A disastrous star-studded fantasy makes a deal with the streaming devil

If fame and awards were a barometer of success, then romantic blockbuster fantasy winter’s Tale had no chance of underperforming on either a critical or commercial level. Of course, not all the talent in the world can guarantee a worthwhile time in the theater, and anyone unfortunate enough to witness the fiendish dud has learned firsthand.

The adaptation of Mark Helprin’s novel marked the directorial debut of Akiva Goldsman, who won an Oscar for the screenplay of Ron Howard A beautiful spirit. Unfortunately the person who wrote and shot winter’s Tale was clearly not this version of Goldsman, but the one that received a nod from Razzie for scripting Batman & Robin.

Fellow Oscar winners Russell Crowe, Jennifer Connelly, William Hurt and screen legend Eva Marie Saint in her latest role on the big screen were joined by Colin Farrell, Jessica Brown Findlay, Matt Bomer and many others from the stacked ensemble, while Will Smith even swung over for a surprise cameo as the devil himself. No, seriously, he played Lucifer.

In the end the 75 million dollars winter’s Tale cobbled together a meager $31 million at the box office, topped a dismal Rotten Tomatoes score of 13 percent, and was completely swept under the rug in no time at all. That is, until now, since FlixPatrol outed the unqualified abomination as one of the most popular features on iTunes this weekend.

The tale of hapless lovers grappling with fate, death, destiny and desire had a lot of potential, but in the end it was an embarrassment of riches conspiring to deliver nothing but dreadfulness.