It's the ultimate Hollywood horror story: a costly, star-studded production that no one wants to watch. It's hard to believe, but even in the age of Netflix and Redbox, there are still plenty of expensive movies that failed to break to become the box office hit. That said, not all movie failures can be blamed for streaming services or competition from other forms of entertainment. So, grab your free slots to play for fun and read along as we explore top movies with budgets over $100 million, which bombed spectacularly at the theatres.
Side note: A movie flop is a film that fails to make back its budget through ticket sales. It can be primarily because of bad marketing, poor audience reaction to the preview, or simply because it doesn't appeal to enough viewers. This blog post looks at six epic movies that made major studios lose hundreds and hundreds of millions in potential profit:
- Battle: Los Angeles (2011)
- The 13 Warrior (1999)
- Sahara (2005)
- Mars Needs Moms (2011)
- John Carter (2012)
- The Adventures of Pluto Nash (2002)
I. Battle: Los Angeles (2011)
Budget: Estimated $75 million
Losses: Estimated $70 million
Directed by Jonathan Liebesman, Battle: Los Angeles tells the story of an alien invasion experienced from the perspective of a group of U.S Marine Corps members who were stationed at Camp Pendleton, California when they received news about their town being invaded. The movie was one of the first feature films released with IMAX 3D in its digital format, which helped it gain about $55 million at the box office. However, this was far from enough to cover Battle's estimated budget of $75 million.
II. The 13th Warrior (1999)
Budget: Estimated $160 million
Losses: Estimated $82 million
Based on Michael Crichton's novel Eaters of the Dead, The 13th Warrior film is a historical fiction/fantasy about Ahmad Ibn Fadlan, played by Antonio Banderas, an Arab poet recruited to help defend an ancient Oghuz Turkic settlement against mysterious attackers. Unfortunately, with a budget of $160 million and a loss of $82 million, it's clear that this film was not the hit Disney hoped it would be.
III. Sahara (2005)
Budget: Estimated $241 million
Losses: Estimated $121 million
Sahara is an adventure/drama film that follows master thief Dirk Pitt as he attempts to track down a Civil War Gold shipment hidden somewhere in the deserts of West Africa. He does all this while being chased by a murderous paramilitary leader named Zola, who wants to use the stolen gold for his own destructive agenda. Sahara is based on the best-selling novel written by Clive Cussler. The movie had some success at foreign box offices but failed to make its budget back through U.S ticket sales.
IV. Mars Needs Moms (2011)
Budget: Estimated $150 million
Losses: Estimated $54 million
At first glance, Mars Needs Moms may look like a CG animated comedy aimed at children and families. Still, it's actually an R-rated movie with adult jokes and references, shown through Milo’s actions, who is supposed to be a nine-year-old boy but acts and talks more like a thirty-year-old man. With no humour or audience to appeal to, this film was sure to disappoint at the box office. It didn't help that Disney advertised Mars Needs Moms as an animated film similar to The Polar Express, whereas its closest resemblance would probably be Despicable Me (which wasn't released until over a year after Mars Needs Moms).
V. John Carter (2012)
Budget: Estimated $250 million
Losses: Estimated $200 million
Based on Edgar Rice Burrough's novel, A Princess of Mars, John Carter tells the story of a Civil War veteran who is inexplicably transported to the Planet Barsoom where he meets Tars Tarkas and his daughter Sola who introduces him to life on Mars. The film did rather well in foreign markets with a total of $211 million, but this was still not enough to cover its estimated budget, which sits at an impressive $250 million. Ideally, Disney spent more money marketing the film than they did making it – an estimated $100 million.
VI. The Adventures of Pluto Nash (2002)
Budget: Estimated $100 million
Losses: Estimated $96 million
Everyone loves Eddie Murphy. However, Eddie isn't just a comedian but also an actor, a singer, an author, and an all-around hilarious guy. So that is surprising that his 2002 film The Adventures of Pluto Nash was one of the biggest flops in Hollywood history. This comedy/science fiction film follows Pluto Nash (Eddie Murphy) as he tries to re-establish himself as a legitimate businessman after being forced out of business by violent mobsters. It may seem like an original idea for an Eddie Murphy movie, but the story failed to pull in audiences. When you factor marketing costs in, The Adventures of Pluto Nash ended up costing over $140 million, and that's not to mention the money lost from DVD and TV sales.
Special Mentions: 47 Ronin (2013) and the Lone Ranger (2013)
Here are a few more movie flops we thought would still fit in this list:
47 Ronin (2013)’s budget is estimated to be around $175 million, and it incurred losses up to $152 million. It is a 3D action/adventure film based on the true story of a group of samurai people who seek vengeance for their master's death. This movie was initially set to be released in 2011. However, it was delayed due to earthquake damages which destroyed some of the sets and computer special effects. With an estimated budget of $175 million, this film ended up losing over $152 million when all was said and done. It would take about thirty years before this film could make that money back through ticket sales alone!
On the other hand, the budget for the Lone Ranger (2013) is estimated to be around $225 million and incurred losses averaging $190 million. It was initially planned to be released in 2012 and tells the story of John Reid (played by The Last Samurai's Tom Cruise), who is attacked while being on vacation and transformed into a masked cowboy known as the Lone Ranger. Once he finds out about his heroic identity, he teams up with Tonto to stop an evil railroad owner from taking over their hometown and killing its residents. Based on production costs and marketing budgets – this film would have had to make $500 million before it could even come to making a profit, and we all know how well that turned out!
Summary
In summation, regardless, these six movies had one thing in common: they all had A-list stars and lots of potentials but fell short at the box office. Whether due to poor ratings or large production and marketing budgets, we can't help but wonder what would have happened if studios had not spent so much money on these expensive movies that failed!
After all, the most outstanding movies often come at a cost. It doesn’t matter whether they're big or small. The costs of making a movie are always considerable. However, when a film fails to make back its budget through ticket sales, it's considered a flop, and this word has an entirely different meaning in Hollywood.
