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‘Rock the Kasbah’ and ‘Jem and the Holograms’ join top-10 lowest openings

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The year 2015 has stood out for blockbuster movies such as “Jurassic World,” “Furious 7” and “Inside Out.” But it has also produced some of the biggest flops in recent memory.

Last weekend, Hollywood put out two of the lowest-opening movies in the last three decades: “Rock the Kasbah” and “Jem and the Holograms.” Each grossed less than $2 million in ticket sales in the United States and Canada.

Taking a wider view, the past weekend looks worse: “Steve Jobs,” “The Last Witch Hunter” and “Paranormal Activity: The Ghost Dimension” all posted disappointing results, leaving holdover “The Martian” to take the top spot.

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“Jem” and “Kasbah” are now among the top-10 lowest-grossing opening weekends in wide release, according to Box Office Mojo, which only used data going back to 1982 for its list. At $1.3 million and $1.5 million, respectively, they did even worse than this year’s Warner Bros. failure “We Are Your Friends,” starring Zac Efron as a DJ.

“Jem and the Holograms,” based on the 1980s Hasbro animated series, had the benefit of a low budget of $5 million, limiting the risk to Universal Pictures, which released the movie. Open Road’s “Rock the Kasbah,” starring Bill Murray as a rock promoter abroad, cost $15 million.

To be sure, it’s only one weekend and multiple analysts expect 2015 to generate record movie ticket sales for Hollywood, not adjusting for inflation. But an otherwise banner year for movie grosses makes the bombs all the more visible in contrast.

Here are Box Office Mojo’s 10 lowest-grossing openings since 1982 (re-releases removed):

  1. “Oogieloves in the BIG Balloon Adventure” (2012): $443,901
  2. “Delgo” (2008): $511,920
  3. “Jem and the Holograms” (2015): $1,320,000
  4. “Rock The Kasbah” (2015): $1,509,816
  5. “We Are Your Friends” (2015): $1,767,308
  6. “P2” (2007): $2,083,398
  7. “Major League: Back to the Minors” (1998): $2,087,011
  8. “The Real Cancun” (2003): $2,108,796
  9. “College” (2008): $2,153,109
  10. “The Adventures of Pluto Nash” (2002): $2,182,900

Follow Ryan Faughnder on Twitter for more entertainment business coverage: @rfaughnder

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