10 Biggest Summer Box Office Flops In History

Summary

• Big-budget films like
  The Lone Ranger
  flop due to poor execution, misdirected marketing, and critical reception.
• The financial success of a film doesn’t always guarantee success – some huge flops like
  John Carter
  and
  Battleship
  prove it.
• Movies like
  King Arthur: Legend of the Sword
  and
  Fantastic Four
  failed to make a profit despite star power, causing studios to rethink big-budget projects.

The summer blockbuster season is usually when studios roll out their most ambitious and expensive films, hoping to capture large audiences and rake in substantial profits. However, for every Avengers or Jurassic Park, there are monumental misfires that leave studios and audiences alike scratching their heads. Such films come in with huge budgets and star-laden casts, yet end up bombing at the box office.

These films, with all their invested resources, fail to recover the money from theaters and incur heavy financial losses. Factors such as poor timing, misdirected marketing strategies, or audience fatigue are to blame. These flops are interestingly striking case studies of how the best-laid plans can go wrong. Some of these movies have since gained cult followings or been reevaluated as more meritorious, but when they came out, they were considered nothing less than disastrous.

10 The Lone Ranger (2013)

Budget: $225 Million | Box Office Gross: $260.5 Million

Disney’s The Lone Ranger was an ambitious attempt to reboot the classic Western hero for modern audiences. The film, with Johnny Depp playing Tonto and Armie Hammer as the titular character, was supposed to be a big hit. With production delays and a ballooning budget plaguing it, coupled with a lukewarm critical reception, it did not quite find its way into audiences, leaving the action-humor-bizarre tonal shifts brew rather disappointing at the box office.

The monetary loss of The Lone Ranger was so severe that it prompted Disney to reconsider its strategy regarding big-budget films. This resulted in the studio putting a hold on the development of comparable blockbuster projects for a while. Although it grossed over $260 million worldwide, the massive budget of $225 million, along with marketing, practically broke it even, and Disney lost an estimated $160 million. It also got panned by the critics, with too much of a disjointed plotline and relying on Depp’s eccentric performance.

9 John Carter (2012)

Budget: $263 Million | Box Office Gross: $284.1 Million

Adapted from the Edgar Rice Burroughs science fiction series, John Carter was the canceled would-be franchise launcher for Disney — a film about a whisked-away Civil War veteran to Mars and embroiled in a conflict between warring factions. For all of its epic scope and visual effects innovation, John Carter simply never found an audience, and its overall marketing campaign was arguably best described as confusing and off-putting for most.

The film grossed $284.1 million worldwide, but against a staggering budget of $263 million plus marketing costs, it fell far short of profitability, leading to an estimated loss of more than $200 million. This flop was a significant blow to Disney, with the resignation of then-studio head Rich Ross in its wake.

8 Battleship (2012)

Budget: $209 Million | Box Office Gross: $303 Million

Battleship, loose as it was, represents Universal Pictures’ attempt at churning out a blockbuster franchise by way of merging naval warfare with alien invasion. The movie sported a really nice cast, featuring Liam Neeson and pop star Rihanna, and had really impressive special effects. It has, however, been widely panned for its flimsy plot, lack of character development, and over-the-top action sequences.

Battleship raked in $303 million worldwide, which, by some estimates, may sound respectable, but against the budget of $209 million and marketing, that simply wasn’t enough to avert loss. Something big, like missing this mark on such an expectedly large film franchise, was a miss for Universal.

7 King Arthur: Legend of the Sword (2017)

Budget: $175 Million | Box Office Gross: $148.7 Million

Guy Ritchie’s King Arthur: Legend of the Sword was an ambitious take on the legend of Arthur, blending medieval tradition with his trademark modern flair. With Charlie Hunnam in the lead as Arthur, it was to be the first of six films that would explore the lore of Camelot. It came into a crowded marketplace and received poor reviews, being met with general disinterest in the reimagined tale.

King Arthur
partially flopped due to its release just one week after
Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2
., which dominated at the box office.

With a worldwide gross of only $148.7 million against a $175 million budget, the movie qualified as one of the largest flops of the year. This underperformance was so severe that it killed any ideas concerning future installments for the proposed series.

6 The Adventures of Pluto Nash (2002)

Budget: $100 Million | Box Office Gross: $7.1 Million

Eddie Murphy’s The Adventures of Pluto Nash is a sci-fi comedy that has gone down in history as one of the largest box office bombs ever. Set in the year 2087, it is about a nightclub owner on the moon who gets embroiled in a fight against the mob. Despite the futuristic setting and the presence of stars within the film, Pluto Nash was a critical and commercial disaster.

Pluto Nash
has often been cited as an example of a film that seemed to be doomed right from its conception, given the troubled production and a premise that was ill-conceived.

Coming in with a budget of $100 million and only pulling in $7.1 million at the box office, The Adventures of Pluto Nash lost nearly $100 million, making it one of the largest flops financially in cinematic history. This hit Eddie Murphy hard in his career, and it would take years for him to recover from the failure.

5 Fantastic Four (2015)

Budget: $120-155 Million | Box Office Gross: $167.9 Million

The 2015 reboot of Fantastic Four was to breathe new life into Marvel’s first family following two campy, lackluster feature-film adaptations. This time, under Josh Trank’s helm, it would lean into the darkness with a little bit of grounding. But for some reason, the fans just didn’t take it very well; in fact, the critics were pretty harsh. The troubled production, with rumored on-set feuds and last-minute reshoots, must have translated badly into a disjointed final product that left audiences unsatisfied.

The failure was an enormous blow to 20th-century Fox and obliterated any chances of a sequel.

Fantastic Four opened to $167.9 million worldwide, which was way below expectations for a movie in the $120-155 million budget range. The failure was an enormous blow to 20th Century Fox and obliterated any chances of a sequel.

4 The 13th Warrior (1999)

Budget: $160 Million | Box Office Gross: $61.7 Million

Based on Michael Crichton’s novel entitled Eaters of the Dead, starring Antonio Banderas, the action-adventure epic film was described as an amalgamation of Viking history with fantasy and horror elements. It placed a Muslim ambassador accompanying a band of Norse warriors to do combat with a mysterious enemy. With a very intriguing plot and scope of action, this movie nevertheless had more than its fair share of problems in the making: reshoots, editing wars, and an inflated budget.

Having had its final box office gross of only $61.7 million, The 13th Warrior was a huge financial flop, losing over $100 million. The poor performance of the film led to it almost being forgotten; however, recently, it has gained a minor cult following.

3 Cutthroat Island (1995)

Budget: $98 Million | Box Office Gross: $10 Million

Cutthroat Island is the Renny Harlin swashbuckler starring Geena Davis, notorious for having turned into a spectacular flop. The movie followed a female pirate in her quest for hidden treasure but suffered production problems from script rewrites to cast changes and budget overruns. Borne with high-octane action and loaded with all the trimmings of production, Cutthroat Island was a box office disaster, according to Comic Book Resources.

The commercial failure of
Cutthroat Island
really killed the trend of pirate films in Hollywood until
Pirates of the Caribbean
revived the genre in 2003.

Having cost $98 million to make and taken in a paltry box office total of only $10 million, the picture stands as one of the largest flops ever in the history of Hollywood movies. In fact, it was the huge failure of Cutthroat Island that formed the chief reason behind Carolco Pictures going bankrupt.

2 Tomorrowland (2015)

Budget: $190 Million | Box Office Gross: $209.2 Million

Tomorrowland, a sci-fi adventure film directed by Brad Bird and starring George Clooney, was adapted from the futuristic theme park the Same-named land. The movie followed a disillusioned genius and a curious teenager as they set out on their journey to unravel the secrets of a mysterious utopian world. Despite its ambitious premise and the Disney marketing machine, Tomorrowland struggled to really connect with audiences.

The film grossed $209.2 million worldwide but, against a $190 million budget with hefty marketing costs, failed to turn a profit. The poor showing was a letdown for Disney, especially with the star power and talent in the film.

1 The BFG (2016)

Budget: $140 Million | Box Office Gross: $183.3 Million

Steven Spielberg’s The BFG was an adaptation of a beloved children’s book by Roald Dahl, so by all appearances, it would have been a sure thing. It delivers a story about a young girl who befriends a giant and their escapades across Giant Country with a visually stunning presentation and heartfelt performances. However, with Spielberg behind the wheel and the popular source material, The BFG turned out not to impress at the box office.

The film pulled in $183.3 million worldwide, which, although not exactly a bad result, was still disappointing compared to its budget of $140 million and comprehensive marketing drive. It was a surprising miss from Spielberg, who never seems to miss at the box office.

Source: Comic Book Resources