The Oogieloves in the Big Balloon Adventure crashed and burned at the box office (Romar 41)

Family film The Oogieloves in the Big Balloon Adventure has made its mark on cinema history by clocking up the worst opening weekend of all time for a movie on general release.

The film, produced by the man behind the Teletubbies, averaged takings of just over $207 (£130) per screen over the Labour Day weekend.

After being shown in 2,160 locations across the three-day weekend, the film, which cost $20m to produce, brought in just $448,131. It is estimated that another $40m was spent on promotion.

The film is based on the adventures of costumed characters Toofie, Zoozie and Goovie and a hoover called J Edgar who set off on an adventure to find their lost magic balloons. On the way they cross paths with a string of celebrities, including Christopher Lloyd, Cary Elwes and Toni Braxton.

Family failure

The significant failure of the Oogieloves film eclipses the previous record for worst weekend set by another family film, Delgo, in 2008. A high-concept, big-budget animation, Delgo made just $511,920 in its opening weekend, having been shown in the same number of cinemas as Oogieloves.

Big-budget family film Delgo was an other huge flop. (Electric Eye Entertainment)

Costing around $40m, Delgo's total gross only hit an estimated $915,840.

The concepty of "speculate to accumulate" is becoming more common among film studios as budgets for films continue to bloat in the hope that expenditure on spectacle and advertising will eventually pay off.

However, as was proven by Disney's multimillion-pound flop John Carter, big budgets do not always equal big rewards.

Click here for a look at some of the biggest flops in cinema history.

See the Oogoeloves trailer below:

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