LONDON (AP) - Cast members of the comedy horror flick “Fright Night” say they are “bummed” by the film’s poor performance in the United States and are looking for redemption in Europe.
The film features Colin Farrell as a vampire who goes after neighbors who discover his secret. It took in less than $10 million in its U.S. opening weekend, placing fifth behind films including “The Help” and “Rise of the Planet of the Apes.”
American actors Anton Yelchin and colleague Christopher Mintz-Plasse _ two of the doomed neighbors _ spoke to The Associated Press before the film’s opening in Britain.
“If it sucked, we would have been like `alright’ _ you know? But we both like it a lot,” Yelchin said of the movie.
Mintz-Plasse said he hoped the Craig Gillespie-directed film _ described as a “reimagining” of the 1985 cult classic of the same name _ will take a bigger bite out of the European market when it swoops into cinemas later this week.
“We were just proud of it and we wanted people to see it. But maybe it will have life on a DVD or something or out here. But the critics loved it and my family and friends loved it, so that’s important,” he told AP.
With solid reviews, Disney executives thought “Fright Night” would offer a good mix of scares and laughs for fans in their late teens and early 20s.
But Disney distribution boss Dave Hollis said “Fright Night” fell victim to an issue that has troubled studios all summer: How do you bring out younger crowds when they have so many personal entertainment options, from video games to downloading movies?
“What happened here has been a problem and that’s just how do you crack the nut with young adults?” Hollis said. “They’ve been increasingly finicky.”
Fans of the original movie know that Mintz-Plasse’s character Ed is turned into a creature of the night by Irish heartthrob Farrell in a scene loaded with repressed sexual tension.
Mintz-Plasse joked that the swimming pool scene with Farrell was “too sexy for both of us.”
“Anton was off the side … just chilling there, going `This is sexy, I can get into this,’” he laughed.
“Fright Night” opens in the U.K. on Sept. 2 and across Europe in the following weeks.
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