# Did the Hitchhikers Guide movie flop & if so why?
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-the-hitchhikers-guide-movie-flop-if-so-why/307597
**Category:** Cafe Society
**Created:** [June 9, 2005, 3:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-the-hitchhikers-guide-movie-flop-if-so-why/307597 "2005-06-09T15:20:06Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@FriarTed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FriarTed)
#### Post date: [June 9, 2005, 3:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-the-hitchhikers-guide-movie-flop-if-so-why/307597/1 "2005-06-09T15:20:06Z")
I saw it twice, thought it was totally charming, hilarious, & had great special effects. I’ve read the first four books, saw the BBC TV series, listened to much of the radio series- all in the mid/late-80s, but havent come back to them in years. Hence, I’m not a fanboy or a purist, but a nostalgic admirer. I found the romantic comedy aspect totally appropriate (it struck me as the main divergence from the originals). Both times I went, I was with people who had only slight knowledge of it & they were thoroughly entertained.
So if it did flop, what went wrong?
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### Author:  [@bordelond](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bordelond)
#### Post date: [June 9, 2005, 3:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-the-hitchhikers-guide-movie-flop-if-so-why/307597/2 "2005-06-09T15:23:01Z")
> [@FriarTed](#):
>
> So if it did flop, what went wrong?
Is it not still in the theaters?
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### Author:  [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)
#### Post date: [June 9, 2005, 3:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-the-hitchhikers-guide-movie-flop-if-so-why/307597/3 "2005-06-09T15:27:57Z")
It cost $50 million to make and has grossed almost that amount just in the US. No, it didn’t flop. It didn’t have the legs some people hoped, but it did alright. I hope that was good enough to justify a sequel.
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### Author:  [@Ethilrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ethilrist)
#### Post date: [June 9, 2005, 3:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-the-hitchhikers-guide-movie-flop-if-so-why/307597/4 "2005-06-09T15:38:08Z")
I didn’t see it, so that can’t have helped.
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### Author:  [@Soylent\_Gene](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Soylent_Gene)
#### Post date: [June 9, 2005, 3:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-the-hitchhikers-guide-movie-flop-if-so-why/307597/5 "2005-06-09T15:42:43Z")
I think its between a flop and a hit. It got generally good reviews (except from Roger Ebert who is becoming a reverse barometer for good and bad movies).
Theres so much competition now that if a movie doesnt become a Spiderman-type smash, it will fade away in about 4 weeks.
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### Author:  [@Raygun99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Raygun99)
#### Post date: [June 9, 2005, 3:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-the-hitchhikers-guide-movie-flop-if-so-why/307597/6 "2005-06-09T15:49:48Z")
> [@Soylent Gene](#):
>
> I think its between a flop and a hit. It got generally good reviews (except from Roger Ebert who is becoming a reverse barometer for good and bad movies).
>
> Theres so much competition now that if a movie doesnt become a Spiderman-type smash, it will fade away in about 4 weeks.
Sort of an aside, but it’s not so much competition as it is planned obsolesence. There’s not really significantly more movies getting wide release, they’re just having shorter runs overall. Studios take more of the box office of films in the earlier part of the run of a film, so they’re not so displeased if it opens big and then fades, as they make more off the DVD sales anyway.
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### Author:  [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)
#### Post date: [June 9, 2005, 3:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-the-hitchhikers-guide-movie-flop-if-so-why/307597/7 "2005-06-09T15:52:40Z")
It’ll make it as a DVD hit, if anything. I wasn’t impressed by the movie, to tell the truth. But then, I’m not all that fond of Adams to begin with. YMMV.
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### Author:  [@hawkeyejo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hawkeyejo)
#### Post date: [June 9, 2005, 3:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-the-hitchhikers-guide-movie-flop-if-so-why/307597/8 "2005-06-09T15:58:53Z")
> [@silenus](#):
>
> But then, I’m not all that fond of Adams to begin with.
Sacrilege!! Thou shalt be burnt at the stake on the dawn of the morrow.
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### Author:  [@ftg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ftg)
#### Post date: [June 9, 2005, 4:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-the-hitchhikers-guide-movie-flop-if-so-why/307597/9 "2005-06-09T16:20:16Z")
It will make a profit. But it will not make nearly as much money as the producers had hoped.
It wasn’t a very good film. I started watching the old BBC TV shows recently, and those are clearly better than the film in key ways: better script, better acting (with the exception of the Trillian actress), even better “Guide” sequences. If they had the budget of the movie, it would have been superb. (Note on the TV series: 6 half hour episodes, the first 4 cover HGttG and the last 2 cover part of RatEotU.)
One of my top peeves about the movie is that while replacing large chunks of the canon with new stuff is not directly horrible, replacing it with pointless unfunny stuff is. If you can’t think of better material, leave the old material in.
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### Author:  [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)
#### Post date: [June 9, 2005, 4:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-the-hitchhikers-guide-movie-flop-if-so-why/307597/10 "2005-06-09T16:34:50Z")
So, am I the only person who thought the movie was better than the book?
Yeah, that’s what I thought.
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### Author:  [@vibrotronica](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vibrotronica)
#### Post date: [June 9, 2005, 4:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-the-hitchhikers-guide-movie-flop-if-so-why/307597/11 "2005-06-09T16:38:37Z")
According to [Box Office Mojo](http://www.boxofficemojo.com/movies/?id=hitchhikersguide.htm) the movie cost $50 million and has so far grossed $78 million worldwide. I’d be pleased as punch if my movie made $28 million, especially in the middle of a [box office slump](http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/usatoday/boxofficeslumpprobablydugaholetoodeep). Plus, the DVD sales to the slavering Adams fans (myself included) are going to be all gravy. I don’t think you can call that a flop.
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### Author:  [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)
#### Post date: [June 9, 2005, 4:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-the-hitchhikers-guide-movie-flop-if-so-why/307597/12 "2005-06-09T16:41:21Z")
> [@ftg](#):
>
> One of my top peeves about the movie is that while replacing large chunks of the canon with new stuff is not directly horrible, replacing it with pointless unfunny stuff is. If you can’t think of better material, leave the old material in.
Some of which came from DA himself. Can’t remember who it was but someone brought up this possibility in another thread: DA’s intention was to have a slightly different version in each medium.
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### Author:  [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)
#### Post date: [June 9, 2005, 4:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-the-hitchhikers-guide-movie-flop-if-so-why/307597/13 "2005-06-09T16:43:24Z")
> [@vibrotronica](#):
>
> According to [Box Office Mojo](http://www.boxofficemojo.com/movies/?id=hitchhikersguide.htm) the movie cost $50 million and has so far grossed $78 million worldwide. I’d be pleased as punch if my movie made $28 million, especially in the middle of a [box office slump](http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/usatoday/boxofficeslumpprobablydugaholetoodeep).
About half of that $78 million (remember it’s gross) goes to the theatres, so the movie would not yet be in the black.
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### Author:  [@Governor\_Quinn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Governor_Quinn)
#### Post date: [June 9, 2005, 4:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-the-hitchhikers-guide-movie-flop-if-so-why/307597/14 "2005-06-09T16:50:49Z")
> [@Marley23](#):
>
> About half of that $78 million (remember it’s gross) goes to the theatres, so the movie would not yet be in the black.
Assuming that Box Office Mojo is correct at pegging the amount that the studio receives at 55%, than the film has made the studio $42.9 million- not yet breaking even, true, but still 85% of the film’s cost.
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### Author:  [@Anaamika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anaamika)
#### Post date: [June 9, 2005, 5:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-the-hitchhikers-guide-movie-flop-if-so-why/307597/15 "2005-06-09T17:03:00Z")
> [@Miller](#):
>
> So, am I the only person who thought the movie was better than the book?
>
> Yeah, that’s what I thought.
I thought I respected you. :mad:
I thought it was a bit confusing and esoteric for people who hadn’t read the book and had no knowledge of what was going on.
I’m not in that crowd by the way. I loved it. But it’s out of theatres here.
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### Author:  [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)
#### Post date: [June 9, 2005, 5:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-the-hitchhikers-guide-movie-flop-if-so-why/307597/16 "2005-06-09T17:04:41Z")
Sorry, **Anaamika** , but it was over between us when I learned you didn’t like _The Big Lebowski._
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### Author:  [@FriarTed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FriarTed)
#### Post date: [June 9, 2005, 5:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-the-hitchhikers-guide-movie-flop-if-so-why/307597/17 "2005-06-09T17:19:25Z")
Well, I’m glad to hear the box office isn’t as bad as I expected. I’ve just heard little buzz & the two local theaters each had it a week before sending it on its way.
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### Author:  [@Anaamika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anaamika)
#### Post date: [June 9, 2005, 5:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-the-hitchhikers-guide-movie-flop-if-so-why/307597/18 "2005-06-09T17:20:46Z")
> [@Miller](#):
>
> Sorry, **Anaamika** , but it was over between us when I learned you didn’t like _The Big Lebowski._
Fair 'nuff.
I did think that comment was funny, though, about the Chinaman.
“Dude. ‘Chinaman’ is \*not \* politically correct.”
“He’s not building my fucking railroad!”
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### Author:  [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)
#### Post date: [June 9, 2005, 5:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-the-hitchhikers-guide-movie-flop-if-so-why/307597/19 "2005-06-09T17:28:01Z")
> [@Anaamika](#):
>
> I did think that comment was funny, though, about the Chinaman.
I saw the movie _Crash_ Tuesday (I’ll wait for the thread about it ;)) and couldn’t help thinking of that bit whenever the word Chinaman was used, which was surprisingly often.
“Dude, Chinaman is not the preferred nomenclature.”
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### Author:  [@Zebra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zebra)
#### Post date: [June 9, 2005, 5:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-the-hitchhikers-guide-movie-flop-if-so-why/307597/20 "2005-06-09T17:42:14Z")
I think the main problem is that the movie was about 20 years late.
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