I see this movie only brought in $48 million while the original film did over $121 million during its run at the theaters. I do believe the first Wayne's World was superior to the sequel, but not by $73 million. Does anybody have any ideas as to why there ended up being such a noticeable box office drop-off from WW to WW2?
shareI don't know for sure why, but the movies came out almost 2 years apart from each other.
I was 14 when the first one hit and then halfway through 16 for the sequel.
I know with humor like in Waynes World, or characters like that sometimes they can be dated. By the time the sequel rolled around people may not have found them as amusing, plus they continued doing the SNL sketches between the movies so I think most fans had their fill/ had moved on.
2 had a lot more competition than the original did plus it was released too early. Paramount wanted it to be the Christmas time hit, similar to how they put Addams Family 2 before Thanksgiving weekend that year. Both under-performed due to increased competition than the originals had the first time.
Mrs. Doubtfire and the Pelican Brief dominated that Christmas, WW 2 had no chance. They rushed it too early.
January or Feb 1994 (Epically the former,) would have been the best time for it because there were no blockbusters that month plus there would have been more time to promote it.
The February release worked out very well for the original Wayne's World in 1992, they probably should have stuck with that formula and come out with the sequel in Feb. 1994. The original didn't need the holiday season buzz to make a big splash at the box office, I wonder why they were so concerned about doing that with this one.
shareThe sequel had some funny moments for sure, but it wasn't close to being as original and well made as the first one. Mike didn't seem as engaged in the sequel, and the script wasn't as good, and neither was much of the humor. It's definitely got some brilliance, just not as consistently well put together or made as the original. I suspect Mike Meyers being told to change the script within two weeks of filming had something to do with the outcome, as he apparently had written a different story that the studio decided to change at the last minute.
For me, I found both him and Dana to be very funny in the original, whereas I mostly found Dana to be funny in the sequel, and Mike to be a bit dull and disconnected.
Still, I'd love for a part three to be made! With the huge disappointments such as Indy 4, Die Hard 4 and 5, Dumb And Dumber To, Terminator 3 and Salvation, perhaps Wayne's World 3 might be the one long awaited sequel to actually turn out good!
We all know Ghostbuster 3 will be *beep* so here's hoping Wayne's World 3 arrives and gives us one final ride with these characters! Both Mike and Dana were quite funny at the 2008 MTV awards, as well as their SNL appearance in 2011 or 2013, so the two of them certainly still have what it takes to play the characters. They look almost exactly the same!
It was a combination of a bad holiday release date, not as funny a script, and then just overall people quickly getting tired of the characters. These guys were hilarious around 1990-1992, and the first movie in early 1992 captured that.....but by 1993 they sorta wore out their welcome. Wayne's World like many SNL sketches turned movies were a novelty act that very quickly burns out. Hey it could have been worse, at least Wayne's World 2 was OK and not the disaster that The Coneheads movie was.
shareI think another problem or issue is that when the first Wayne’s World movie was released, Nirvana’s “Nevermind” had been only out for about four months. Between the time (early 1992-late 1993) in which the first and second Wayne’s World movies were released, grudge permeated music. Thus, Wayne and Garth’s love of ’80 hair bands and what not seemed out of touch with the 17-25 year old target audience. Basically, the movie or movies felt dated by this point.
I also wonder if Beavis & Butt-Head were a partial factor. What I mean is that Beavis & Butt-Head, which premiered on MTV in I believe, March of ’93 arguably made Wayne & Garth “so last season”. Beavis & Butt-Head had pretty much surpassed Wayne & Garth as America’s favorite metal loving comedic duo (Wayne & Garth did the same w/ Bill & Ted so to speak).
I think also the decision not to bring back Penelope Spheeris wouldn't have helped things. It apparently was Mike Myers request not to bring back the orignal director ensured she would not return. But why mess with something that originally worked? Dana Carvey does praise Stephen Surjik in the extras, but suggested that there was too much interference from external factors (Studio, etc) that didn't help things.
The story was too simlar from the first movie as well. Wayne having competition for his girlfriend shouldn't have been repeated in the secound movie, it really was just re-hash of story-lines that became tired. I didn't think the secound was too bad though, and was surprised by the drop off in box office takings.