Paramount Pictures’ latest release, “Sherlock Gnomes,” fell flat with a $10.6 million opening against a $59 million budget. Critics panned the sequel to 2011’s “Gnomeo and Juliet,” while audiences gave the film a B+ on CinemaScore, a below average mark considering that most family animated films receive an A or A- from opening night audiences
This is the latest disappointment for distributor Paramount Pictures, which struggled to find a hit over the past few years under its late former CEO Brad Grey and has seen its annual studio market share plummet as a result. Grey had been ousted as head of the studio shortly before his death in May during a power struggle with the family of Viacom owner Sumner Redstone.