Zac Efron’s new EDM film a ‘record-breaking flop’

Zac Efron may be fun to look at, but it seems few people want to do it in a cinema – at least where his new EDM-focused movie We Are Your Friends is concerned.

The title, which was released across the US over the weekend, was projected to nail an $8 million box office haul, but in the end managed to gross just $1.8 million. And that’s despite the fact it contains this moment:

When you consider that a huge 2,333 cinemas across the US were screening it, it is the fourth-worst opening for a wide release (i.e. more than 2,000 locations) since Box Office Mojo‘s records began in 1982.

On top of that, two of the only three titles to perform worse were small-scale independent flicks and the third was the 10th anniversary re-release of Saw – leading The Hollywood Reporter to declare WAYF the biggest major-studio bomb of all time. Ouch.

Still, Warner Bros. exec Jeff Goldstein has refused to throw Efron under the bus; saying: “This was a passion project for Zac Efron, and we believe in him. Yes, the result was disappointing, but this was a small film.”

The trailer for the movie, directed by Max Joseph, became an internet laughing stock upon its debut earlier this year, and reviews for the end product were mostly average-to-poor. UK box office data for the weekend is yet to be released.

Poor Zac. Probably needs a hug.

Watch the trailer below: