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Los Angeles — The first major box office flop of the summer movie season has arrived.
Studio estimates on Sunday say director Guy Ritchie's King Arthur: Legend of the Sword opened to a bleak $14.7m from more than 3 700 locations against a costly $175m production budget.
The gritty reimaging of the Excalibur myth starring Charlie Hunnam as Arthur debuted in third place behind box office leader Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 and Snatched at no. 2.
Warner Bros. was unsurprisingly disappointed at the poor showing for King Arthur but hopeful for the rest of its summer slate, including Wonder Woman and Christopher Nolan's Dunkirk.
Snatched surprised analysts by beating King Arthur on the charts. The raunchy, R-rated Amy Schumer and Goldie Hawn comedy from 20th Century Fox opened with $17.5m.
Marvel and Disney's Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 collected $63m and has earned $246.2m domestically in just two weeks.
Rounding out the top five were holdovers The Fate of the Furious, with $5.3m, and The Boss Baby with $4.6m.
"The newcomers definitely had a tough time ... For most general audiences, Guardians remains the go-to movie," said Paul Dergarabedian, senior media analyst for comScore. "It has incredible staying power."
Neither King Arthur nor Snatched were well-received by critics, and audiences weren't all that enchanted either, giving King Arthur a B+ CinemaScore and Snatched a B.
The sniper drama The Wall starring WWE fighter John Cena as an American soldier, took in a tepid $891 590 from 541 locations.
Better off was BH Tilt's East Los Angeles car culture drama Lowriders, with Eva Longoria and Demian Bichir, which opened in only 295 theatres and still managed to take eighth place on the charts with $2.4m. The studio said audiences were primarily Hispanic.
Next weekend Ridley Scott's Alien: Covenant will aim to scare Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 out of first place.
