Ben Affleck’s Sci-Fi Thriller Hypnotic Fails in Theaters: What Went Wrong?

Ben Affleck has three films in theaters this year. His highly acclaimed sports film Air is already running on Amazon Prime. Affleck’s final appearance as Batman in The Flash follows in June. And in the USA the sci-fi thriller Hypnotic started last weekend – unfortunately with little success.

Inception 2.0: What is Hypnotic about?

With its psycho-thriller approach in a sci-fi world, Hypnotic is reminiscent of films like Inception, Minority Report or The Forgotten. Daniel Rourke (Ben Affleck) is a police detective. However, his latest investigation is personally charged because it seems to be connected to the disappearance of his young daughter.

He stumbles into a secret government program: there are people called Hypnotics who have taken the principle of hypnosis to the extreme. Those who master this skill can manipulate other people’s brains with sound, their own voice, and eye contact. It is possible for these individuals to manipulate the reality in the eyes of their victims. They see what is suggested to them and so allies can quickly become the enemy’s puppets.

Catastrophic Numbers: Despite 20 years of work, Hypnotic went under completely

The plot sounds exciting and original. With Robert Rodriguez (Alita, Sin City), a well-known director was also at work, who I let the idea for the film simmer for 20 yearslike him in one interview explained . Nevertheless, Hypnotic could not prevail against the competition in North American cinemas. On the contrary, the film failed to make the top 5 in the cinema charts on its first weekend, usually the strongest.

The sci-fi thriller only collected 2.2 million US dollars. That wasn’t enough to stand out against films like Book Club and Are You There, God? It’s me to claim Margaret. Hypnotic cost $65 million.

The current size of the flop commemorates the legendary bust Gigli from the year 2003: The love film with Ben Affleck and his partner Jennifer Lopez played loud Box Office Mojo with a budget of 54 million US dollars only 7.2 million again.

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When will Hypnotic start in Germany?

Hypnotic will start in German cinemas on August 10, 2023, one week after Meg 2: The Deep. It is questionable whether things are going better for Ben Affleck in this country.

Podcast for series fans: 15 sci-fi highlights starting this year on Netflix, Disney+ and more

In the coming months, there will be franchise replenishments from Star Trek, Star Wars and the MCU as well as lots of other new genres to be discovered on Netflix, Disney+ and Co. In the podcast we take a closer look at 15 innovations that will be launched this year.

Chaotic time travel, survival struggles on the edge of the universe, gripping alien conspiracies on earth or dystopian societies in the post-apocalypse: the sci-fi series starting in 2023 show how diverse the genre can be.

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