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53-401: The film was a financial failure , grossing $ 40 million on a budget of $ 62 million, and was panned by both critics and audiences. It also won 3 Razzie Awards including Worst Picture , and effectively derailed Myers' career. Guru Pitka is the self proclaimed "number-two guru in the world", after Deepak Chopra . A flashback shows that Pitka was an orphan, taught by Guru Tugginmypudha. When

106-774: A second unit director on the Austin Powers series, most notably Austin Powers in Goldmember . The Love Guru filmed in Toronto in August 2007. It was intended to start a franchise. John Oliver made his feature film debut in The Love Guru and was cast due to Myers enjoying The Daily Show . Samantha Bee filmed a cameo but only makes a silent appearance in the final cut of the film. Dialogue for her character

159-470: A self-defense technique. The attack can allow a combatant to temporarily disable an assailant, making it easy for them to escape. When an opponent is at close range, a knee strike to the groin is easy to execute and difficult to defend against. It is often, but not always, effective. Some martial arts include instruction in kappo , healing techniques to recover from incapacitating attacks including groin attacks. Groin attacks are viewed as erotic in

212-530: A charmed life with thousands of followers, including the celebrities Jessica Simpson , Val Kilmer and Mariska Hargitay (whose name is used as a faux- Hindi greeting, even to Hargitay herself). Pitka's teachings, which involve simplistic acronyms and plays on words, are displayed in PowerPoint slide shows . In Canada, Jane Bullard inherits the Toronto Maple Leafs hockey team, who are on

265-497: A circus, a brand of cinnamon buns, the Leafs and, of course, Mike Myers." Stone also wrote, "the sitar based versions of pop songs like ' 9 to 5 ' are oddly watchable – but mostly the film is 88 minutes of ridiculous sight gags and obscene puns." A. O. Scott of The New York Times wrote "The word 'unfunny' surely applies to Mr. Myers's obnoxious attempts to find mirth in physical and cultural differences but does not quite capture

318-492: A confrontation, but her invective ends up scaring both of them away. Pitka helps Darren realize that since his mother only showed him love when he succeeded, he had grown to believe Prudence would only love him as long as he won. Pitka then drives himself and Darren to Niagara Falls for a "Heart to Heart". With time running out, Pitka distracts Lè Coq with his idol, Celine Dion , and then tells Prudence that Darren stood up to his mom, encouraging her to return to her husband. During

371-474: A groin strike is a foul in both male and female matches, with the competitor who has received such a strike given up to five minutes to recover. The rules require male competitors to wear groin protection, but female competitors are forbidden to do so. Groin attacks were allowed until the 1980s in international Muay Thai boxing and are still permitted in Thailand itself, though male boxers wear cups to lessen

424-517: A human sex organ or process of defecation is not automatically funny simply because it is naughty, but Myers seems to labor under that delusion." Harry Knowles of Ain't It Cool News wrote a highly negative review, saying The Love Guru "isn't merely a bad film, but a painful experience." He considered it one of the worst films of at least the past several years and also declared it might ruin Myers's career. Mick LaSalle of San Francisco Chronicle

477-464: A losing streak. The team's star player, Darren Roanoke, has been playing badly ever since his wife Prudence left him for Los Angeles Kings goaltender Jacques "Lè Coq" Grandé. Jane is a big fan of Pitka's and offers to pay him $ 2 million to patch up Darren's marriage so that the team can win the Stanley Cup . Pitka's agent tells him that if he succeeds, Oprah will have him on her show. Pitka meets

530-401: A net loss of $ 78.3 million. In 2012, Disney reported losses of $ 200 million on John Carter . The film had made a considerable $ 234 million worldwide, but this was short of its $ 250 million budget plus worldwide advertising. The 2007 film The Golden Compass had a production budget of $ 200 million. To be able to fund the film, New Line Cinema had to sell all of

583-414: A prosthetic nose for the character both in the live performances and in the film. The Love Guru was in part inspired by Myers' career-long desire to make a hockey movie. A fan of the Toronto Maple Leafs , Myers described the film's plot as wish fulfillment, saying, "I figure the only way that my team will win a Cup is if I write it." First time director Marco Schnabel had previously worked with Myers as

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636-422: Is a deliberate strike to the groin area of one's opponent. The technique can be quickly debilitating due to the sensitivity of the groin area and genitalia and is sometimes used as a self-defense technique. The technique is often banned in sports. Groin attacks have been popularized as a comedic device in various forms of media. An attack to the groin in sports is considered to be a " low blow ", not only in

689-575: Is included in a bonus feature of deleted scenes contained on the film's home media release. Myers appeared in the seventh season finale of American Idol as Pitka, the "spiritual director" of that show. The finalists David Cook and David Archuleta got to visit the Paramount Pictures studio theatre to see The Love Guru a month prior to its release and then got to meet Myers dressed like Pitka and playing " Sitar Hero ". A "Fan Resource Page" at Fox Entertainment 's beliefnet.com website

742-431: Is understanding of his spiritual vow. After smoothing things over with his mother, Darren recovers until Lè Coq brags that Prudence prefers him in bed. Darren freezes, and Pitka realizes he needs another distraction, which he provides by getting two elephants to have sex in the middle of the rink, in front of the live television audience (which Pitka claimed would distract anybody). Darren wakes up from his stupor and scores

795-513: The COVID-19 pandemic in 2020–2021. In evaluating box-office gross numbers, it is important to keep in mind that not all money is returned to the film studio. Some of the gross is kept by the film exhibitors and the film distributor. The scratch formula for making a rough estimate of a studio's portion of the gross is that the studio usually gets half. A large budget can cause a film to fail financially, even when it performs reasonably well at

848-552: The Hindu American Foundation (HAF) an opportunity to pre-screen the film as soon as it had a complete work print of the film, but ultimately did not follow through with this plan. Instead, Paramount requested representatives of the Foundation attend a Minneapolis pre-screening the night before the film's release. HAF agreed to view the film after many requests from American Hindus who were concerned about

901-410: The testicles , his chastity belt does not protect his genitals and he groans grabbing his crotch and hunching over. Pitka throws a tantrum over the pain to his testicles as they are already sensitive due to 33 years of blue balls Dick Pants warns Pitka to hurry up the process or he will lose his spot on Oprah again to Deepak Chopra. Pitka is adamant that Darren is not ready. Pitka and Darren attempt

954-560: The 2000 British film Offending Angels had become notorious for taking in less than £100 (~$ 150 ) at the box office. It had a £70,000 (~$ 105,000 ) budget but was panned by critics, including the BBC , who called it a "truly awful pile of garbage", and Total Film , who called it "irredeemable". In 2011, the film The Worst Movie Ever! opened to just $ 11 at the US box office. It played in only one theater. Groin attack A groin attack

1007-405: The 2000s, word of mouth regarding new films is easily spread and has had a marked effect on box office performance. A film's ability or failure to attract positive or negative commentary can strongly impact its performance at the box office, especially on the opening weekend. Occasionally, films may underperform because of issues largely unrelated to the content of the film, such as the timing of

1060-568: The Bollywood film of 2005, Bunty Aur Babli , was used in the trailer. The songs " 9 to 5 ", " More Than Words ", and " The Joker " are all in the film (performed by Myers and with sitar accompaniment) and on the soundtrack. " Brimful of Asha " was also used in the film. Mike Myers first came up with the idea for Guru Pitka in the mid-1990s. The character was originally planned for the Austin Powers franchise. Myers began workshopping

1113-520: The Hindu community before its release. Based on Zed's interpretation of the movie's trailer and MySpace page, he said The Love Guru "appears to be lampooning Hinduism and Hindus" and risked reinforcing harmful stereotypes. Professor Diane Winston , an expert on media and religion, said the film was seemingly more a critique of American attitudes towards "quick spiritual fixes" rather than a sustained satire of Hinduism. Paramount Pictures agreed to provide

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1166-699: The United States and Canada and an additional $ 8.7 million overseas, for a total of $ 40.8 million worldwide, against its $ 62 million budget. When the film was released in the United Kingdom , it ranked only #8 on the opening weekend. The review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes gave The Love Guru an approval rating of 13%, based on 178 reviews, with an average rating of 3.5/10. The website's critical consensus reads, " The Love Guru features far too many gross-out gags, and too few earned laughs, ranking as one of Mike Myers' poorest outings." Metacritic reported

1219-510: The World , each of which initially lost money at the box office but has since become popular. It is common for a single film's lackluster performance to push its studio into the red, in the sense of recording a net loss on its income statement . In extreme cases, a bomb may push its studio into bankruptcy or closure . Examples of this include United Artists ( Heaven's Gate ) and Carolco Pictures ( Cutthroat Island ). The Golden Compass

1272-510: The box office; 1980's Heaven's Gate , for example, exceeded its planned production schedule by three months, causing its budget to inflate from $ 12 million to $ 44 million. The film only earned $ 3.5 million at the box office. For the 2005 film Sahara , its budget ballooned to $ 281.2 million for production, distribution, and other expenses. The film earned $ 119 million in theaters and $ 202.9 million overall with television and other subsidies included, resulting in

1325-548: The character in New York comedy clubs in 2005. He billed these live shows as "An Evening With His Holiness the Guru Pitka". Myers said, "about a third of the audience were friends of mine who would come. A third of the audience would be people that had heard that I was doing it. And a third would be people thinking they were coming to see an actual guru. I did that for a year and I videotaped them and it informed me." Myers wore

1378-433: The context of some sexual activities, including cock and ball torture and pussy torture. Groin attacks on men are the most widely known and have been popularized as a comedic device in popular culture. In media, groin attacks are sometimes depicted as causing men to speak in a falsetto or soprano register. They also may be shown to experience strabimus , as well as groaning and moaning. Groin attacks on men are also

1431-646: The decision to close the production company had been made a year prior to the film's release. The 2006 independent movie Zyzzyx Road made just $ 30 at the US box office. With a budget of $ 1.2 million and starring Tom Sizemore and Katherine Heigl , its tiny revenue is due to its limited box-office release – just six days in a single theater in Dallas for the purpose of meeting Screen Actors Guild requirements – rather than its ability to attract viewers. According to co-star Leo Grillo , it sold six tickets, two of which were to cast members. Previously,

1484-478: The faith. Other Hindus, such as an official statement from the International Society for Krishna Consciousness , gave the film a cautious welcome, saying the film "does not intend to hurt religious sentiments" and asking critics to see the film as satire and not a literal representation of Hinduism. Rajan Zed, a Hindu cleric from Nevada, asked that Paramount Pictures screen the film for members of

1537-477: The film had an average score of 24 out of 100, based on 33 critics, indicating "generally unfavorable reviews". Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film a grade "B -" on scale of A to F. Jay Stone of the National Post gave the film one star and said the film "is shockingly crass, sloppy, repetitive and thin." Stone said " Chopra is used almost as a product placement , taking a proud spot alongside

1590-853: The film's international distribution rights to various film distributors around the world. The film underperformed domestically, but was an international success; New Line Cinema did not have a cut of the international box office. These events were major factors in New Line Cinema becoming a division of Warner Bros. Pictures . Films initially thought of as "flops" may recover income elsewhere. Several films have underperformed in their countries of origin, but have been sufficiently successful internationally to recoup losses or even become financial successes. Films may also recover money through international distribution, sales to television syndication , distribution outside of cinemas, and releases on home media . The 1995 post-apocalyptic action film Waterworld

1643-491: The film's release. This was one of the reasons given for the commercial failure of Intolerance , D. W. Griffith's follow-up to The Birth of a Nation . Owing to production delays, the film was not released until late 1916, when the widespread antiwar sentiment it reflected had started to shift in favor of American entry into World War I . Another example is the 2015 docudrama about FIFA entitled United Passions . A glowing portrayal of FIFA, which had mostly funded

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1696-410: The film's struggles, Square Pictures did not make any more films and is now a consolidated subsidiary of Square Enix as Visual Works . In 2011, Mars Needs Moms was the last film released by ImageMovers Digital before Disney 's stake got absorbed by ImageMovers to a loss of nearly $ 140 million – the largest box-office bomb of all time in nominal dollar terms. Regardless of this loss,

1749-457: The film, United Passions was released in theaters in the United States at the same time FIFA's leaders were under investigation for fraud and corruption . The film grossed only $ 918 at the US box office in its opening weekend. Sometimes, a film's performance may be adversely affected by national crisis or a disaster, such as the September 11 attacks in 2001, Hurricane Harvey in 2017, and

1802-420: The film. HAF reviewers concluded The Love Guru was vulgar and crude but not "mean-spirited" or necessarily anti-Hindu . Box-office bomb A box-office bomb is a film that is unprofitable or considered highly unsuccessful during its theatrical run. Although any film for which the combined production budget, marketing, and distribution costs exceed the revenue after release has technically "bombed",

1855-457: The impact. Direct strikes to the groin are generally considered illegal in professional wrestling as well, and unofficial rings may consider it shameful. However, in certain "hardcore" matches the rules are relaxed, and such attacks are allowed by mutual consent. It is a common tactic used by heels either while the referee is not looking to be deliberately disqualified, most notably utilised by Ric Flair . Groin attacks are sometimes used as

1908-410: The lead-up to the final game, Lè Coq, having heard that Darren cannot play with his mother in the audience, gets her to sing the national anthem, causing Darren to flee. At the airport on his way to guest on Oprah , Pitka sees the news on television and defies his agent by going back to help Darren. Pitka reveals to Jane his chastity belt to explain why he pulled away from her, and Jane reveals that she

1961-511: The literal sense, but is the origin of the metaphor as well. In a playful attack, or attack in the framework of a sport, a low blow is seen as unfair or improper and is often considered dishonorable. Strikes to the groin have been forbidden in boxing as far back as the Marquess of Queensberry Rules , and they are almost universally forbidden in martial arts competitions including kickboxing , and mixed martial arts . UFC rules dictate that

2014-400: The release of The Interview : "if you really want to put a bomb in a theater, do what I did: put in The Love Guru ." Before the film's release, The Love Guru provoked mixed responses among Hindus . Some expressed unhappiness about how Hindus are portrayed in the film, believing The Love Guru was disrespectful and risked giving Hinduism a bad reputation among viewers not familiar with

2067-429: The rival team to beat Darren up during a game to distract him from his distress over his wife's affair. Darren begins to play well but then gets suspended for the next two games after beating up Lè Coq and hitting Coach Cherkov with a hockey puck. Pitka has dinner with Jane and almost kisses her but his chastity belt clanks again and she leaves feeling rejected. In revenge for Pitka’s antics Coach Cherkov punches Pitka in

2120-426: The same effect as a hit to anywhere else (or occasionally no effect at all). They are sometimes called " cunt-punts ." The testicles lack anatomical protection and are highly sensitive to impact. In extreme cases, a blow to the testicle can cause one or both of the testicles to rupture, potentially resulting in sterility . The clitoris is highly sensitive to impact as it has more nociceptive pain nerve endings than

2173-526: The strenuous unpleasantness of his performance. No, The Love Guru is downright antifunny, an experience that makes you wonder if you will ever laugh again." Scott also commented that the appearance of actress Mariska Hargitay was anticlimactic. An ongoing gag in the film is the use of "Mariska Hargitay" as a phony Hindi greeting. Roger Ebert gave the film 1 out of 4 stars, writing, "Myers has made some funny movies, but this film could have been written on toilet walls by callow adolescents. Every reference to

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2226-401: The subject of an Internet meme where they are commonly called " nutshots ." They have been featured in practical joke videos uploaded to websites such as YouTube . The meme sometimes also involves an accidental and comedic injury to the groin, usually as a result of falling or being struck by an object. Groin attacks on women are depicted less often in media and are often depicted as having

2279-549: The team coach, Cherkov, who is there with Jane for his seminar, and mocks his dwarfism . Pitka and Jane bond on the plane ride. Jane became a fan of Pitka's work due to the death of her father. Jane admits she has a crush on him and Pitka asks if she has a husband or a boyfriend, to which she says no. Pitka asks if she is a lesbian, she chuckles but admits to experimenting once in college which causes Pitka to get an erection and his chastity belt loudly clanks. He grimaces in discomfort and crosses his leg over his lap. Pitka encourages

2332-521: The term is more frequently used for major studio releases that were highly anticipated, extensively marketed, and expensive to produce, but nevertheless failed commercially. Originally, a "bomb" had the opposite meaning, referring instead to a successful film that "exploded" at the box office. The term continued to be used this way in the United Kingdom into the 1970s. With the advent of social media platforms such as Facebook and Twitter in

2385-425: The testicles, making injuries especially painful. This type of injury is rare in females however, as the clitoris is not likely to be impacted due to its much smaller size in combination with its location. It is a commonly known and observed occurrence in combat sports however in competition it has been recorded numerous times in the athletic events. A sufficiently powerful blow to the groin could potentially fracture

2438-449: The twelve-year-old Pitka announces he wants to become a guru so that girls will love him, Tugginmypudha puts a chastity belt on him until he can learn that loving himself is more important than being loved by others. Pitka asks if he can still masturbate but is warned if he attempts to he will become blind with strabismus like Tugginmypudha. Pitka's dream is to become the number-one guru and appear on The Oprah Winfrey Show . He lives

2491-562: The winning goal. After the game, Coach Cherkov apologizes for the groin attack , Pitka offers a hug but as Cherkov obliges he punches him in the face and threatens to beat him up if he ever attacks him again. They then make up and become friends. He then meets Deepak Chopra and decides that he is fine with being the first Guru Pitka instead of the next Deepak Chopra. Back in India, Tugginmypudha tells Pitka that he has finally learned to love himself and removes Pitka's chastity belt, revealing there

2544-441: Was "created as part of a collaboration between Beliefnet and Paramount Pictures." The film did poorly at the box office. In its opening weekend, The Love Guru grossed $ 13.9 million in 3,012 theaters in the United States and Canada, ranking #4 at the box office behind Get Smart , The Incredible Hulk , and Kung Fu Panda , falling short of the $ 20 million range forecast by Hollywood pundits. The film grossed $ 32.2 million in

2597-549: Was a hook in the back. The film ends with Jane and Pitka dancing together in a Bollywood -style number to a rendition of " The Joker ". As themselves The original score for the film was composed by George S. Clinton , who also composed the score for the Austin Powers films, also starring, written and produced by Mike Myers. Clinton recorded it with an eighty-piece ensemble of the Hollywood Studio Symphony at Warner Bros. The song "Dhadak Dhadak" from

2650-564: Was a success at the international box office and grossed $ 372 million worldwide; nonetheless, its underperformance at the box office in North America was seen as a significant factor in influencing the decision by Warner Bros. Pictures to take direct control of New Line Cinema. In 2001, Square Pictures , a division of Square , released its only film, Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within . It received mixed reviews from critics and failed to recover its $ 145 million cost. Following

2703-456: Was given a COVID-19 insurance payout, which amounted to £57 million ($ 71 million). Other films have succeeded long after cinema release by becoming cult films or being re-evaluated over time. High-profile films fitting this description include Vertigo , Blade Runner , The Wizard of Oz , It's a Wonderful Life , Citizen Kane , The Shawshank Redemption , Showgirls , Fight Club , The Thing , and Scott Pilgrim vs.

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2756-542: Was one of the few major critics who did not write the film off completely, stating "Mike Myers' new comedy, "The Love Guru," is a disappointment, but it's not a disaster, and that's at least something." Myers later poked fun at the film's failure in an appearance on the December 20, 2014 episode of Saturday Night Live , where he appeared as Dr. Evil (a character from his far more successful Austin Powers series), giving advice to Sony Pictures on its cancellation of

2809-409: Was the most expensive film ever made at the time after undergoing significant production difficulties. While it performed relatively well in the US box office, it did not initially turn a profit and became known as a box-office flop. International box-office takings and video sales led it to turn a profit. In 2023, Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One , which underperformed at the box office,

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