Hollywood movies are an increasingly expensive endeavor for film studios to make. Those extravagant summer spectacles come with a hefty price tag, and when they don’t do well at the box office they bleed out money (and destroy reputations) like there’s no tomorrow.
So the stakes are always high for a big budget Hollywood “tent pole” because the very fate of a studio and a career so often hang in the balance.
Here’s a look back at the biggest box office duds of the young century.
15. COWBOYS & ALIENS (2011)
Proof that big names and a famous director don’t always guarantee success, this turkey was directed by Iron Man helmer Jon Favreau, produced by Steven Spielberg and Ron Howard and starred box office giants Daniel Craig and Harrison Ford…
The result:
Budget: $163 million
Estimated Losses: $75 million
14. HUGO (2011)
This critically acclaimed Martin Scorsese picture couldn’t find an audience despite critical acclaim, and lost its investors millions at the box office. Proving that audiences and critics don’t always agree on what is worth seeing…
The result:
Budget: $150 million
Estimated Losses: $77 million
13. THE WOLFMAN (2010)
Not even the great Anthony Hopkins could save this universally panned period horror film that tried to revive the Gothic atmosphere of yesteryear.
The result:
Budget: $150 million
Estimated Losses: $80 million
12. WINDTALKERS (2002)
This Nicholas Cage war epic was supposed to be ‘Saving Private Ryan’ set in the Pacific…instead it was DOA at the box office…to be fair, it may have been a victim of timing, debuting mere months after the terrorist attacks of 9/11, America wasn’t in the mood to watch war and suffering at the movies.
The result:
Budget: $115 million
Estimated Losses: $81 million
11. TOWN & COUNTRY (2001)
A Warren Beatty vanity project that was famous for its excesses and self indulgence…it quickly became an expensive mess, and left theaters almost immediately, rejected by audiences who didn’t care to watch aging actors stroke their egos for two hours.
The result:
Budget: $90 million
Estimated Losses: $84 million
10. TREASURE PLANET (2002)
Disney had ambitious plans for combining traditional animation with computer generated animation in an effort to blend old styles with the new, but alas, this re-imagining of the classic Robert Louis Stevenson yarn fell flat at the box office. Its PG rating leaving parents confused who it was aimed at…and teens unwilling to be seen in a theater playing a cartoon.
The results:
Budget: $140 million
Estimated Losses: $85 million
9. EVAN ALMIGHTY (2007)
This attempted sequel to 2003’s ‘Bruce Almighty’ tried to siphon Steve Carell‘s growing popularity into a starring vehicle for the comedic actor…and it failed in Biblical proportions…
The result:
Budget: $175 million
Estimated Losses: $88 million
8. GREEN LANTERN (2011)
DC Comics has had a notoriously rotten time trying to brand themselves the way Marvel has in recent years, case in point, the attempt to turn secondary characters such as the Green Lantern into movie franchises of their own, not even the considerable charms of Ryan Reynolds could save this turkey from box office infamy…adding insult to injury, five years later Reynolds would star in the top grossing R-Rated super hero movie of ALL-TIME in ‘Deadpool’…for Marvel.
The result:
Budget: $200 million
Estimated Losses: $90 million
7. THE ALAMO (2004)
This notorious disaster of a film underwent so many actor and director changes that it was doomed from the start. What was originally intended to be an R-Rated historical epic directed by Ron Howard and starrring Russell Crowe at the height of his movie star powers, turned into PG-13 violence starring Billy Bob Thornton with direction from John Lee Hancock of ‘Saving Mr. Banks’ fame.
The result:
Budget: $107 million
Estimated Losses: $94 million
6. THE ADVENTURES OF PLUTO NASH (2002)
In what signaled the end of Eddie Murphy‘s short lived late 90s comeback as a comedic leading man, the fallout of the flop was so immense that it led to Warner Bros. firing the head of the studio, Lorenzo diBonaventura, despite the fact he had previously greenlit Harry Potter and The Matrix.
The result:
Budget: $100 million
Estimated Losses: $96 million
5. SAHARA (2005)
The director was Disney CEO Michael Eisner‘s son, and it was a lesson in the pitfalls of nepotism…and almost killed Matthew McConaughey‘s status as a leading man…
The result:
Budget: $160 million
Estimated Losses: $100 million
4. JOHN CARTER (2012)
It was a marketing disaster right out the gate, no one knew how to interpret the previews (or the fact the title was changed AFTER the first set of previews were unveiled), no one was familiar with the source material, and the tv spots were tonally all over the place, no one could figure out who the movie was aimed at…an no audience showed up accordingly.
The result:
Budget: $250 million
Estimated losses: $108 million
3. RIPD (2013)
The disastrous adaptation of a little known comic book was pitched as Ghostbusters meets Men In Black…it was neither, and yet another huge box office flop from a comic adaptation threatened to kill the career momentum of actor Ryan Reynolds. (Deadpool proved that the third time truly is a charm…)
The result:
Budget: $150 million
Estimated Losses: $114 million
2. THE LONE RANGER (2013)
In a film that spelled the beginning of the end for Johnny Depp‘s hot streak of box office hits, this convoluted mess bored audiences with it’s two and a half hour running time, and did nothing to justify its length…
The result:
Budget: $250 million
Estimated Losses: $119 million
1. MARS NEEDS MOMS (2011)
In the biggest financial flop in Disney history, the film’s failure left Disney scrambling to mitigate the damage it did to their animation department and eventually led to them buying Pixar to make sure that Pixar wouldn’t transform into a competitor with their floundering animation department once their distribution agreement expired…
The result:
Budget: $150 million
Estimated Losses: $130 million
