24 Times Movies That Were Expected To Be Blockbusters But Flopped Miserably At The Box Office Instead
Some films reach the top of the box office, while others flop spectacularly.
Some movie studios spend years building a blockbuster, only to watch it collapse the moment it reaches theaters. Big budgets, heavy marketing, and franchise hopes can all disappear fast when audiences do not show up.
This roundup looks at 24 films that were expected to be major hits but ended up as box office disappointments instead. From expensive sci-fi swings to awkward adaptations and badly timed releases, these movies had plenty going for them on paper, but not enough to survive the numbers game.
Scroll on for the big-screen misses that never quite recovered.
1. This toothless and nonsensical video game adaptation, Max Payne
The film earned $40,689,393 domestically, which is not considered a success, but it is on par with other video game adaptations from that time.
20th Century Fox Film Corp. / Courtesy Everett Collection2. The Seeker: The Dark Is Rising lacked a series
With a budget of $40 million, earning $8,794,452 at the domestic box office must have caused at least one heart attack in Hollywood.
Rights Managed / MARC PLATT PRODUCTIONS / Ronald Grant Archive / Mary Evans / Courtesy Everett Collection3. The movie, Deliver Us From Evil
This movie performed better when it debuted in South Korea.
Screen Gems / Courtesy Everett Collection
4. The movie, Land of the Lost
Another budget buster! This movie was made with a budget of $100 million but pulled in less than $70 million at the box office.
Universal / Courtesy Everett Collection
5. The movie, City of Ember
This movie only earned $17.9 million despite its budget of $55 million.
Universal / Courtesy Everett Collection
6. The Losers movie blew away enough audiences
According to BombReport:
"The Losers closed its domestic run with $23,591,432. Warner Bros. released the film overseas to terrible numbers everywhere, and after the poor U.S. run, clearly did not do much in the way of promoting the film."
Warner Bros / Courtesy Everett Collection
7. The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy movie didn't quite translate to stateside audiences
Although it doubled its budget, it was expected to compete with the competition in 2005. If you can't recall, there was a Star Wars movie and a Harry Potter movie that year!
Touchstone Pictures / Courtesy Everett Collection
8. The Spectral movie was forgotten almost as fast as it arrived on the streamer
Netflix / Courtesy Everett Collection
9. The Man from U.N.C.L.E. movie couldn't stay afloat
Warner Bros / Courtesy Everett Collection
10. The poorly marketed and critically panned snowbound thriller, Whiteout
Warner Bros / Courtesy Everett Collection
11. The Inkheart movie couldn't find its storybook ending
New Line Cinema / Courtesy Everett Collection
That’s like a roommate excluding someone from a vacation after they saved together.
12. The unsung masterpiece and a fetishistic fiasco, Sucker Punch
Warner Bros / Courtesy Everett Collection
13. The movie, A Wrinkle in Time barely had a pulse upon its underwhelming debut
Atsushi Nishijima / Walt Disney Co./ Courtesy Everett Collection
14. The series, Cirque du Freak: The Vampire's Assistant
Universal / Prod.DB / Alamy
15. The Adventures of Tintin was clearly unsatisfying
Paramount Pictures / Courtesy Everett Collection
16. The Giver movie
Weinstein Company / Courtesy Everett Collection
17. The A-Team movie barely made a blip on our cultural radar
20th Century Fox Film Corp. / Courtesy Everett Collection
18. The Transcendence movie clearly stumbled
Warner Bros / Courtesy Everett Collection
19. The Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets movie fell upon half-filled theaters
STX Entertainment / Courtesy Everett Collection
20. The sci-fi movie, Mortal Engines
Universal Pictures / Courtesy Everett Collection
21. The high-profile film, Alex Cross, which actually flopped
Summit Entertainment / Courtesy Everett Collection
22. Ron Howard's $70 million comedy about infidelity, The Dilemma
Universal / Courtesy Everett Collection
23. The In the Heart of the Sea movie sank to the bottom of the box office
Warner Bros / Courtesy Everett Collection
24. The Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time series destroyed its potential franchise
Walt Disney Co. / Courtesy Everett Collection
Nonetheless, the film industry is a gamble, and many movies struggle to recoup their budgets while others fall into indefinite obscurity without putting up a remarkable fight.
What are your thoughts about these movies? Drop your comments below.
Some of these titles had all the ingredients, but the box office still turned on them.
A few of them looked like sure things before opening weekend changed everything.
That is the part Hollywood never really gets to control.
For more chaotic Hollywood moments, see the biggest stars who wanted the Earth to swallow them whole.
