(THE GUARDIAN) — Violence, slavery, high-speed chases, good versus evil – and all in Roman outfits. When it comes to blockbusters, the $100m Hollywood production, Ben-Hur, did seem to have more than a burly charioteer’s chance of winning the summer box office race.
Yet, as the dust settles on the tracks of all those hooves and wheels, the New Testament-era extravaganza is set to go down as one of the renowned flops of hoary Hollywood anecdote. Its probable losses look to be careering towards the $75m mark.
What makes matters worse, on Friday Disney Pixar proudly announced that after only four weeks in cinemas Finding Dory, the animated sequel to 2003’s Finding Nemo, has already crossed the finish line as the biggest grossing animated film of the year in Britain and Ireland, taking £34.3m in box office receipts so far. In America it is already the biggest animation film of all time.
