The 12 Biggest Box Office Bombs In The 21st Century
Whether you’re from the United States or the United Kingdom, movies are a common bond across the world. The cinema has been capturing hearts and minds for over a century, and with vast improvements in film technology, special effects have further captivated us.
High-tech films aren’t easy or cheap to make, and while many of them have been huge hits, others have been complete flops. Due to horrible casting, having an inflated budget, and/or from getting poor reviews, some movies have died quicker than the bad guy at the end of an action flick.
At the dawn of the 21st century, many filmmakers ramped up their production budgets to make room for new film technology. While this tactic paid off for movies like “Avatar” and “The Avengers,” other movies lost millions of dollars for the studios, production companies, and distributors that invested in them. Here’s our list of the 12 biggest box office bombs in the 21st century, that flopped like a fish on a sandy shore.
#12 – Green Lantern (Estimated Losses: $90 Million)
When superhero films started to gain in popularity, it seemed like every single superhero that ever appeared in a comic book was getting their own film, most of which were successful. Once the main superheroes started to dry up, Hollywood turned to secondary superheroes that didn’t have as big of a following, like the Green Lantern.
The fanboys of “Green Lantern” were a little skeptical when they saw the first trailer and found out that their hero would be played by Ryan Reynolds (who already starred as a superhero in “Daredevil”). With a poor script, bad reviews and a story that veered away from the origins of Green Lantern, the film was doomed from the start. While the movie brought in more tickets than the production budget, the advertising budget was enormous and netted “Green Lantern” with a loss of just over $90 million. One success from the movie: the union of Ryan Reynolds-Blake Lively.
#11 – The Alamo (Estimated Losses: $94 Million)
Do you remember “The Alamo”? We don’t mean the event, but the movie, because everyone learned about it in History Class. Unfortunately for Hollywood, nobody quite remembers the film version of The Battle Of The Alamo that occurred between Texas and Mexico in 1836. Ron Howard took it upon himself to produce “The Alamo” and enlisted John Lee Hancock to direct the movie. It was a remake of the 1960 film that did a little better at the box office. The 2004 version flopped hard.
The cast of “The Alamo” was made up of solid actors, but nobody that was considered to be a big box office draw (such as Dennis Quaid and Billy Bob Thornton). Critics slammed the movie and word of mouth spread fast that “The Alamo” was very forgettable. Due to those factors, only $25 million in tickets were sold, which was much lower than the $107 million production budget. The end result was a $94 million loss. They probably should have picked a historical event with broader appeal.
#10 – Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within (Estimated Losses: $94.4 Million)
There is no doubt that Final Fantasy is one of the most popular video game series of all-time. When you think of video games that have had long staying power, Final Fantasy ranks in with the best of them; Halo, Mario, Grand Theft Auto and Call of Duty. Final Fantasy was made into a film, and like many other video games turned movies, it wasn’t very good.
Instead of opting for live action (like “Super Mario Bros.” and “Doom”), “Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within” took a different approach with a computer generated look that was supposed to be photorealistic. While the film looked pretty good and had a decent cast (Alec Baldwin and James Woods), it tanked at the box office. Less than half of the reviews were positive, but Roger Ebert said he liked it and suggested that it was a must-see. Apparently, not enough people followed his recommendation and “Final Fantasy” limped home with a $94.4 million loss.
#9 – The Adventures Of Pluto Nash (Estimated Losses: $96.4 Million)
A lot of the films on this list ended up making a decent amount of money at the box office, but couldn’t recoup high production and advertising budgets. “The Adventures Of Pluto Nash” is definitely not one of those movies. It only brought in $7.1 million at the box office worldwide, making it the lowest grossing movie on this list. As a point of reference, the fourth lowest still made almost $70 million more than this stinker.
It seemed like Eddie Murphy could do no wrong in the 1980’s and 1990’s. When the 21st century rolled along, Murphy’s star power was all but gone. Still, Hollywood gave him a seven figure budget to star in this intergalactic “comedy” about God knows what. Critics slandered this movie, which was nominated for five Golden Raspberry Awards recognizing the worst films of the year. Eddie Murphy went on to say that he knows the “two or three people that liked this movie” in an interview with Barbara Walters. They probably only said that because Murphy was in the room.
#8 – Stealth (Estimated Losses: $96.5 Million)
“Stealth” seemed to have all of the right pieces in place. You had established stars with Jamie Foxx and Josh Lucas at the helm, and a young and upcoming Jessica Biel. Throw in the director of the original “Fast and Furious” and “xXx” and this was sure to be an action hit that resonated with movie audiences. Unfortunately, things didn’t work out the way that they should have for “Stealth”. The plot was awful and the script wasn’t much better, as critics gave it an average score of 3.8 out of 10.
With bad reviews starting to pour in, the producers had to have gotten nervous about blowing $135 million on this movie, and boy did they have good reason. The film lost Columbia Pictures $96.5 million after the budgets were tallied. “Stealth” seems to have gotten lost in the shuffle of action movies. Not even a decade old yet, and people in their early 20’s can list about 100 action movies that they know of before getting to “Stealth”.
#7 – Sahara (Estimated Losses: $100.3 Million)
“Sahara” is a bit of an anomaly on the list. On one hand, it lost Paramount Pictures a boatload of money. On the other hand, it raked in $119.2 million in revenue. If you are wondering how a film that made that much money can be the seventh biggest flop to ever be created, it’s because of how much money they put into it. The total budget of the movie came out to be well over $200 million, so doesn’t it all make a little more sense now?
If you want to make an action movie that doesn’t have a very intricate plot or character development, you probably shouldn’t blow big money on special effects. The producers and crew ignored that, and went over the top with the scenery, which led to script conflicts and mediocre reviews across the board. It was a cool looking movie with big names to draw in the crowds (Matthew McConaughey and Penelope Cruz), but people would have needed to see the movie twice for this to make any money. Now it’s lost in the desert for generations to come.
#6 – Jack The Giant Slayer (Estimated Losses: $101.1 Million)
“Jack The Giant Slayer” is one of those films that tries to tug at your heart strings by making you recall the fairy tales from your youth. When a film that’s made for children gets parents interested, it usually results in a lot of money (like “The Lego Movie”). The thing about this re-telling was that they completely changed the tale from what it was in the minds of those that remembered it from long ago.
Bryan Singer was placed in charge of directing “Jack The Giant Slayer”, which seemed like a decent choice, but not enough people were interested in someone else’s version of the story. Critics were conflicted on whether or not it was good, with reviews split down the middle. A lack of interest and a mediocre word of mouth spelled doom for “Jack The Giant Slayer”, and it is estimated that more than $101 million was lost as a result. A similar movie that faced this fate was “Gulliver’s Travels”, proving that you just don’t mess with old fairy tales.
#5 – John Carter (Estimated Losses: $108.6 Million)
“John Carter” seemed like a sure shot for Disney, who found success with this story decades ago with the film “John Carter of Mars”. With Andrew Stanton at the helm (the same director of “Finding Nemo” and “WALL-E”), Disney felt pretty confident in their ability to make a ton of money on “John Carter”, so much so that it’s one of themost expensive movies ever made. Instead, they found that a cast of unknowns in a big budget film only works in animation.
Nobody is really quite sure who Taylor Kitsch is, and people weren’t too eager to find out, according to the numbers at the box office. People love science fiction movies and big budget action movies, but the two didn’t mesh well for some reason. The reviews weren’t too favorable, as about 50 percent of critics liked it, while the other 50 percent said it was too long and over the top for their liking. “John Carter” might have been the biggest flop of all-time if it weren’t for the strong numbers it gathered outside of the United States. All in all, “John Carter” lost $108.6 million for Disney.
#4 – R.I.P.D. (Estimated Losses: $114.8 Million)
Ryan Reynolds makes his second appearance on our list, this time as a police officer that gets killed in the line of duty and has to join the supernatural police force. That sounds weird, but a lot of people were interested in seeing this movie when the initial trailers came out. It was one of those films where people said to themselves, “I’ll wait to see what other people say about it first before I decide if it’s worth my time”.
“R.I.P.D.” was not worth peoples time according to those that saw it and word of mouth spread quickly, making ticket sales decline rapidly. The film was originally supposed to star Zach Galifianakis alongside Ryan Reynolds, which would have made more sense in an action/comedy/buddy cop movie than Jeff Bridges. Critics hated it and called it a crappy “Ghostbusters” rip off, which led to a loss of $114.8 million for Universal Pictures.
#3 – The Lone Ranger (Estimated Losses: $119.7 Million)
Much like “John Carter”, Disney thought they had a sure thing on their hands when it came to “The Lone Ranger”. Gore Verbinski (director of “Pirates of the Caribbean”) was paired once again with beloved actor Johnny Depp, but The Lone Ranger character didn’t quite click with audiences like Jack Sparrow. What confused a lot of people was the fact that Depp didn’t play The Lone Ranger, but rather his Native-American sidekick Tonto.
While that move was weird, the main role was filled by someone named Armie Hammer. Nobody knew him from anything other than as the guy who played the Winklevoss Twins in “The Social Network”. After three decades of not having a “Lone Ranger” movie, people lost interest and didn’t bother to see the newest one. Disney took another big loss right after the “John Carter” fiasco and wound up losing $119.7 million thanks to this dud.
#2 – Mars Needs Moms (Estimated Losses: $130.5 Million)
Mars may or may not need moms, but one thing is for sure: Disney needs a lot more hits outside of their Pixar movies if they want to keep making money. “Mars Needs Moms” was made before “John Carter” and “The Lone Ranger” to set up the three year stinkfest for the Mickey Mouse Company. There is a book with the same title that the movie is based on, but it wasn’t the type of smash hit book from which you usually see movies based on.
Motion capture technology helped to make the animated film look good, but the starring cast wasn’t all that notable (Seth Green and Dan Fogler). Once again, “Mars Needs Moms” was one of those movies that critics couldn’t decide whether they liked it or wanted to throw out it of a window. Outside of “The Alamo” and “The Adventures of Pluto Nash”, this movie ranks as the third worst in terms of worldwide gross with just $38.99 million in tickets sold. The final loss for Disney was an astounding $130 million.
#1 – 47 Ronin (Estimated Losses: $149.5 Million)
People seem to like Keanu Reeves. He’s a nice guy, he starred in a hit movie recently (“John Wick”), but once in a while he appears in movies that tank pretty hard at the box office. Of all of the films that Reeves has ever been in, “47 Ronin” is far and away the worst one, and probably the worst movie of all-time. “47 Ronin” is the fictional story of a group of samurais from the 1700’s in Japan, which most people weren’t interested in.
The reviews of the movie said that “47 Ronin” was uninspired, unoriginal, and not interesting in the slightest. Combine that with a two hour running time, and people avoided “47 Ronin” like the plague. The worldwide gross wasn’t too embarrassing, but with a budget that cost about twice that number, it was the worst flop of the 21st century, and in the history of cinema. At least Keanu rebounded after this one, unlike some of the other stars on our list.
#11 – The Alamo (Estimated Losses: $94 Million)
Do you remember “The Alamo”? We don’t mean the event, but the movie, because everyone learned about it in History Class. Unfortunately for Hollywood, nobody quite remembers the film version of The Battle Of The Alamo that occurred between Texas and Mexico in 1836. Ron Howard took it upon himself to produce “The Alamo” and enlisted John Lee Hancock to direct the movie. It was a remake of the 1960 film that did a little better at the box office. The 2004 version flopped hard.
The cast of “The Alamo” was made up of solid actors, but nobody that was considered to be a big box office draw (such as Dennis Quaid and Billy Bob Thornton). Critics slammed the movie and word of mouth spread fast that “The Alamo” was very forgettable. Due to those factors, only $25 million in tickets were sold, which was much lower than the $107 million production budget. The end result was a $94 million loss. They probably should have picked a historical event with broader appeal.
#10 – Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within (Estimated Losses: $94.4 Million)
There is no doubt that Final Fantasy is one of the most popular video game series of all-time. When you think of video games that have had long staying power, Final Fantasy ranks in with the best of them; Halo, Mario, Grand Theft Auto and Call of Duty. Final Fantasy was made into a film, and like many other video games turned movies, it wasn’t very good.
Instead of opting for live action (like “Super Mario Bros.” and “Doom”), “Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within” took a different approach with a computer generated look that was supposed to be photorealistic. While the film looked pretty good and had a decent cast (Alec Baldwin and James Woods), it tanked at the box office. Less than half of the reviews were positive, but Roger Ebert said he liked it and suggested that it was a must-see. Apparently, not enough people followed his recommendation and “Final Fantasy” limped home with a $94.4 million loss.
#9 – The Adventures Of Pluto Nash (Estimated Losses: $96.4 Million)
A lot of the films on this list ended up making a decent amount of money at the box office, but couldn’t recoup high production and advertising budgets. “The Adventures Of Pluto Nash” is definitely not one of those movies. It only brought in $7.1 million at the box office worldwide, making it the lowest grossing movie on this list. As a point of reference, the fourth lowest still made almost $70 million more than this stinker.
It seemed like Eddie Murphy could do no wrong in the 1980’s and 1990’s. When the 21st century rolled along, Murphy’s star power was all but gone. Still, Hollywood gave him a seven figure budget to star in this intergalactic “comedy” about God knows what. Critics slandered this movie, which was nominated for five Golden Raspberry Awards recognizing the worst films of the year. Eddie Murphy went on to say that he knows the “two or three people that liked this movie” in an interview with Barbara Walters. They probably only said that because Murphy was in the room.
#8 – Stealth (Estimated Losses: $96.5 Million)
“Stealth” seemed to have all of the right pieces in place. You had established stars with Jamie Foxx and Josh Lucas at the helm, and a young and upcoming Jessica Biel. Throw in the director of the original “Fast and Furious” and “xXx” and this was sure to be an action hit that resonated with movie audiences. Unfortunately, things didn’t work out the way that they should have for “Stealth”. The plot was awful and the script wasn’t much better, as critics gave it an average score of 3.8 out of 10.
With bad reviews starting to pour in, the producers had to have gotten nervous about blowing $135 million on this movie, and boy did they have good reason. The film lost Columbia Pictures $96.5 million after the budgets were tallied. “Stealth” seems to have gotten lost in the shuffle of action movies. Not even a decade old yet, and people in their early 20’s can list about 100 action movies that they know of before getting to “Stealth”.
#7 – Sahara (Estimated Losses: $100.3 Million)
“Sahara” is a bit of an anomaly on the list. On one hand, it lost Paramount Pictures a boatload of money. On the other hand, it raked in $119.2 million in revenue. If you are wondering how a film that made that much money can be the seventh biggest flop to ever be created, it’s because of how much money they put into it. The total budget of the movie came out to be well over $200 million, so doesn’t it all make a little more sense now?
If you want to make an action movie that doesn’t have a very intricate plot or character development, you probably shouldn’t blow big money on special effects. The producers and crew ignored that, and went over the top with the scenery, which led to script conflicts and mediocre reviews across the board. It was a cool looking movie with big names to draw in the crowds (Matthew McConaughey and Penelope Cruz), but people would have needed to see the movie twice for this to make any money. Now it’s lost in the desert for generations to come.
#6 – Jack The Giant Slayer (Estimated Losses: $101.1 Million)
“Jack The Giant Slayer” is one of those films that tries to tug at your heart strings by making you recall the fairy tales from your youth. When a film that’s made for children gets parents interested, it usually results in a lot of money (like “The Lego Movie”). The thing about this re-telling was that they completely changed the tale from what it was in the minds of those that remembered it from long ago.
Bryan Singer was placed in charge of directing “Jack The Giant Slayer”, which seemed like a decent choice, but not enough people were interested in someone else’s version of the story. Critics were conflicted on whether or not it was good, with reviews split down the middle. A lack of interest and a mediocre word of mouth spelled doom for “Jack The Giant Slayer”, and it is estimated that more than $101 million was lost as a result. A similar movie that faced this fate was “Gulliver’s Travels”, proving that you just don’t mess with old fairy tales.
#5 – John Carter (Estimated Losses: $108.6 Million)
“John Carter” seemed like a sure shot for Disney, who found success with this story decades ago with the film “John Carter of Mars”. With Andrew Stanton at the helm (the same director of “Finding Nemo” and “WALL-E”), Disney felt pretty confident in their ability to make a ton of money on “John Carter”. Instead, they found that a cast of unknowns in a big budget film only works in animation.
Nobody is really quite sure who Taylor Kitsch is, and people weren’t too eager to find out, according to the numbers at the box office. People love science fiction movies and big budget action movies, but the two didn’t mesh well for some reason. The reviews weren’t too favorable, as about 50 percent of critics liked it, while the other 50 percent said it was too long and over the top for their liking. “John Carter” might have been the biggest flop of all-time if it weren’t for the strong numbers it gathered outside of the United States. All in all, “John Carter” lost $108.6 million for Disney.
#4 – R.I.P.D. (Estimated Losses: $114.8 Million)
Ryan Reynolds makes his second appearance on our list, this time as a police officer that gets killed in the line of duty and has to join the supernatural police force. That sounds weird, but a lot of people were interested in seeing this movie when the initial trailers came out. It was one of those films where people said to themselves, “I’ll wait to see what other people say about it first before I decide if it’s worth my time”.
“R.I.P.D.” was not worth peoples time according to those that saw it and word of mouth spread quickly, making ticket sales decline rapidly. The film was originally supposed to star Zach Galifianakis alongside Ryan Reynolds, which would have made more sense in an action/comedy/buddy cop movie than Jeff Bridges. Critics hated it and called it a crappy “Ghostbusters” rip off, which led to a loss of $114.8 million for Universal Pictures.
#3 – The Lone Ranger (Estimated Losses: $119.7 Million)
Much like “John Carter”, Disney thought they had a sure thing on their hands when it came to “The Lone Ranger”. Gore Verbinski (director of “Pirates of the Caribbean”) was paired once again with beloved actor Johnny Depp, but The Lone Ranger character didn’t quite click with audiences like Jack Sparrow. What confused a lot of people was the fact that Depp didn’t play The Lone Ranger, but rather his Native-American sidekick Tonto.
While that move was weird, the main role was filled by someone named Armie Hammer. Nobody knew him from anything other than as the guy who played the Winklevoss Twins in “The Social Network”. After three decades of not having a “Lone Ranger” movie, people lost interest and didn’t bother to see the newest one. Disney took another big loss right after the “John Carter” fiasco and wound up losing $119.7 million thanks to this dud.
#2 – Mars Needs Moms (Estimated Losses: $130.5 Million)
Mars may or may not need moms, but one thing is for sure: Disney needs a lot more hits outside of their Pixar movies if they want to keep making money. “Mars Needs Moms” was made before “John Carter” and “The Lone Ranger” to set up the three year stinkfest for the Mickey Mouse Company. There is a book with the same title that the movie is based on, but it wasn’t the type of smash hit book from which you usually see movies based on.
Motion capture technology helped to make the animated film look good, but the starring cast wasn’t all that notable (Seth Green and Dan Fogler). Once again, “Mars Needs Moms” was one of those movies that critics couldn’t decide whether they liked it or wanted to throw out it of a window. Outside of “The Alamo” and “The Adventures of Pluto Nash”, this movie ranks as the third worst in terms of worldwide gross with just $38.99 million in tickets sold. The final loss for Disney was an astounding $130 million.
#1 – 47 Ronin (Estimated Losses: $149.5 Million)
People seem to like Keanu Reeves. He’s a nice guy, he starred in a hit movie recently (“John Wick”), but once in a while he appears in movies that tank pretty hard at the box office. Of all of the films that Reeves has ever been in, “47 Ronin” is far and away the worst one, and probably the worst movie of all-time. “47 Ronin” is the fictional story of a group of samurais from the 1700’s in Japan, which most people weren’t interested in.
The reviews of the movie said that “47 Ronin” was uninspired, unoriginal, and not interesting in the slightest. Combine that with a two hour running time, and people avoided “47 Ronin” like the plague. The worldwide gross wasn’t too embarrassing, but with a budget that cost about twice that number, it was the worst flop of the 21st century, and in the history of cinema. At least Keanu rebounded after this one, unlike some of the other stars on our list.
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