Knights of the Zodiac flops at the box office. The prophecy of a bad anime adaptation seems to have come true once again.
When manga and anime fans hear that one of their favorite works is being adapted into a live action movie, they always shiver with uneasiness. Scars like Dragon Ball Evolution or Death Note are too deep – and this feeling also prevailed with Knights of the Zodiac.
As unfortunately to be feared, this has come true and the film is punished at the box office.
Why does the film make so little? There are several reasons for this. For one thing, the film doesn’t seem to appeal to both fans of the anime and newcomers alike. The reviews keep saying that the action seems unimportant, there is almost no character development and the effects seem outdated.
Knights of the Zodiac trailer
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At the same time, there is an even bigger problem. Most films with high production costs, from which the cinema operators hope to generate income, are shown in almost 4,000 cinemas in the USA. But Knights of the Zodiac will only be shown in just under 600 cinemas – which speaks volumes for how much success the film is given in advance.
How much should the film have taken? With production costs of almost 60 million US dollars, the film would have had to gross at least that much to get back on track. After all, they had even relied on well-known actors such as Sean Bean.
How much did the film take? Disappointingly little. Even if there are no official figures yet, first estimates assume that the film only grossed 557,000 dollars in America when it was released. While that figure has risen to $5.1 million since late April, it remains disappointingly low.
Here in Germany, the film has been showing in some cinemas since yesterday, i.e. May 16, 2023. But whether that will somehow contribute to the success seems rather unlikely – also because it is not shown in many cinemas.
Many even refer to the film as “As bad as Dragon Ball Evolution”.