Robert Rodriguez has directed some big hits in his career, including “Spy Kids” and “Sin City.” Ben Affleck, meanwhile, has starred in his fair of huge movies, from “Armageddon” to “Gone Girl.” With their powers combined? Rodriguez and Affleck made one of the biggest bombs we’re going to see in 2023. “Hypnotic,” a mind-bending sci-fi thriller that debuted at SXSW, ended up being an utter trainwreck. Against a sizable $65 million budget, the film opened to just $2.35 million back in May. From there, it went about as badly as you would expect, topping out with a total of just $6.2 million globally. Ouch.
It’s downright hard to believe a movie with a big budget, as well as an A-list director and star, can put so few butts in seats. Granted, this one got away from Rodriguez a bit as the film was shut down several times by the pandemic, which ended up inflating the budget dramatically. Be that as it may, even with a budget a third that size, this would still be a pretty big flop. As it stands? A lot of people probably lost a lot of money, and this will certainly go down as a blemish on his career and Affleck’s. It’s not a career killer, exactly, but it sure as heck doesn’t help.