The four biggest flops in Hollywood
Deadpool & Wolverine opens this week and is projected to not only be the biggest commercial success of the summer (expected to make over $165 million on opening weekend, which will set the film on the road to breaking the $1 billion mark) and the most successful R-Rated movie ever made.
More than that, Deadpool and Wolverine is Disney’s most expensive bet, the last chance to revitalise the Marvel Cinematic Universe. The superhero behemoth that once ruled the box office has been struggling lately and is in dire need of a soft reboot. Disney execs are hoping Deadpool will make up for recent narrative mistakes, reboot the franchise and reignite interest in the MCU, setting up future projects like the Fantastic Four and a return of the X-Men franchise.
Despite appearing too risky for notoriously family-friendly Disney, studio execs would have pre-screened and focus group tested the movie ad nauseam to make sure it would be a success. Today, when a movie is released, the studio knows roughly how big it will be and it is only rarely that their estimation is wrong. But when it is, boy is it spectacular! While waiting to see how much money Deadpool & Wolverine will make, here’s a list of the biggest box-office failures of all time!
Cutthroat Island (1995) – Estimated loss $210 million
They say that working with your partner is a bad idea, as it puts a strain on the relationship. Director Renny Harlin and then-wife Geena Davis did not get that memo. Back in the fabled 90s, Harlin decided to revive the swashbuckling pirate genre but with a twist: instead of a dashing male protagonist, the lead would be a woman. While there are ample examples of real-life women who were notorious pirate captains, the public was just not ready for a gender bender.
Especially if the protagonist in question was Renny’s wife Geena Davis. Sure, she was a star in her own right but not so bankable that she could lead a multi-million franchise. Add in some messy production troubles, with constant re-writes and re-shoots and a disastrous marketing campaign and the end result was one of the biggest box-office failures of all time, losing an estimated $210 million adjusted for inflation.
Mortal Engines (2018) – Estimated loss $212 million
Mortal Engines, the 2018 dystopian film is about a future where cities can move and attack other cities. This movie had everything going for it: a rich, beloved book series behind it, a massive budget and a writer/director that was adored by movie-goers. Peter Jackson, the man behind the Lord of the Rings trilogy was at the helm, all but guaranteeing its success.
Jackson though left his luck in Middle-Earth because in our reality, Mortal Engines is a bad movie. Huge plot holes, sluggish pace and it even managed to anger the fans by deviating from the source material. All in all, it looks like the first part of a planned trilogy that never materialised. It lost $212 million adjusted for inflation, scrapping any future plans for the series.
The Lone Ranger (2013) – Estimated loss $240 million
Released in 2013, The Lone Ranger was supposedly the big screen adaptation of a beloved series that debuted in the 30s. It told the story of a masked cowboy who went around dispersing justice with his trusted side-kick, the Indian Tonto. Eventually facing backlash for the way it portrayed Native Americans, the series was cancelled until it was bewilderingly brought back for a feature-length movie. Which begs the obvious question: why? Adding to the mix a confusing plot and constant jump from comedy to drama, along with production problems, resulted in the movie making a loss of $240 million.
John Carter (2012) – Estimated loss of $250 million
When discussing box-office flops, there is one undeniable king: John Carter, the 2012 Disney film. It was an adaptation of a saga by author Edgar Rice Burroughs about a Confederate soldier transported to Mars who finds himself embroiled in battles and political intrigue. John Carter is not a bad movie. Sure, it’s not for everyone but it could easily be successful enough to spawn a sequel or maybe a trilogy. The problem was that the movie was so expensive to make (reportedly $350 million) that being successful was almost impossible. Adding to the sky-high budget was the fact that it had a terrible marketing campaign. Instead of focusing on getting sci-fi lovers to see it (most of whom already know about the character), Disney tried to market it to a wider audience by changing John Carter of Mars to just John Carter, leading to confusion. It was a huge flop losing an estimated $250 million.