Being released a week after "" theatrical debut proved to be a huge disadvantage for the big-budgeted car racing movie "" as the Wachowski brothers' film only managed to finish second to the Marvel's adaptation film. To make matter worse, the family adventure movie presented the first flop of 2008 summer movies at this three-days weekend box office which ended Sunday, May 11 by grossing merely $20.2 million, less than half of its original prediction, in its opening weekend.
Leaked words on the reasoning of the film's box office failure are that its PG rating hurts the sales badly. The targeted audience which supposedly should be kids aren't familiar with the 1960s' Japanese animation series "Mach GoGoGo" the movie is based on, while the older audience who grew up with the cartoon and excited with the film are said to be scared away by the given rating. Other possible cause put out is the lengthy running time. Timed at two hours and fifteen minutes, "Speed Racer" is considered too long for a family adventure film, especially for the kids.