Theories on why this bombed so massively?

Hard to say that it bombed massively when the budget was a mere $8 million. As for why this film is struggling to make back such a small budget I would not blame it on lack of advertising because there was plenty of that. I would blame it on the premise, which is a tired one. I think we have had plenty of the made in the lab gone wrong stories and no one was looking for another one. It's tough getting people to go to the theater when they can easily wait 3 months (some times even less) and see a film at home using digital download. Why would I go see this when I know that something with a budget this small and dumped in September could very well be available for home viewing in a month. I have no doubt that the studio has plans to push it to the home market fast.

If we look at the cast it doesn't excite. Many of the cast are B-rated actors save for Leigh, Giamatti, and Jones who, I guess, don't play major roles. It's one of those scripts that the actors (Leslie, Boyd etc.) say "Hey, I have a lead/strong supporting role so I'll take it plus I'll be attached to a movie that has Giamatti in it!" The only person that sorta benefits is Mara since she's lead.

Instead of entering the mind of Morgan we just got a bloodbath. Yawn.

Here is my opinion:

I think the real appealing character is Lee Weathers. Not Morgan. Morgan is an AI. I wanted more of Lee Weathers. Don't get me wrong. In contrast with some reviewers I appreciated Kate Mara's performance. Even though I don't like her much I think she delivered a very good performance.

But I wanted more script on her. More character development. I understood earlier in the film that she was not human and want to see how she will do. But the screenwriter and director didn't let me to see more of her.

So there is nothing more in the film compelling except Lee Weathers.

They did wrong putting Morgan in center. Lee Weathers should have been the central plot device.

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http://www.imdb.com/mymovies/list?l=15227539

Its always good to see a bad movie bomb once in awhile, thank god...

as to theories as why it 'bombed', probably poor marketing, bad reviews, bad word of mouth, no buzz or anticipation, and little distribution (at least in my country). No big name stars but some known actors in there... maybe they could saved money on the actors and made a tiny bit more money.

Good movies can bomb...but in this case I can see why word of mouth wouldn't salvage it.
I, personally, liked the cast.
But the character development was poor.

It seemed at first like it might have something to say but then it never really went anywhere and the characters and their devotion never rang true.
I felt a small iota of empathy for Morgan and the group that seemed to love her but only for a very short space of time. It wasn't any deeper a feeling than they gave us to work with.
They never truly developed exactly why everyone should be so blind to how dangerous Morgan was. And Morgan went full crazy monty after only a brief introduction to her character and elicited no empathy after that..So what.. really... was the point?
We did get some background of her growing up but it was just too little to really grip onto.
At the end I just didn't care about her and the people that she easily seemed to be able to turn on. There was no conflict. It was just a bloodbath.
And the twist I saw coming from the very beginning.

[deleted]

It wasn't supported with marketing dollars because the research groups who saw the film said it was a below average movie, when that happens studios tend not to support them with any more ad dollars.