The weekend before Halloween is one of the most profitable events in the cinema calendar. Unlike other genres that are reliant on pre-existing intellectual property, horror films regularly draw crowds with original concepts, such as "Saw" and "Final Destination," and they’re often made from low-to-mid budgets. Over six movies, the Paranormal Activity series made just under 890 million US dollars on a total budget of 28 million US dollars, and only one of those was released outside of October.

Looking to cash in this year was "Amityville: The Awakening." Directed by Franck Khalfoun, whose filmography includes the direct-to-video Cuba Gooding Jr. thriller "Wrong Turn at Tahoe" and the grizzly 2012 remake of "Maniac," and starring Jennifer Jason Leigh, the film is the 18th in the Amityville franchise and poised to be a reboot following over a decade of DTV releases. As the last theatrical release, 2005’s "The Amityville Horror" – itself a remake of the 1979 original – made 108 million US dollars on a 19 million US dollar budget, this latest version was tipped to be a seasonal success.

However, Variety reports that the film made only 742 US dollars in its theatrical run, which was curtailed from a standard cinematic release to a single Saturday’s worth of screenings at only 10 locations. It has fared no better critically either, with many outlets outright ignoring the movie and others, such as The AV Club, dismissing it offhand – a fate that is perhaps worse than a critical mauling. Amityville’s difficult production, which has chugged along in one form or another since 2012, has been credited as the reason why the film was released for free on Google Play before being unceremoniously dumped into a tiny amount of theaters, but the film is a co-production between genre masterminds Blumhouse Productions and Dimension Films, a wholly-owned subsidiary of The Weinstein Company.

This is the first movie produced by Harvey Weinstein to be released since the sexual harassment scandal broke on October 5 and, while the failure of what should have been a surefire hit suggests that the Weinstein name is toxic enough to keep audiences away, it also suggests that his absence is already being felt in the industry. Known as a power broker with enough clout to have a significant effect on the Oscars, even his less successful films this year – "47 Meters Down" and "Gold" – either made money or were involved in the award season buzz. The failure of "Amityville: The Awakening" is unlike anything else he’s been involved with for years.

To put the 742 US dollar gross into perspective, also released this weekend was the similarly placed "Jigsaw": The eighth movie in the Saw franchise, the first in seven years and set up to be a potential series reboot – it made over 16 million US dollars domestically on a 10 million US dollar budget and is predicted to earn even more internationally. Likewise, "Tyler Perry’s Boo 2! A Madea Halloween," the comedy sequel to last year’s surprise Halloween hit, made 10 million US dollars in its second week, confirming the film’s profitable status. Perhaps most galling for "Amityville: The Awakening" is that the Stephen King adaptation "It" made over 2 million US dollars this weekend, two months after its opening.

It might be possible to dismiss the failure of "Amityville: The Awakening" as an isolated incident that The Weinstein Company was willing to endure due to the film’s small stature. However, Variety also reports that "The Current War," an Oscar-friendly period biopic of Thomas Edison, starring Benedict Cumberbatch and directed by Alfonso Gomez-Rejon, has been pushed back from its November 24 release to a 2018 release, currently rumored to be January 11, and Harvey Weinstein’s credit has been removed from the film’s credits. The producers of children’s film "Paddington 2" are also currently negotiating to get out of their US distribution deal with The Weinstein Company.