Another BGT Bomb: Pudsey The Dog Movie Flops

We don’t like to kick a dog when it’s down, but we have to report that ‘Pudsey The Dog: The Movie’ flopped in its opening week at the cinema.

Filmgoers appear to have stayed away in droves from the comedy starring the winner of the 2012 Britain’s Got Talent – rushing instead to see ‘Dawn Of The Planet Of The Apes’.

With the title role voiced by David Walliams, ‘Pudsey’ appeared to have plenty going for it.

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But it landed in a dismal seventh in the UK Top 10, taking just £446,450, a fraction of the £8.7 million netted by the latest in the long-running ‘Planet Of The Apes’ series.

Alarm bells sounded when Pudsey was withheld from reviewers until the week of release – often a sign that producers fear a panning.

That duly arrived. “I saw it for free and still wanted a refund,” said the Observer’s Mark Kermode, while others laid into its dated Norman Wisdom-style humour. It currently has a 0% rating on Rotten Tomatoes.

With almost no international appeal, Pudsey’s chances of making back its £2.4 million cost now seem slight.

It follows the failure of ‘One Chance’, featuring another BGT winner, Paul Potts, played by James Corden.

It suggests that, while Simon Cowell triumphed with the ‘One Direction’ documentary, narrative films based on acts from his talent shows are struggling.

The Guardian’s Andrew Pulver suggested the problem might be the absence of the man himself. “Without him in the flesh, what are the movies worth?” he asked. “Sadly, not much.”