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Justin Bieber film 'Believe' did worse than '47 Ronin'

Bieber vs Keanu Reeves

'47 Ronin' was destroyed by critics, but managed to earn just over $7 million on Christmas Day. Justin Bieber's 'Believe' on the other hand, did even less with better reviews.

Opening in 1037 theaters nationwide, Bieber's 'Believe' grossed a miserable $1.25 million on Christmas Day despite the pop star's announcement he would be retiring. His 48 million Twitter fans certainly didn't flock to screens to see him in the documentary which averaged about 6/10 with audiences and critics. While the production budget certainly didn't match the estimated $175 million of '47 Ronin', the film's poor performance may have been due to a limited marketing push.

According to Box Office Mojo, Bieber's 'Believe' only had a budget of $5 million. (Did that include marketing?) 'Believe' ranked 14th at the box office, while '47 Ronin' opened in 6th place however 'Ronin 47' had been heavily marketed ahead of its release.

Believe it - Not as bad as you think

At the end of the day, the biggest loser out of the two was '47 Ronin' and the weak opening for Bieber may not make a significant dent in the star's personal revenues. This documentary is likely to make its money back. However, 'Never Say Never' covered similar ground in 2011, and it was always going to be an uphill battle to get people to see a documentary re-boot 2 years later.

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