Amazon Studios Has A Prime Video Problem

Why pay for something you’ll get for free?

Yet another high-profile film from Amazon Studios has officially bombed at the box office. This time it was the Goldfinch, a co-production by Amazon Studios and Warner Bros. based on the Pulitzer Prize-winning novel by Donna Tartt. With a budget estimated at around $50 million, it was considered to be a possible Oscar contender before it debuted to medium/bad reviews at the Toronto Film Festival. The reviews only got worse when the Goldfinch hit theaters, and with just a $2.68 million haul in its opening weekend, the Goldfinch may go down as one of the worst bombs ever for a movie opening on more than 2,500 screens.

Now Amazon Studios is no stranger to bombs. Late Night, which was acquired for a record-setting $13 million at the 2018 Sundance Film Festival, opened weakly in ninth place and has failed to make back its rumored $35 million advertising budget. In fact, nearly every theatrical release from Amazon Studios — with only a few exceptions like Oscar nominees Manchester by the Sea and the Big Sick — have lost money. However, the Goldfinch debacle seems particularly jarring, starting yet another round of questions about Amazon Studios’ leadership and strategy.

But if Jeff Bezos and the heads of Amazon Studios are looking for someone to blame, they should look no further than…