The critically acclaimed and brilliantly refreshing crime epic, Black Mass hit US theaters on September 18. Black Mass covers the infamous alliance between corrupt FBI officials and Boston’s most prolific gangster, Whitey Bulger.  The very premise of Black Mass revolves around a provocative and authentic storyline, accented by A-list talent, on and off the screen. This combination gave Black Mass the typical and commercially viable hype that crime movies like Goodfellas or Donnie Brasco thrived off of. In an age where crime dramas like Breaking Bad and Narcos dominate the menu screens of Netflix, it would be crazy to think that a mainstream bio-pic like Black Mass wouldn’t do the same.

After screening in thousands of theaters for nearly 3 weeks, the movie has only grossed 53.1 million. This leaves many to wonder, how did a movie that was projected to make 21 million in its opening weekend generate a mere 53 million in three weeks?  Rarely does a movie that is conceptually appealing and exceptionally well made gross such a small sum.  Its competition is weak in comparison. More people saw the significantly less publicized De Niro picture, The Intern over the mainstreamed Black Mass. The Sci-Fi adventure movie, The Martian, which has only been out since October 2, has already scored more then 103 million at the box office.  This is almost double what Black Mass has made in three weeks. On paper, Black Mass was destined to reign supreme, and yet for some inexplicable reason, nobody is to seeing this wonderful movie. The diminished success of Black Mass further reiterates the age-old lesson that box office totals rarely exemplify a films quality or importance. Movies like Scarface and GATTICA both bombed at the box office at the time of there releases, yet today hold an almost cult like following.  On the other side of the spectrum, awful movies like Ice Age Continental Drift grossed a domestic 161 million. People watch the movies they feel like watching, and for some reason people don’t want to see the movie Black Mass.