Robert Downey Jr.'s latest starring vehicle, Avengers: Endgame marking the end of Tony Stark's journey, Downey is about to start a new era. Up first is the fantasy/adventure Dolittle, which sees the actor play the eccentric title character who can famously talk to animals.
While Dolittle is one of the first high-profile releases of 2020, it isn't arriving with much fanfare. Reviews for the film are mostly negative, with many critics feeling it's a generic family film that doesn't do much to stand out from the crowd. Unfortunately for Universal, it looks like Dolittle's word-of-mouth is having an impact on the movie's box office prospects and the year may already have its first prominent commercial bomb.
According to Box Office Pro, Dolittle is projected to earn just $16.9 million domestically in its first three days. That figure would be good enough for third place this weekend, behind action sequel Bad Boys for Life ($40 million) and Oscar frontrunner 1917 ($25 million).
Obviously, nobody expected Dolittle to post newcomer Bad Boys for Life. Will Smith and Martin Lawrence's return to their fan-favorite franchise is scoring excellent reviews and is poised to be a hit.
Universal was probably hoping Dolittle could kickoff a new series and become Downey's next trademark role, but the odds of that are slim. Fortunately for the studio, they do have surefire smash Downey will have to hang his hopes on Sherlock Holmes 3 to get some of his mojo back.
Source: Box Office Pro
