Steve Carell's Welcome to Marwen bombs at the box office, will lose $50m

The film is based on the real-life story of artist Mark Hogancamp, who built a model WWII village to help cope with his trauma

Welcome to Marwen, the latest from Back to the Future director Robert Zemeckis, has flopped at the box office.

The film debuted in the US to a mere $2.4m from 1,191 cinemas, which means it now ties with the Jonny Knoxville-starring Action Point as the worst opening of 2018 for a major studio release.

It is now expected to lose $50m for its production companies Universal, DreamWorks, and ImageMovers, with the film's budget estimated to be between $40m and $49m, according to The Hollywood Reporter.

The news follows last week's disastrous debut for Mortal Engines. The Peter Jackson-produced film opened in the US to $7.5m, with a worldwide total of $42.3m, against a budget exceeding $110m. The film is now looking to lose Universal between $105m and $150m,

Welcome to Marwen is based on the real-life story of artist Mark Hogancamp who, in 2000, became the victim of a violent assault after five white supremacists beat him up and left him for dead, after he told them he liked to wear women's high-heeled shoes.

The attack left Hogancamp with brain damage and meant he had little to no memory of his previous life. In an attempt to regain his memories, Hogancamp built a miniature World War II village, including a tiny counterpart for himself that heroically battled Nazis.

Steve Carell plays Hogancamp in the film. Leslie Mann, Diane Kruger, Merritt Wever, Janelle Monaee and Eiza Gonzalez also star.

The film suffered from poor critical reviews, with The Wall Street Journal's Joe Morgenstern calling it "mind-numbingly immense, joylessly violent and utterly lifeless".

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