Movie studios analyze the market to figure out which movies they should bet big on, but sometimes the market throws up some surprises, and sure-fire hits turn into box office bombs. Movies with great casts, big franchise recognition and exciting ideas can still end up falling short of expectations. In the most extreme cases, this can have knock-on effects which force studios to scrap other movies or shut down entirely.
Even huge franchises likeStar Warsand the MCU aren’t immune to the odd box office bomb. These are often among the most costly flops, since they have such big budgets and marketing costs. Somebox office bombs can salvage their reputations, but money talks in the movie industry. One big misfire can cause financial chaos for the studios involved, even if it looked as if the odds were in their favor.
25 Biggest Box Office Bombs Of All Time
From Pixar flops to Western catastrophes to CGI messes and franchises that never took off, these are the 20 biggest box office failures of all time.
Catshas been a popular musical ever since it premiered in London’s West End in 1981, so a star-studded movie adaptation with Les Misérablesdirector Tom Hooper seemed destined for box-office success. However, as soon as fans saw the first images and the trailer, all hope of a big hit was squashed.Catswas being ridiculed long before it even hit theaters, with its creepy visuals turning audiences away.
As soon as fans saw the first images and the trailer, all hope of a big hit was squashed.
The cast ofCatsincludes A-list actors such as Judi Dench and Ian McKellen, but even Taylor Swift’s star power was not enough to salvage the movie.Catshad the potential to be the next big Hollywood musical, but it ended up being a big swing and a miss, failing to recoup its budget and going down in infamy as one of theworst movies of all time.A great cast and a popular musical somehow turned into a historic bomb.
For almost any other movie,Solo: A Star Wars Story’s box office returns would constitute a success, but the movie’s immense budget and marketing costs mean that it still turned out to be a flop. TheStar Warsfranchise has been a consistent money-maker for decades. This is whyDisney could reasonably have expectedSoloto rake in a billion dollars, just like every movie in the sequel trilogy and 2016’sRogue One.
Solo’s commercial failure forced the franchise to rethink the plan for moving forward, and severalStar Warsmovies were immediately shelved.
Solo’s commercial failure forced the franchise to rethink the plan for moving forward, and severalStar Warsmovies were immediately shelved. IfSolohad been a success, there could have been a Boba Fett movie, a Jabba the Hutt movie and many more spinoffs and prequels. As things stand, there hasn’t been aStar Warsspinoff movie sinceSolo.The Mandalorian and Groguwill end this streak, but this is seen as a safe bet after three seasons of the Disney+ show.
The Last Duelhad a top-tier director, an original idea and some A-list stars, but it still became a huge flop. With a budget of $100 million,The Last Duelwas a financial disaster. Part of this can be attributed to the lingering effects of the pandemic, but this doesn’t come close to explaining howThe Last Duelunderperformed so drastically. Pundits have blamed the movie’s runtime and its obscure subject.
The Last Duelhad a top-tier director, an original idea and some A-list stars, but it still became a huge flop.
The Last Duelis based on a true story, but not one that a majority of people would have heard of. The fact that it’s a historical drama could also have affected its box-office receipts, since this isn’t the most fashionable genre in the current landscape of cinema. Despite these issues,The Last Duelwas still expected to do much better than it did.The fact that the movie became a streaming hit proves that there was an audience for it after all.
WhileThe Last Duelcame out in an era when historical dramas were unfashionable, the same cannot be said forThe Fall of the Roman Empire.The 1950s and 1960s were a golden age for sword-and-sandal epics such asBen-HurandEl Cid. The Fall of the Roman Empirelooked set to capitalize on this trend.It was one of the most expensive movies ever made at the time, with lavish sets and an all-star cast.
This financial disaster contributed to the Oscar-nominated producer Samuel Bronston filing for bankruptcy.
The Fall of the Roman Empireshould have been too big to fail, but it fell well short of its $16 million budget. This financial disaster contributed to the Oscar-nominated producer Samuel Bronston filing for bankruptcy, and his career never fully recovered. Although it had the look and feel of other big-screen epics,The Fall of the Roman Empirewas savaged by critics for its weak script.
Even a star as big as Tom Cruise isn’t impervious to the odd box office misfire. With such a high budget and marketing costs, it was estimated at the time of release thatThe Mummyneeded to make $450 million just to break even. Cruise was forced to accept a rare box office loss, even though Universal had high hopes forThe Mummybefore release. The negative reviews ultimately killed its chances.
Universal planned an entire Dark Universe starting withThe Mummy.
Universal planned an entire Dark Universestarting withThe Mummy,breathing new life into classic movie monsters such as Frankenstein’s monster, Dracula and the Invisible Man. This whole concept was scrapped afterThe Mummy’s poor performance. Few box office bombs have ever been so consequential, asThe Mummywas expected to spawn a long-running franchise.
Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destinywas envisioned as the last hurrah for a cinematic icon, and Disney expected to improve upon the £786.6 million return of 2008’sKingdom of the Crystal Skull.With Harrison Ford back for one last grand adventure andLogandirector James Mangold on board,The Dial of Destinywas expected to do considerably better than it did. It ended up being one of the costliest bombs ever.
Disney expected to improve upon the £786.6 million return of 2008’sKingdom of the Crystal Skull.
The Dial of Destinyis one of the most expensive movies ever made, partly owing to the CGI de-aging used in Ford’s first scene. It needed to put up huge numbers to break even, but mixed reviews didn’t help its case. The bestIndiana Jonesmovieis a toss-up betweenRaiders of the Lost ArkandThe Last Crusade,depending on personal taste.The Dial of Destinydoesn’t even belong in the discussion.
Pixar movies regularly cost around $200 millionto make, which is a lot for animated movies. However, the studio consistently justifies these numbers with huge box office receipts.Lightyearhad a big budget, but there were high hopes that another movie in theToy Storyfranchise would be just as successful as the others.For context, 2019’sToy Story 4made over a billion dollars.
Lightyearhad a big budget, but there were high hopes that another movie in theToy Storyfranchise would be just as successful as the others.
Unfortunately for Pixar,Lightyearfailed in spite of having everything it needed to be a big hit. Estimates suggest that it cost the studio over $100 million when factoring in marketing costs.Lightyearwas seen as a sure thing, but it doesn’t have enough of what makes theToy Storyfranchise. Other characters such as Woody are completely absent, and Tim Allen isn’t even the one voicing Buzz.Lightyearmight have been more successful if it were reimagined as an original sci-fi movie without any mention ofToy Story.
The MCU has been dominating at the box office for many years now, and almost all the franchise’s movies end up making huge amounts of money. 2023’sThe Marvelswas a rare box office flop, leading to renewed discussions of so-called “superhero fatigue”. There has been no shortage of theories put forward about why exactlyThe Marvelsbecame the MCU’s lowest-grossing movie.
The Marvelswas a rare box office flop, leading to renewed discussions of so-called “superhero fatigue”.
Disney CEO Bob Iger contributed the movie’s failure to a lack of studio oversight, but this reason has been hotly debated, with some claiming that Iger meant it as a slight on director Nia DaCosta. Other possible reasons forThe Marvels' historic failure include the fact that the movie requires deeper knowledge than other MCU movies to enjoy, that it has a lack of recognizable top-tier heroes, or that some fans were turned off by the all-female team of heroes. Whatever the reason is,other MCU movies with mediocre reviews have performed much better.
First Manhad all the ingredients of a big hit.Director Damien Chazelle was coming off the back ofLa La Land’s success with the A-list profile of Ryan Gosling as his star, and they were teaming up on a biopic about Neil Armstrong. For whatever reason, all the star power and the allure of a famous story proved to be insufficient.First Manstruggled at the box office, especially when considering its sky-high aspirations.
First Manseemed poised to capitalize on the trend of astronaut movies in the 2010s.
First Manseemed poised to capitalize on the trend of astronaut movies in the 2010s.Gravity, InterstellarandHidden Figuresall became huge financial hits, butFirst Manmay have missed the boat. A year later, Brad Pitt’sAd Astrabecame another high-profile bomb, suggesting that astronaut movies were fading out of style just as quickly as they had come in.First Manreceived positive reviews, but they weren’t enough.
The biggest problem facingThe Man From U.N.C.L.E.was that it was an adaptation of a TV show from the 1960s that had been largely forgotten about. However, the marketing didn’t lean into this angle, focusing instead on Guy Ritchie’s stylish period thriller, with a charming cast led byHenry Cavill at the height of hisSupermanfame.Some positive reviews weren’t enough to preventThe Man From U.N.C.L.E.from falling well short of expectations.
The Man From U.N.C.L.E.could have started an entire franchise if it had been more successful at the box office.
The Man From U.N.C.L.E.has been reappraised since its release. With plenty of fans on streaming platforms and a rehabilitated critical consensus, people are finally recognizing the quality of the retro spy thriller.The Man From U.N.C.L.E.could have started an entire franchise if it had been more successful at the box office, but with a budget of $75 million, Warner Bros. expected much more.
