'Jack the Giant Slayer' shows flaws in Hollywood's reliance on blockbusters

All right, the movie doesn't come out until tomorrow and for all I know it could be huge. But in its opening weekend, the 3D, CGI-heavy fairy tale is only expected to generate $25 million to $35-million, which is hardly wonderful for a film that cost at least $200 million to produce. A while back fairy tales were supposed to be the next big thing, which is what led Warner Bros. to sign off on this story of a young farmhand who gets mixed up with an army of giants. But other fairy tale releases have not done especially well: "Red Riding Hood" earned $90 million and "Hansel & Gretel: Witch Hunters" picked up $163 million. Not helping "Jack the Giant Slayer" is the late-winter release date (it had to be pushed back from last summer). From Forbes:

In most cases the films earned more overseas than in the U.S. The only bona fide hit from the fairy tale trend has been Snow White and the Huntsman which earned $400 million at the global box office.But here's the thing: Once a studio gets a film into production, and has committed a ton of money, it's very hard to turn that big ship around even if you see all of the little ships around you sinking.