Emma Watson's New Movie Made Just $61 in the U.K.
Emma Watson and Daniel Brühl in ‘Colonia’ (Screen Media Films)
Even though Emma Watson has starred in some of the highest-grossing movies of all time, her latest didn’t even clear $100 at the U.K. box office. The historical thriller Colonia (or The Colony) had a limited release in Watson’s native United Kingdom this weekend, where it took in only 47 pounds — or about $60.75 in U.S. dollars — according to The Guardian. (That would mean it was beat out by another recent underperformer, the Anthony Hopkins-Al Pacino thriller Misconduct which earned only $141 in its opening UK weekend.)
Does this mean Watson’s film career is in peril? Hardly! Colonia, about a German woman (Watson) who rescues her boyfriend (Daniel Brühll) from a Nazi-influenced Chilean cult, fared better in other international markets — particularly Germany, where it opened in February and has grossed nearly $2 million. (The film’s Oscar-winning director Florian Gallenberger is German, as is Brühl.) Furthermore, the film opened in only three theaters in the U.K., with a simultaneous home-streaming release. And given how expensive it is for Brits to go to the movies (nearly $20 a ticket in some London theaters), it’s probable that many Emma Watson fans opted to watch Colonia on their laptops instead.
Still, it’s likely that poor reviews have kept larger audiences away from Watson’s latest. The based-on-a-true-story film rated just 21 percent among critics on Rotten Tomatoes, with the New York Times saying that it feels “more like a Hallmark Channel romance than like a serious film.” When it played in the U.S. this spring, Colonia made under $16,000, making it one of the lowest-grossing domestic releases of the year. Fortunately, Watson’s box office rating is sure to bounce back with her next movie: a little Disney musical called Beauty and the Beast, in theaters March 2017.
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