Now you see them... now you don't! Welcome to WatchMojo, and today we’re counting down the quickest times movies got the hook and were removed from theaters.
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00:00FIFA is a sensitive subject, Mr. Wilcox. Your role is to question it, mine is to protect it.
00:07Welcome to WatchMojo, and today we're counting down the quickest times movies got the hook and were removed from theaters.
00:15Please, Uncle Dave, please, just a few hundred bucks, just...
00:20Number 10, Gem and the Holograms.
00:24Gem, the animated television series, had a decent run back in the 80s and aired for three years
00:30and 65 episodes from 1985 to 88. Considering it was one of the top kids programs during that period,
00:38one could maybe see why studios would want to make a movie based on the series.
00:43I want you all to think of this as an opportunity to reinvent yourselves.
00:47However, it turns out that over 25 years later, no one wanted to watch that movie.
00:52Was it because it sucked, or because the Gem character didn't mean anything to people by 2015?
00:59We might never know the whole truth, but the fact that it was barely recognizable
01:03from the source material definitely didn't help.
01:06Come on, everyone. Yeah, that's great, that's great.
01:11What we also know is that the film had the worst opening weekend of the year,
01:15and it was pulled out of cinemas 18 days after it premiered on November 10th.
01:19This was a move that one reporter called unheard of for a movie that was in theaters nationwide.
01:26A home is where you're surrounded by people who you love and who love you regardless.
01:35So, solo contract or not, you're stuck with me.
01:41Number 9, The Garbage Pail Kids Movie
01:45In the 80s, The Garbage Pail Kids were sticker trading cards produced
01:49to capitalize on the mega popular Cabbage Patch Kids dolls.
01:54I foul Phil.
01:57Daddy!
01:59Not in this lifetime, little person.
02:01The rude and pun-filled gross-out cards were released in 1985 and got popular enough that
02:06just two years later, The Garbage Pail Kids movie was made.
02:10But unfortunately, the film lived up to its name.
02:14Oh honey, you haven't seen bad yet.
02:16Hated by critics and audiences alike,
02:18The Garbage Pail Kids movie is often cited as one of the worst movies ever.
02:23Premiering on August 21st, 1987 in just 374 theaters,
02:28it grossed a measly $1.6 million before being pulled.
02:34While the precise length of its theatrical run is unknown,
02:37the movie didn't play for more than a few weeks,
02:40even prompting the cancellation of a September 1987 debut of a planned animated series.
02:46Yeah, all you guys.
02:48I'm worried about what's going to happen to you.
02:50I wish I knew.
02:52Number 8, Winnie the Pooh Blood and Honey
02:55Winnie the Pooh Blood and Honey was a low-budget slasher film released in 2023
03:01that puts a gory horror spin on the classic children's stories about the titular bear.
03:07Did you see his face?
03:10That did not look human.
03:13The movie was shot in 10 days, which is very quick,
03:17but it's actually longer than the movie lasted in theaters upon its release.
03:22To be fair, the initial idea was to make it a one-night event across multiple countries.
03:27He's coming for us! He's coming! He's coming for us!
03:30Who is?
03:31Pooh! Okay, we need to go now!
03:33Pooh?
03:34However, the critically panned film gained enough momentum that plans changed.
03:39After its nine February dates earned it considerable box office success,
03:43it got an extra seven-day run in the U.S. in March.
03:46So, in this case, the short run was actually longer than initially expected.
03:52You're tough. I'll give you that.
03:55Number 7, The Watcher in the Woods
03:58In the 1980s, Walt Disney Productions made The Watcher in the Woods
04:02in an attempt to reach the young adult audience.
04:05Did you hurt yourself?
04:10Oh, it's just a little cut.
04:14I thought… I thought I saw something out there in the woods.
04:19The supernatural horror movie starred the iconic Betty Davis,
04:22who made some amazing movies throughout her career.
04:25Needless to say, this was not one of them.
04:28Karen! Karen!
04:32Karen!
04:38They searched the ruins, but there was no sign of Karen.
04:43And if you're thinking that you saw the film and it wasn't that bad,
04:46well, you probably didn't see the version they initially released into theaters.
04:51That's because that version was pulled from cinemas after 10 days.
04:55The version they released a year and a half later had entire scenes removed
04:59and a completely different conclusion.
05:02How can we help, Karen?
05:04Door!
05:07Must open door!
05:08The re-release didn't end up doing too much better than the original,
05:12only grossing $5 million at the box office.
05:15Something awful happened here.
05:20I can feel it.
05:24Something awful.
05:25Number 6, Silent Night, Deadly Night
05:29It probably isn't hard to imagine a horror film about a spree killer in a Santa costume being,
05:34at least, somewhat controversial.
05:37It's Santa!
05:40Chrissy, stay away!
05:41Stay with me.
05:42But Mother Superior, it's Santa Claus!
05:45A murderous Santa Claus and posters featuring an axe-wielding Saint Nick
05:50descending down a chimney aren't exactly family-friendly holiday images.
05:54The outcry over the film's marketing was actually so bad,
05:58the studio removed all its advertisements just six days after the movie hit theaters.
06:03Operator.
06:05Operator, I need the police.
06:09And it wasn't long after that that they pulled the movie as well.
06:12But to give it credit, the now cult film made an impressive $2.5 million in that short time,
06:18compared to its budget of only $750,000.
06:22Put the money in the bag.
06:24Number 5, Delgo
06:26With voice acting from stars like Freddie Prinze Jr., Jennifer Love Hewitt, and Val Kilmer,
06:32as well as winning Best Feature Film at the Brazilian Anima Mundi Festival,
06:36the studio probably had high hopes for Delgo.
06:39Wow, my hero.
06:43Well, those hopes weren't just dashed, they were smashed to smithereens after the film
06:48opened to terrible reviews and left the studio in a state of shock.
06:53And less than $1 million in its first week, against a $40 million budget.
06:58What good are you?
06:59You can't even fly.
07:00He's got a point, Delgo.
07:02Good point, sir.
07:05What about its second week, you ask?
07:08Well, we'll never know, because the adventure fantasy was pulled from theaters
07:12after those tremendously disappointing first seven days.
07:15My people will never accept you.
07:18Never.
07:19They will embrace me.
07:21Number 4, Heaven's Gate
07:23Unless you were living in New York in 1980,
07:26there's a good chance you've never seen the first released cut of Michael Cimino's Heaven's Gate.
07:32I had a very satisfactory talk with the governor yesterday.
07:36He asserted in the most positive terms his wholehearted support.
07:40And that's because that 3-hour and 39-minute version of the film
07:44so underperformed critically and with NYC audiences that it was pulled.
07:49And the worldwide release was put on hold.
07:52I thought you were getting like me.
07:54I do.
07:55It did come, though, about five months later,
07:58after Cimino had pared it down to 2 hours and 29 minutes.
08:02However, it didn't do much better the second time, grossing about $3.5 million
08:08and only lasting in theaters for about two weeks this time around.
08:12I do not understand you.
08:15There's a lot of things you don't understand.
08:18Number 3, Postal
08:20Postal was a rude, offensive and critically destroyed political satire
08:24that only lasted two weeks in Italian theaters in 2008.
08:29Don't you know I'm lactose intolerant?
08:30You're trying to kill me?
08:32That's not good.
08:33But it's 100% better than what the UbaBull video game adaptation did in North America
08:39a few months earlier.
08:40In fact, it was lucky to even get released in the United States
08:44after all the controversy led multiple theater distributors
08:47to pull their widescreen support,
08:49limiting the movie to play on just four screens across the country.
08:53But in order to fulfill the prophecy in Dave's Bible,
08:57we must wipe out the entire planet.
09:01By the time it was actually released on May 23rd,
09:04that number had jumped to 21.
09:06But after one week, the film was gone from those cinemas as well.
09:10So go ahead.
09:12Shoot.
09:14Or?
09:20Hug?
09:21Number 2, It's Pat
09:23When it comes to turning Saturday Night Live sketches into movies,
09:27sometimes you get great movies that make tons of money like Wayne's World.
09:31And sometimes you get It's Pat.
09:34Yep, yeah.
09:37Pat Riley, Southland Gas Company.
09:40Initially, Julia Sweeney wasn't too keen on turning her sketch into a full-length film,
09:45saying,
09:46I just didn't know how we could make it last for two hours.
09:49Well, they didn't, as the film clocked in at just 78 minutes long.
09:55What's eating you?
09:57I'm just worried you're getting a little carried away, that's all, you know?
10:00But even at that short length,
10:02it was about 75 minutes longer than it should have been.
10:05And it would appear that everyone knew it.
10:07The movie was released into just 33 theaters in three cities
10:11and was pulled from all of them after the opening weekend,
10:14at least according to what most sources reports.
10:18People.
10:19Can't live with them and you can't live without them.
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10:38Number 1.
10:39United Passions
10:40A movie about the origins of the Federation Internationale de Football Association,
10:45FIFA,
10:46probably sounded like a good idea to the world governing body of association football,
10:50who mostly financed the film.
10:53We, the inventors of this sport, will at last win the trophy.
10:59I'm sure you will.
11:02But it didn't look good to critics and audiences when the movie came out in North America in 2015,
11:08right as the arrests and corruption case against the organization were happening.
11:12The film, as you might imagine, took a very executive-friendly view
11:17and that didn't sit well with most everyone who wasn't FIFA.
11:21It is a great honor, brother, and a great honor comes with great responsibilities.
11:27The film opened in just 10 theaters in the United States,
11:30and it didn't even manage to gross $1,000 in its opening weekend.
11:35Needless to say, it was pulled not too long after that,
11:38though the exact number of days has never been confirmed.
11:41Uncle, that's cheating.
11:44Cheating?
11:44Oh, that's a big word.
11:45Did you make it to the short cinema windows to see any of these movies?
11:49Let us know in the comments.
11:51Punjab, buy out the 8 o'clock show.
11:55Let's all go to the movie.
11:57Did you enjoy this video?
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