With so many box office heavyweights to watch in recent years like The Force Awakens, Infinity War, Into The Spiderverse, and so on, it’s easy to forget that movies can be bad too. In fact, people seem to have forgotten what a truly “bad” movie can be like. Some movies have done so poorly that they caused huge commercial losses for the studios, such as:
John Carter
Costing about $350 million for Disney to make and $100 million for marketing, John Carter seemed like it was about to be a big deal. I mean, “space gladiator” sounds way too cool of a concept to fail. And yet the film was a failure. Some countries liked it, but not enough to produce the profit Disney was hoping for. They lost about $150 million from making the film.
Jupiter Ascending
We’ve got another sci-fi film following John Carter. Jupiter Ascending boasted an impressive cast with Mila Kunis and Channing Tatum. It was directed by the Wachowski siblings too – which sounded like a recipe for a hit. The film’s budget was $176 million, and it made only a measly $47 million in domestic numbers and $136 million overseas. In short, a failure.
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The Adventures of Pluto Nash
Eddie Murphy is a master of comedy roles, but even that couldn’t do much for this disaster of a film. The plot involves Murphy as a nightclub owner out for vengeance when he learns that the man who destroyed his nightclub desires to take over the moon. The weird plot didn’t do it any favors, and the film that cost $100 million to make only grossed $7 million in total. Ouch.
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Green Lantern
Ryan Reynolds has poked fun at his own film a few times. With him and now-wife Blake Lively in starring roles, you would think a movie with one of DC’s most iconic characters would have performed well. But it only grossed $219 million compared to its $200 million budget.
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Speed Racer
Here’s another one from the Wachowski siblings. Speed Racer had it good on paper. An adaptation of a classic cartoon and some good-old racing action to keep people on the edge of their seats.
But the film was a failure, costing $120 million to make and only grossing $19 million.
But the film was a failure, costing $120 million to make and only grossing $19 million.
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The Alamo
This pseudo-historical film starring Dennis Quaid, Billy Bob Thornton, and Jason Patric cost 107 million dollars to make, and only grossed about 30 million. An embarrassing turnover for such a star-studded film. Some people blame it on the overly dramatic depiction of history.
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Treasure Planet
Despite being loved by a new generation of fans, Treasure Planet didn’t exactly release to the same loving reception. The $140 million film went on to gross a disappointing $38 million. That might be why Disney hasn’t pitched a sequel or talked about it in decades.
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47 Ronin
Having Keanu Reeves sounds like it would sell your film pretty well, but things aren’t always so simple. 47 Ronin cost $225 million to make, and only grossed $151 million. It didn’t help that released in the same month as The Hobbit: The Desolation Of Smaug.
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Pan
Pan was meant to tell the origins of Neverland’s two big names: Peter Pan and Captain Hook. But the $150 million film didn’t exactly soar high, and was a bit of a failure for box office standards.
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Mars Needs Moms
You could call Mars Needs Moms an ambitious movie. It tried to make motion-captured CGI work in a full length film. The crazy plot, while indeed crazy, was also worth giving some credit for trying something outlandish. But after grossing just $6.8 million with its $150 million budget, the film didn’t really stick the landing.
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The Lone Ranger
The names of Johnny Depp and Armie Hammer weren’t enough to sell people on this film. This film wasn’t cheap to produce at $375 million. It only grossed $260 million worldwide, spelling a $150 million loss for Disney. Well, it’s definitely not getting a sequel.
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Evan Almighty
Trying to ride on the success of Bruce Almighty, Evan Almighty promised a lot. It promised the humor of its predecessor, and a ton of CGI animals along with a flood. Well, it wasn’t enough to convince most people, losing the studio $88 million.
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Cutthroat Island
1995’s Cutthroat Island may have started the bad luck streak of pirate movies doing poorly. The $155 million film made a measly $10 million when it released, which is as embarrassing as you can get.
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Gigli
They’re back together now after his split from wife Jennifer Garner. But Jlo and Ben Affleck were quite the Hollywood couple in the early 2000s as “Bennifer”. Still, that Hollywood chemistry on and off-screen couldn’t quite sell this movie. It made just $6 million and ended up being a $53 million loss.
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Heaven’s Gate
Considered the greatest box office flop of all time, Heaven’s Gate only grossed a laughable $3.5 million at the box office. The studio eventually shut down due to the catastrophic failure of the film.
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Sahara
Sahara was an adventure film about a crew of explorers searching for a famed warship. Even when those explorers are Steve Zahn, Matthew McCounaughey, and Penelope Cruz, it’s not enough to get people to buy tickets. With a budget of $211 million, the film made just $128 million and was a failure.
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Jack The Giant Slayer
The 2010s saw a bizarre era of taking children’s stories and putting a grown-up, action movie spin on them. Jack The Giant Slayer had an ambitious cast with Nicholas Hoult, Stanley Tucci, and Ewan McGregor. But it only grossed $7.7 million – nor nearly enough to make up for its $125 million budget.
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Valerian And The City of A Thousand Planets
Cara Delevinge wasn’t exactly known for having good on-screen chemistry with her co-star Dane DeHaan. The film adaptation of a book performed really poorly, grossing just $17 million while its budget was $180 million.
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The Flowers Of War
The Chinese-produced film starring Christian Bale as a priest sounded like a recipe for a fantastic war drama. It was set before World War 2 and would have seen Bale’s character interacting with Chinese citizens in the war time. It didn’t do so hot at the box office, and you might not even have heard of it until I mentioned it here.
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Green Zone
Green Zone involves Matt Damon as a U.S soldier discovering a massive conspiracy in the U.S army and government. People like their conspiracy action films, but not enough to save this one. It failed as just another forgettable action movie.
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