It turns out moviegoers aren’t interested in an aspiring DJ looking to make it big on the music scene.
“We Are Your Friends,” a film starting former teen heartthrob Zac Efron, kicked off its opening weekend by pulling in just $1.8 million – one of the worst showings for a film that received as wide of a release as “Friends” did. It ranks as the third worst wide-release debut ever, Entertainment Weekly reports, citing Box Office Mojo data (which only goes back to 1982).
Released in 2,333 theaters, the film averaged $772 per screen over the weekend.
The lackluster response to the film couldn’t entirely be blamed on poor reviews. The movie holds a 46 rating on Metacritic, implying “mixed or average” reviews. While those reviews wouldn’t exactly sway moviegoers to consider seeing the film, the reviews aren’t nearly as scathing as those for “Pixels” or the latest “Fantastic Four” film.
As a leading man, Efron’s films have generated mixed results since he hit it big as a teen in the “High School Musical” series. Films like “17 Again” and “The Lucky One” performed well at the box office, earning sizable profits far above their budgets. But others, like “Charlie St. Cloud” and “The Paperboy,” didn’t fare as well.