Diablo Cody owned Hollywood for a New York Minute.
The stripper-turned-screenwriter had a wild personal story and a killer hit with 2007’s “Juno.” The pro-life movie earned four Oscar nominations, including Best Original Screenplay. Cody won the statuette for her screenwriting debut, and her career exploded.
It’s been a slow, but steady downhill slide ever since.
Quality films like “Young Adult” ($16 million) and “Tully” ($9 million) got little traction at the box office. Her horror/comedy hybrid “Jennifer’s Body” ($16 million) also landed with a thud despite sizable hype.
Other Cody-led projects never left the starting gate.
Now, she’s the name behind what will likely be one of 2024’s biggest flops.
“Lisa Frankenstein” is set to earn roughly $4 million in its opening box office weekend, a terrible haul, period, but even worse given the lack of competition. Cody’s screenplay, directed by Zelda Williams (“House of D”), is a “coming of rage” story of a young woman (Kathryn Newton) who develops a crush on a reanimated corpse (Cole Sprouse).
Yes, it’s a pitch-black comedy set in the 1980s for nostalgia’s sake, but critics weren’t impressed – 50 percent “rotten” at Rotten Tomatoes.
A single-joke skit that’s too self-aware to be distinctively funny, freaky or thrilling. – The New York Post
The film opened on 3,143 screens but will struggle to pass the $5 million mark despite no major releases soaking up audiences’ attention.
(Note: Focus Features didn’t schedule any Denver-based critic screenings and wouldn’t provide this reviewer with a screening link when asked.)
FAST FACT: Cody later said she regretted writing “Juno” since many embraced it as a pro-life feature. “I took Roe [v. Wade] for granted, and many of us did. I was just creating; I never intended the movie as any kind of political statement at all. I can’t imagine being that innocent again.”
The box office in general continues to struggle in the wake of last year’s dueling strikes. The weekend’s big “winner,” “Argylle,” earned just $6 million. Warner Bros. scored the no. 9 movie with a re-release of 2021’s “Dune” ($1.5 million) to prep audiences for the sequel’s March 1 release.
Only word of mouth can salvage “Lisa Frankenstein” now, and next week offers more serious competition. The Valentine’s Day weekend will see two major releases – “Madame Web” and “Bob Marley: One Love.”
Those titles also may struggle theatrically.
Box Office Pro predicts “Bob Marley: One Love” will snag $11 – 16 million in its opening frame. “Madame Web,” the latest entry in the cooling superhero genre, is on target to earn $25-35 million, far below the most recent super-flop “The Marvels” ($46 million).
We’re a long way from the “Barbenheimer” days of summer.
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