Lady Gaga is using her star power to help out a friend.
The singer and actress, who starred alongside Bradley Cooper in A Star is Born, took to Twitter on Monday to encourage fans to see her friend‘s latest film, urging her followers to head to the theater and see Nightmare Alley, a psychological thriller that boasts a star-studded cast.
“Nightmare Alley is an amazing film with an amazing cast, congratulations to @RealGDT,” Lady Gaga tweeted. She went on to add, “Bradley is spectacular, Cate and Rooney beyond powerful! I loved it so much. Go see it!”
Along with the Hangover star, the ensemble cast also includes Cate Blanchett, Rooney Mara, Willem DaFoe, Toni Colette, Richard Jenkins, Ron Perlman, Mary Steenburgen, and David Strathairn. Directed by Guillermo del Toro, the movie centers on Stanton Carlisle (played by Cooper), an ambitious carnival member–turned mentalist who pursues a dark path conning rich clients into thinking he speaks with the dead.
Despite the big names attached to the flick, Nightmare Alley really struggled at the box office in its opening weekend. The film earned just over $3 million while being played in 2,145 theaters from late Thursday night through Sunday. Ticket sales were so low at some theaters that showings ended up getting pulled and replaced by Spider-Man: No Way Home, according to reports from TMZ.
After some theaters cancelled future showings of Nightmare Alley, a few moviegoers took to social media to talk about how they were asked to swap their tickets for another film. There were also those who confirmed its poor debut by posting photos of near-empty theaters on their Twitter and Instagram pages.
The film grossed $3 million in its debut weekend, which was good enough to take No. 5 at the weekend box office. Still, it was a rough start for a film with a $60 million budget--the most money Searchlight Pictures has ever spent on a film, according to reports by Variety.
The new installment of the latest Spider-Man franchise took the No. 1 spot at the box office, raking-in a staggering $253 million from 4,336 theaters.
Rounding out the top five was Encanto, West Side Story and Ghostbusters: Afterlife, which came in fourth just ahead of Nightmare Alley.