Warner Bros.' "Magic Mike XXL" has fallen short of everyone's expectations as it disappointingly opened the long Fourth of July weekend with only $12 million in earnings compared to its first installment that earned $39 million in 2012, NBC News cited.
Despite the box office success of its predecessor, the "Magic Mike XXL" sequel didn't quite deliver the goods. The stripper buffet, which featured actors Channing Tatum, Matt Bomer and Joe Manganiello, has an audience made up of mostly women. Unfortunately, no strippers could take down the dinosaurs from the box office this holiday weekend.
So, here are 5 possible reasons why "Magic Mike XXL" failed to impress moviegoers.
1. The sequel started off on a pretty forced premise. According to Business Insider, it gives a weak reason to explain the nonappearance of some important characters from the first film in order to put the rest of the original crew back together.
2. In spite of the fact that "Magic Mike XXL" is a film that is expected to make women weak in the knees, the sequel appeared too formulaic, Den of Geeks noted. Some of the stops in the film also didn't make any sense, particularly the part where a home was filled with middle-aged women. What was that?
3. Despite the negative reviews, the film has also its best parts, which included Tatum flaunting his impeccable dance expertise and uber-toned body, L.A. Weekly reported. Though "Magic Mike XXL" showed him dancing in the entire film, it still didn't catch much attention since viewers have already seen him strut his killer dance moves in "Step Up" movie.
4. It is a "dumb sequel," Vulture opined. It doesn't have the similar morality-play structure and it's like a reversal of its predecessor.
5. "Magic Mike XXL" started out incredibly strong Wednesday before dropping on Friday and plummeting to under $3 million during the weekend. Time magazine added the movie only earned about $27 million for the five-day period. The reason? It seems like a bad word of mouth circulated about the sequel.
Meanwhile, neither hot male strippers nor cyborgs could dethrone "Jurassic World" from the top of the box office this weekend, with a total domestic earning of $558.2 million. It is followed by "Inside Out" and "Terminator Genisys" on the second and third place, respectively. While "Magic Mike XXL" landed fourth place, "Ted 2" landed fifth.
