Legend of Tarzan and The BFG expected to bomb at the US box office

Both are expected to make less than $40 million apiece despite having budgets above $140 million

It’s not looking particularly summary over at the US box office for this year’s major blockbuster released.

Despite being directed by Steven Spielberg and David Yates respectively, The BFG and The Legend of Tarzan are expected to make less than $40 million each.

According to Variety, Spielberg’s fantasy adventure starring Mark Rylance and Rebecca Hall is expected to make $30 million on a budget of $140 million from 3,357 cinemas.

For a film directed by the person behind Raiders of the Lost Arc, Jurassic Park, and Saving Private Ryan, a low box office result would come as quite a shock, with one analyst quoted as saying: “It’s weird that a Spielberg movie is the underdog at the box office.”

Meanwhile, The Legend of Tarzan, starring Alexander Skarsgård, Margot Robbie, Samuel L. Jackson and Christopher Waltz, is thought to gross a little more, analysts expecting the film to take $35 million from 3,561 cinemas.

However, the budget for Tarzan was also much higher than for The BFG, standing at $180 million, and the film has received idling reviews unlike BFG which was praised by many critics.

The studio behind the King of the Jungle’s film are reportedly hopeful it will succeed in foreign markets, particularly China where it debuts next month.

With two big-budget blockbusters films looking set to be relative flops, what does this say about the state of the box office at the moment? We've already seen the likes of Gods of Egypt, The Huntsman, and Warcraft, fail to make the gigantic sums needed to recuperate their multi-million dollar budgets; are people growing a little bored of these big hitters? It seems the only certain hits are those orientated around superheroes...

Meanwhile, Finding Dory is currently dominating the US box office, retaining its number one spot despite the release of Independence Day Resurgence. Over here in the UK, The Secret Life of Pets is currently atop the box office, closely followed by the aforementioned Independence Day sequel.