Zachary Levi's 'Angel and the Badman' Remake Removed From Nearly 1,000 Theaters After One Week

While most major movies tend to retain their theater count for a two-week window, smaller distributors rely more heavily on early success. For instance, the recently released Western drama The Weight wasn't able to leverage excellent reviews into box-office success, and was removed from virtually all of its 1,500 theaters after two weeks. And now, another Western — this one didn't have positive reviews working in its favor — has suffered a similar fate. The movie in question was released in more than 2,200 theaters only a week ago, but weak reviews and low grosses have effectively sealed its fate.

The movie is a remake of a John Wayne classic from 1947. It was distributed domestically by Angel Studios, the niche outfit that became known for faith-based movies. After occasional breakout successes, Angel made attempts to go mainstream with genre movies that retain its religious roots. It recently delivered the Alan Ritchson action vehicle Runner, which grossed around $15 million domestically against a reported budget of $45 million. Runner is now available to watch on the PVOD market, which is arguably where most of its audience has been all along.

Here's Where 'Angel and the Badman' Stands

The movie, Angel and the Badman features Shazam! star Zachary Levi, the legendary Tommy Lee Jones, and Yellowstone alum Neal McDonough, and follows a wounded outlaw who turns over a new leaf after being taken in by a kind family. The movie opened to mediocre reviews and is now sitting at a 23% score on the aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, having grossed around $3 million domestically. Like most Angel releases, this one has also been embraced by its target audience. It now holds a 79% audience score on Rotten Tomatoes, which will no doubt come in handy when it lands on home video. For now, however, it must contend with losing nearly 1,000 theaters in one week of release. Angel and the Badman opened in 2,263 theaters last week, and is entering its sophomore frame on 1,270 screens.