Tom Hanks and Robert Zemeckis, the dream team behind Forrest Gump, reunited nearly three decades later for 2024’s Here. Despite the anticipation, the star power, and the acclaimed director involved, Here has interestingly proven to be a massive box office disappointment, especially when compared to the duo’s Oscar-winning 1994 cultural phenomenon. Here is also unlikely to receive any of the same critical accolades as its predecessor.
Here limped to a nominal $4.8 million opening weekend, lightyears away from Forrest Gump‘s impressive $24.5 million debut. As the film crawls to just $11.4 million in total domestic gross, it is abundantly clear that this particular Hanks/Zemeckis collaboration won’t be mentioned in the same breath as their previous blockbuster hits like Cast Away (grossing $233 million) and The Polar Express ($183 million). In hindsight, multiple things caused Here to stumble so badly right out the gate.
Here’s Disappointing Box Office Performance Compared To Forrest Gump Explained
Here Always Faced A Monumental Challenge In Living Up To The Landmark Movie Of Forrest Gump
Here‘s potentially faulty or lacking commercial performance can be attributed to a perfect storm of factors working against it. Most of the critics gave Here negative reviews, with many finding the film underwhelming given the talent involved. This resulted in a low 32% rating on Rotten Tomatoes, dampening audience interest. The high-concept premise, involving the main character being trapped on a single movie set, was presumably going to be a challenging sell that limited the film’s mainstream appeal. Here‘s cerebral, arthouse sensibilities are a far cry from the broadly accessible, crowd-pleasing nature of Forrest Gump and the various creatives’ other widely known successes.
It also can’t be ignored just how drastically the cinematic landscape has shifted in the 30 years since Forrest Gump became a zeitgeist-capturing hit. In the franchise-driven, IP-obsessed modern cinema environment, a unique, heady drama like Here was bound to face a steep uphill battle to connect with audiences, especially without any built-in fanbase to draw from.
Forrest Gump Was A Huge Hit – But Technically Considered A Failure In The 1990s
Accounting Complications Surrounding Forrest Gump Labeled It As A “Flop”
Make no mistake, Forrest Gump was an absolute beast at the box office. The film earned a staggering $330 million domestically, making it the top grosser of 1994. It also dominated the Oscars, winning six trophies, including Best Picture and Best Actor for Hanks. However, in a shocking example of “Hollywood accounting,” Paramount Pictures claimed Forrest Gump lost over $62 million (via LA Times).
The studio allegedly used sly bookkeeping tricks to compound costs and add to the movie’s budget, making it look like the beloved Tom Hanks film was a money loser. This claim was especially outrageous since Forrest Gump was one of 1994’s biggest hits. The studio tried to say they were in the red even though the film made an incredible $677 million worldwide after costing only $55 million to make — a number that should have meant huge profits for everyone involved with the project.
Namely, Winston Groom, who wrote the book Forrest Gump, didn’t get any money beyond his first payment of $350,000. His contract said he would get a share of the profits after expenses, not the total money the movie made at theaters. While Forrest Gump made a ton of money, the studio’s tricky math made it look like a flop on paper. So Groom got nothing extra, even though his story became one of the biggest movie hits ever. This is compared to true box office flops, where it’s much clearer to see a movie actually losing money.
Tom Hanks Was A Box Office Draw For Forrest Gump – Is He Still One Now?
Hanks May Not Be As Much Of A Guarantee Of Profits As He Was At The Time Of Forrest Gump
Hanks’ incredible star power helped make Forrest Gump the massive hit it became. Fresh off winning back-to-back Best Actor Oscars for Philadelphia and Forrest Gump, Hanks was once Hollywood’s most bankable leading actor. Yet Here‘s disappointing box office shows just how much times have changed for the beloved actor, and the film industry.
The years after Forrest Gump saw Hanks continue his streak with massive hits like Apollo 13, Saving Private Ryan, and Cast Away. His more recent track record tells a different story. While The Da Vinci Code brought in an impressive $217 million domestically, movies like Charlie Wilson’s War ($66 million), Larry Crowne ($35 million), and now Here, struggled to find an audience.
While disappointing, the shift in Hanks’ box office power isn’t surprising. Today’s audiences care less about star power, Hollywood makes fewer star-centered films, and at 66, Hanks has aged out of traditional leading man roles. With more of his recent projects like News of the World and Pinocchio going straight to streaming, it’s clear Hanks’ name alone can’t fill theaters anymore, especially with challenging films like Here. Still, his status as one of Hollywood’s greatest actors remains untouchable.
Source: LA Times