Sexualized Puppets Movie THE HAPPYTIME MURDERS Bombed Over the Weekend By Tess Farrand, Staff Writer Melissa McCarthy’s R-rated movie, THE HAPPYTIME MURDERS, released in theaters all over the country on Friday and didn’t do well. The movie grossed $10 million putting it behind CRAZY RICH ASIANS in its second weekend ($25 million) and THE MEG in its third ($13 million). The raunchy comedy, which is one of the worst Movieguide® has screened recently, had a production budget of $40 million and would’ve needed an opening weekend triple the amount it did. This is a record low for McCarthy as the main star. It also received a dismal C- CinemaScore from audiences. THE HAPPYTIME MURDERS is the brainchild of Brian Henson, son of Jim Henson who founded the company that founded the muppets, but it’s not the way we remember the muppets. McCarthy’s character, Detective Connie Edwards investigates the murders of many muppets throughout the movie, hence the title, with sexuality, profanity and nudity throughout. The box-office bomb of HAPPYTIME MURDERS is no surprise to Movieguide®. R-rated comedies have become money pits for major studios in recent years. This year Paramount’s ACTION POINT grossed a dismal $5 million, and Lionsgate’s THE SPY WHO DUMPED ME was also dumped by audiences. It’s not just Movieguide who found the movie abhorrent (read our review here). Even many mainstream sites found THE HAPPYTIME MURDERS to be distasteful. Richard Roeper of The Chicago Sun Times’s review headline reads, “THE HAPPYTIME MURDERS: This is what we call a depressing puppet show.” Indiewire wrote, “For a film that revolves around cut-rate ‘Sesame Street’ rejects dropping f-bombs every 10 seconds, Henson’s latest is stupefyingly risk-averse, as though its greatest aspiration were to trigger those unsuspecting parents who bought tickets for their kids.” Parents: Beware of this movie. Despite the title, there’s nothing “happy” about it. For more insight on the movie, read Movieguide® Founder and Publisher Dr. Ted Baehr’s piece here. Sources: https://www.boxofficemojo.com/weekend/chart/ https://screenrant.com/happytime-murders-box-office-predictions/ https://screenrant.com/happytime-murders-movie-brutal-reviews/
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