‘Delgo’ proves a big-time box-office bomb

By ROBERT K. ELDER

The animated film took in only $511,920 in 2,160 theaters in its opening weekend.

CHICAGO — A philosophical question: If a film bombs at the box office, but almost no one is there to see it, is it still a bomb?

The answer is “yes” if that movie is “Delgo,” a stiffly animated fantasy in the storytelling tradition of “Lord of the Rings.” The film secured a special place in cinema history this week as the least-attended film ever to open on more than 2,000 screens.

Only two people — including this reporter — attended the 1:50 p.m. showing of “Delgo” on Tuesday at AMC Loews 600 North Michigan 9 in Chicago.

The other patron snored through half the film, obscuring the vocal talents of Freddie Prinze Jr., Jennifer Love Hewitt, Chris Kattan and the late Anne Bancroft.

The film took in $511,920 in 2,160 theaters in its opening weekend, according to Media by Numbers. That translated to an average of two patrons per showing, according to Yahoo! movie writer Jonathan Crow.

Thus, “Delgo” entered the Hollywood lexicon as shorthand for “animated stinker,” joining the ranks of “Ishtar” and Ed Wood’s “Plan 9 From Outer Space” as movie punch lines.

The flop heard ’round the multiplex can partly be blamed on limited advertising, B-list actors and characters reminiscent of the original Sea-Monkeys advertisements. Stilted animation doesn’t help.

“It just completely got lost in the holiday shuffle,” said Paul Dergarabedian, president of Media By Numbers.