To begin, this is nothing against the film. I am very, very excited to see it. I love the cast. I love Ridley Scott. I love Cormac McCarthy. I love violent crime films. Seriously, I am there opening day.

BUT more and more I get the sense it is going to be a financial dud.

While there is a chance I am just on the wrong wavelength, I do not believe Fox are overly exerting themselves with their advertising. The poster above is a case in point: lazy to the core. Neither the trailer in rotation in theatres nor the few television spots I have seen convey much more than, "This man in a suit gets in over his head with criminals, and this is a fairly bad situation for him. Oh, and there's Brad Pitt in a cowboy hat." There is no human angle for audiences to respond to. There is not even much of a conflict on display beyond a vague sense of a group of attractive people being nasty to one another. Compounding the problem, the title--The Counselor!--is far from explanatory and exciting.

Also, while the cast is catnip for critics and film fans, only Pitt and Cameron Diaz have proven to be draws in the past, and neither is the focal point here. Pitt's part appears particularly peripheral if the advertising is an indication of the actual film's content. The largely unproven (as a star) Michael Fassbender is the center of the drama.

Further still, competition is not in its favor. Gravity and Captain Phillips will still be strong, and it opens against probable hit Bad Grandpa.

Could anyone else see this, despite early online anticipation generated by its top-flight creative team, earning less than 30 million?

I can see it earning less than $20m.

No, I expect at least 60m+.

There's zero hype. It's bizarre.
Sub $30 million for sure. Shame, since a friend says it's really good.

I can't believe how poorly Fox has handled it.

I dunno...there is still time for the marketing to pick up, right?

The cast is really strong and Ridley Scott's name has got to count for something, right? I mean even his flop Body of Lies adjusts to around $45 million and Matchstick Men to $50 million.

The Counselor will make at least $40 million, IMO.

Scott is a fairly inconsistent financial player among iconic directors, honestly. A few major duds populate his filmography: 1492, A Good Year, White Squall. And Body of Lies, yes.

Not to forget Kingdom of Heaven, a huge domestic dud when it came out. But overall, he has been doing rather well.

He is particularly great at giving R-rated films big openings. Among the Top 40 biggest R-rated openers, Scott has directed four films (Prometheus, American Gangster, Hannibal, Gladiator)

I see this happening for sure. Plot seems hard to understand in the ads and the mian character is not obvious. Plus Javier Bardem looks way too excited about a one-time deal in the TV ads.

$11.8 million / $29 million

Even if it is good, it might be too grim and/or twisted for general audiences. McCarthy is not always synonymous with crowd pleasing.

This might fall victim to the fact that Gravity and Captain Phillips have both broken out, as well as the muted advertising. I still really want to see it though.

The fact that we are even talking about a total under Savages just goes to show you how much Fox screwed up with this one. It honestly feels like that had MUCH more buzz in it's week of release than this ever did.

Even if it's decent I don't believe that will be enough to save it. An opening/ total similar to BOL seems very likely at this point. Considering the cast/pedigree involved that is definitely disappointing.

I've seen a bunch of commercials for this over the past week while watching football. Trouble is the commercials are pretty awful...the entire purpose seems to namedrop all of the famous people involved. Funny you should mention Savages, because this commercial reminded me of some sort of grown up version of Savages. Not exactly making me want to see it.

If the film were really that good, you'd think they would platform it or give it a better release date. Seems like a financial dud and at best a "meh" film quality wise.

If this is a club, I'm in.

Not in. I think the final gross will be $40-50 million, typical of these badass crime thrillers.

No should get to 50m. Looks great. It actually needs to move to Wolf's date.

It should move to Wolf's date. At this point though I could see it seriously under-performing, which is unfortunate as it had real potential.

It will do bad as the marketing sucks till date but I don't think it will drop at $30m itself. Even with a poor opening I see this getting past $30m.

Just in. Nothing about it stands out.

I can't imagine it reaching 30 million even if it opens to 11 or 12 million.

He sure is now!

Yep this was a good call. The signs were there but then I was banking on a good WOM. With poor reception it will be difficult for it to clear $25m itself.

This isn't even going to do 20. Poor Fox has released back to back bombs with a ton of starpower between them with Runner Runner and this.

Every time a Ridley Scott movie comes out and sucks, critics remind us that he is a legendary director and this is just a misfire. When will they realise he's not exactly legendary.

He is legendary, though. Alien and Blade Runner alone seal the deal, not to mention Thelma & Louise, Gladiator, and Black Hawk Down. Ridley Scott will always be a name.

Consider the extreme example of Dario Argento. He has not made a decent film in decades, yet he is still iconic. No serious cinema fan is going to say, "Wait, Dario who? Never heard of him."