-release openings in U.S. history, appearing on 2500+ screens nationwide and grossing only $1.8M. The following week, it suffered a record drop of 84% compared to the previous Friday.
The film has grossed only $3M domestically against a $35M budget. It’s an outright bomb, The current aggregate tally is 24% on Rotten Tomatoes, and 39 on Metacritic.
Brooks, the filmmaker behind “Terms of Endearment,” “As Good as It Gets,” and “Broadcast News,” wrote and directed the romantic comedy about a young politician (Emma Mackey) who rises to become her state’s governor, navigating the challenges of balancing her demanding career with her family life.
The cast is filled with talent: Emma Mackey, Rebecca Hall, Jamie Lee Curtis, Woody Harrelson, Ayo Edebiri, Albert Brooks, Kumail Nanjiani, Jack Lowden, and Spike Fearn.
I assume “Ella McCay” will hit digital services very soon since there isn’t much of a point keeping it in theatres right now.