The 'Dolittle' fiasco: What made the film lose over $100 million?

Robert Downey Jr. starrer Dolittle became 2020's first global flop. The film has been in theatres globally for over two weeks now but has not gone past $100 million yet. Made on a reported budget of $175 million and approximately an additional $50-60 million spent of promotions, Dolittle is on the cards to lose over $100 million. Now, a source close to the film has revealed to a leading entertainment portal in the USA as to why Dolittle turned out to be a critical and commercial failure. 

Disclaimer - Major spoilers for Dolittle (2020)

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Why Dolittle failed to impress the audience and critics

Universal Studios had revealed back in 2017 that Robert Downey Jr. will be headlining their Dolittle film, which will be helmed by Oscar winner Stephen Gaghan. Robert Downey Jr. also executive-produced the film along with wife Susan Downey, which allowed them to have the complete creative control of the film. The source revealed that the first cut for the Dolittle directed by Stephen Gaghan was ready in 2018 itself, which had a much darker and serious tone than what was ultimately delivered. 

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The version screened for Universal executives did not feature the out-of-the-box end which the theatrical release featured. The executives did not like the initial cut of the film as it was reportedly not family-friendly or funny. The film was eventually given under the command of Jonathon Liebesman, who worked extensively with Robert Downey Jr. in order to create a cost-effective way to get done with the necessary reshoots of the film. 

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The film's evidently weird climax of Dolittle performing a colonoscopy on a dragon was never intended to be a part of the initial story. The climax was reportedly a suggestion of Robert Downey Jr. himself who made the decision of going ahead with it last-minute. The film consisted of many creative individuals working on it, which resulted in conflicting decisions taken off-screen. According to the source, this ultimately hurt the film as the audience was served an average film. 

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Image courtesy - Robert Downey Jr. Instagram