Mars Needs Moms is a box-office bomb of historic proportions. Although a variety of forces may have conspired to doom this film, one thing is clear: When your target consumer is parents who are interested in taking young children to see a movie about a child whose mother is abducted by aliens who intend to kill her and (SPOILER ALERT, KIDS) who appears to die before we learn that she is not, in fact, dead, you are working a pretty tight niche in the family film market.

Books and movies being what they are, you're probably safer with the Berkeley Breathed book on which this movie is based. You'll also spend about $12 for a cozy evening read instead of $75 at the IMAX.

[h/t NYT]