10 Movies Too Great To Pass Up (Who Did It Anyway)

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 big casts, big franchise recognition and exciting ideas can still fall short of expectations. In the most extreme cases, this can have knock-on effects that force studios to scrap other movies or shut down altogether.

Even huge franchises like Star Wars And the MCU isn’t immune to the odd box office bomb. These are often among the most expensive flops because they have such large budgets and marketing costs. A few box office bombs can save their reputations, but money talks in the movie industry. One big mistake could cause financial chaos for the studios involved, even if it looked like the odds were in their favor.

10

cat (2019)

Box Office: $75.5 million

Cat has been a popular musical since it premiered in London’s West End in 1981, so a star-studded movie adaptation with Les Misérables Director Tom Hooper was destined for success at the box office. However, as soon as fans saw the first pictures and the trailer, all hope of a big hit was squashed. Cat was ridiculed long before it even hit theaters, with its creepy visuals turning audiences away.

The figure of Cat Includes A-list actors such as Judi Dench and Ian McKellen, but even Taylor Swift’s star power isn’t enough to save the movie. Cat Had the potential to be the next big Hollywood musical, but it was a big hit and a miss, failing to recoup its budget and going down in infamy as one of the worst movies of all time. A great cast and a popular musical somehow turned into a historical bomb.

9

Solo: A Star Wars Story (2018)

Box Office: $393.2 million

For almost any other movie, Solo: A Star Wars StoryThe box office returns would be a success, but the huge budget and marketing costs of the movie meant that it was still a flop. The Star Wars Franchising has been a consistent money maker for decades. That’s why Disney could reasonably have expected Solo To rake in a billion dollarsJust like every movie in the sequel trilogy and 2016s Bug one.

Solo‘s business failure forced the franchise to rethink the plan for moving forward, and some Star Wars Movies are immediately shelved. If Solo It was a success, there could have been a Boba Fett movie, a Jabba the Hutt movie and many more spinoffs and prequels. As it stands, there wasn’t a Star Wars Spinoff movie since Solo. The Mandalorian and Grogu will end the streak, but it’s seen as a safe bet after three seasons of the Disney+ show.

8

The Last Duel (2021)

Box Office: $30.6 million

The Last Duel had a top-tier director, an original idea and several A-list stars, but it still became a huge flop. With a budget of $100 million, The Last Duel was a financial disaster. Some of this can be attributed to the lingering effects of the pandemic, but it doesn’t come close to explaining how The Last Duel Underperformed so drastically. Pundits blamed the movie’s runtime and its dark subject matter.

The Last Duel is based on a true story, but not one that a majority of people would have heard of. The fact that it is a historical drama may also have affected its box office receipts, as it is not the most modern genre in the current landscape of movies. Despite these issues, The Last Duel is 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.

7

The Fall of the Roman Empire (1964)

Box Office: $4.8 million

While The last duel Coming out in an era when historical dramas were unfashionable, the same cannot be said The fall of the Roman Empire. The 1950s and 1960s were a golden age for sword-and-sandal epics such as Ben Hur And Al Sid. The fall of the Roman Empire Looked set to capitalize on this trend. It was one of the most expensive movies ever made at the timeWith lavish sets and an all-star cast.

The fall of the Roman Empire Should have been too big to pass up, but it fell well short of its $16 million budget. The financial disaster contributed to the Oscar-nominated producer Samuel Bronston filing for bankruptcy, and his career never fully recovered. Although it has the look and feel of other big-screen epics, The fall of the Roman Empire was savaged by critics for its weak script.

6

The Mummy (2017)

Box Office: $410 million

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 that The mummy Needed to make $450 million just to break even. Cruz was forced to accept a rare box office loss, although Universal had high hopes for The mummy Before release. The negative reviews finally killed his chances.

Universal planned a whole Dark Universe starting with the mother, Breathing new life into classic movie monsters such as Frankenstein’s monster, Dracula and the Invisible Man. The whole concept was scrapped after that The mummys poor performance. Few box office bombs have ever been so consequential, as The mummy It was expected to spawn a long-running franchise.

5

Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny (2023)

Box Office: $384 million

Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny was envisioned as the last hurray for a cinematic icon, and Disney expected to improve on 2008’s £786.6m return Kingdom of the Crystal Skull. With Harrison Ford back for one last great adventure and Logan Director Jacob Mangold on board, The dial of destiny It was expected to do much better than it did. It was one of the most expensive bombs ever.

The dial of destiny is one of the most expensive movies ever madePartly due 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 best Indiana Jones Movie is a toss-up between Raiders of the Lost Ark And the last crusade, depending on personal taste. The dial of destiny Doesn’t even belong in the discussion.

4

light year (2022)

Box Office: $226.4 million

Pixar movies regularly cost around $200 million to make, which is a lot for animated movies. However, the studio consistently justifies the numbers with huge box office receipts. Light year Has a big budget, but there were high hopes that another movie in the Toy Story Franchise would be just as successful as the others. For context, 2019 Toy Story 4 Made over a billion dollars.

Unfortunately for Pixar, Light year No different in spite of everything it needed to be a big hit. Estimates suggest it cost the studio over $100 million when factoring in marketing costs. Light year Was seen as a sure thing, but it does not have enough of what makes the Toy Story Franchise. Other characters like Woody are completely absent, and Tim Allen isn’t even the one showing Buzz. Light year It might have been more successful if it had been reimagined as an original sci-fi movie without any mention of it Toy Story.

3

The Marvels (2023)

Box Office: $206.1 million

The MCU has dominated the box office for many years now, and almost all of the franchise’s movies make huge amounts of money. 2023s The Marvels was a rare box office flop, leading to renewed discussions of so-called “superhero fatigue”. There has been no shortage of theories put forward as to why exactly The Marvels Became the MCU’s lowest-grossing movie.

Disney CEO Bob Iger attributed the movie’s failure to a lack of studio oversight, but the reason has been hotly debated, with some claiming Iger meant it as a slight on director Nia DaCosta. Other possible reasons for The Marvels‘Historical failure is 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 are turned off by the all-female hero team. Whatever the reason, Other MCU movies with mediocre reviews have done much better.

2

First Man (2018)

Box Office: $105.7 million

First person Has all the ingredients of a big hit. Director Damien Chazelle came from the back of La La Land‘s success with the A-list profile of Ryan Gosling as its star, and they are teaming up with a biopic about Neil Armstrong. For whatever reason, all the star power and the allure of a famous story proved to be insufficient. First person Struggle at the box office, especially when considering its sky-high aspirations.

First person were ready to capitalize on the trend of astronaut movies in the 2010s. Gravity, Interstellar And Hidden figures All became huge financial hits, however First person Could have missed the boat. A year later, Brad Pitt Ad Astra became another high-profile bomb, suggesting that astronaut movies are fading out of style just as quickly as they came in. First person Received positive reviews, but they are not enough.

1

Uncle Peter’s Man (2015)

Box Office: $110 million

The biggest problem facing The man of the uncle Turns out it was an adaptation of a 1960s TV show that had been largely forgotten about. However, the marketing did not lean into this corner, focusing instead on Guy Ritchie’s modern period thriller, with a charming cast led by Henry Cavill at the height of his Superman Room. Some positive reviews are not enough to prevent The man of the uncle of falling well short of expectations.

The man of the uncle Has been reappraised since its release. With many fans on streaming platforms and a rehabilitated critical consensus, people are finally recognizing the quality of the retro spy thriller. The man of the uncle would have started an entire franchise if it had been more successful at the box office, but with a budget of $75 million, Warner Bros.