History Main / BoxOfficeBomb

!!Rules of thumb in bombing:

* Many movies based on [[VideoGameMoviesSuck video games]].
* Everything made by UweBoll

!!Standalone bombs:

* ''BuckyLarson'' (2011) --Budget $10 million or less. Box office, 2.5 million. It was taken out of theaters after only 2 weeks.

* ''{{Creature}}'' (2011)-- Budget, $3 million. Box office, $300,000. It was promptly jettisoned from theaters a week later.

* ''Film/TheFallOfTheRomanEmpire'' (1964) -- Budget, $19 million. Box office, $4,750,000. Comparisons with contemporary Roman epic ''Cleopatra'' are inevitable, although ''Fall'' had a substantially less TroubledProduction and was much more well-received by critics. Audiences, however, had lost interest in sword and sandal epics following ''Cleopatra'' (and, unlike ''Cleopatra'', ''Fall'' has largely faded into obscurity since its initial release in 1964).

* ''HartsWar'' (2002) -- Budget, $70 million. Box office, $33,076,815.

* ''HowDoYouKnow'' (2010) -- Budget, $120 million. Box office, $48,668,907.

* ''{{Inchon}}'' (1982) -- Budget, $46 million. Box office, $5,200,986. In 1995, it made the Guinness Book of World Records as "[[MedalOfDishonor the biggest money-loser in history]]," later to be surpassed by the aforementioned ''CutthroatIsland''.

* ''{{Film/Motherhood}}'' (2009) -- Budget $10 million. Box office $726,354. Easily the biggest bomb of [[UmaThurman Uma Thurman's]] career. Particularly notable for its British release, where it's the second-biggest flop of all time. It was shown in only one UK cinema and took £88 on its opening weekend. On its opening night it took £9. That's '''one ticket'''.
* ''{{The Nutcracker In 3D}}'' (2010) -- Budget, $90 million. Box office, $14,678,086, nearly all of which came from the Russian market.
* ''OneFromTheHeart'' (1982) -- Budget, $26 million. Box office, $636,796. This film [[CreatorKiller bankrupted]] FrancisFordCoppola, with most of his work for the next two decades being done [[MoneyDearBoy to pay off the debts he accrued from making it]]. Like ''Film/HeavensGate'', it also heavily contributed to the end of the NewHollywood era.

* ''{{Sorcerer}}'' (1977) -- Budget, $22 million. Box office, $12 million.

* ''TownAndCountry'' (2001) -- Budget, $90-105 million. Box office, $10,372,291.

* ''TheAlamo'' (2004) -- Budget, $145 million. Box office, $25,819,961.

* Most {{pirate}} movies barring ''PiratesOfTheCaribbean'' were flops, with ''CutthroatIsland'' being one of the most notorious cases.

* ''{{Tekken}}'' (2010) -- Budget, $35 million. Box office, $1,696,665. Never theatrically released in America, the poor showing was especially incredible in Japan.

* ''Film/Motherhood'' (2009) -- Budget $10 million. Box office $726,354. Easily the biggest flop of [[UmaThurman Uma Thurman's]] career. Particularly notable for its British release, where it's the second-biggest flop of all time. It was shown in only one UK cinema and took £88 on its opening weekend. On its opening night it took £9. That's '''one ticket'''.

* ''TheIronGiant'' (1999) -- Budget, $70 million. Box office, $103 million. At first glance, rather successful. However, [[GermansLoveDavidHasselhoff most of that money came from overseas]] -- it only made $23,159,305 domestically, and was thus considered a flop by the American movie press.

* ''TheAdventuresOfBaronMunchausen'' -- Budget, $46,630,000. Box office, $8,083,123.
* ''TheAdventuresOfPlutoNash'' -- Budget, $100-120 million. Box office, $7,103,973. A ''RobotChicken'' [[http://video.adultswim.com/robot-chicken/pluto-nash-day.html sketch]] depicted 57 studio executives committing suicide the Monday after the box office returns came in, and EddieMurphy himself [[OldShame disowned it]].
* ''TheAlamo'' -- Budget, $145 million. Box office, $25,819,961.

* ''Film/AstroBoy'' -- Budget, $65 million, Box office, $39,886,986.
* ''Film/BattlefieldEarth'' -- Budget, $75 million ([[UsefulNotes.HollywoodAccounting declared]]), $44 million (actual). Box office, $29,725,663. The {{egregious}} case of UsefulNotes/HollywoodAccounting involved in the production led to Franchise Pictures being sued into bankruptcy.
* ''BuckyLarson'' --Budget $10 million or less. Box office, 2.5 million. It was taken out of theaters after only 2 weeks.
* ''CatsDontDance'' -- Budget, $32 million. Box office, $3,566,637. Sadly [[ScrewedByTheNetwork it kinda fell through the cracks]] after Warner Bros. bought Turner just before the movie was released, and proceeded to not promote it at all.
* ''Film/{{Catwoman}}'' -- Budget, $100 million. Box office, $82,102,379.
* ''Film/{{Cleopatra}}'' -- Budget, $44 million. Box office, $57,777,778. However, TwentiethCenturyFox only got roughly half the film's box office take (the rest went to the theaters), and since $44 million was an exorbitant price tag in 1963's dollars (equivalent to $310 million today), they nearly went bankrupt. ''Cleopatra'''s failure would be one of the decisive moments in the FallOfTheStudioSystem.

* ''{{Delgo}}'' -- Budget, $40 million. Box office, $915,840. (No, that's not a typo.) It had the worst opening ever for a film playing in over 2,000 theaters, [[MedalOfDishonor earning just $511,920 at 2,160 sites]].
* ''Film/TheFallOfTheRomanEmpire'' -- Budget, $19 million. Box office, $4,750,000. Comparisons with contemporary Roman epic ''Cleopatra'' are inevitable, although ''Fall'' had a substantially less TroubledProduction and was much more well-received by critics. Audiences, however, had lost interest in sword and sandal epics following ''Cleopatra'' (and, unlike ''Cleopatra'', ''Fall'' has largely faded into obscurity since its initial release in 1964).
* ''FinalFantasyTheSpiritsWithin'' -- Budget, $135-167 million. Box office, $85,131,830. This film's failure led to the collapse of Square Pictures and delayed the merger of [[SquareEnix Squaresoft with Enix]]; the latter company was hesitant at merging with a company that had just lost a large amount of money in a high-profile manner.
* ''{{Gigli}}'' -- Budget, $54-74 million. Box office, $7,266,209.
* ''TheGoldenCompass'' -- Budget, $180 million. Box office, $70 million (domestically), [[GermansLoveDavidHasselhoff $372,234,864 (internationally)]]. Unfortunately, New Line Cinema had sold off the international distribution rights in order to raise enough money for the film's production, meaning that they only got the domestic gross, and never saw a penny of the international box office. As a result, [[CreatorKiller New Line was absorbed into]] WarnerBros soon after.
* ''HartsWar'' -- Budget, $70 million. Box office, $33,076,815.
* ''Film/HeavensGate'' -- Budget, $44 million. Box office, $3,484,331. This film's failure led to [[CreatorKiller the bankruptcy of United Artists, the ruination of director Michael Cimino's career]] and (along with other flops) [[GenreKiller the end of]] [[NewHollywood the auteur period in Hollywood]], and became a byword for box office disasters.
* ''Film/HowardTheDuck'' -- Budget, $37 million. Box office, $37,962,774. Allegedly, two {{Universal}} executives [[BloodOnTheDebateFloor got into a fistfight]] while arguing over who was to blame for greenlighting the film; both of them deny this.
* ''HowDoYouKnow'' -- Budget, $120 million. Box office, $48,668,907.
* ''HudsonHawk'' -- Budget, $65 million. Box office, $17,218,080.
* ''{{Inchon}}'' -- Budget, $46 million. Box office, $5,200,986. In 1995, it made the Guinness Book of World Records as "[[MedalOfDishonor the biggest money-loser in history]]," later to be surpassed by the aforementioned ''CutthroatIsland''.
* ''TheIronGiant'' -- Budget, $70 million. Box office, $103 million. At first glance, rather successful. However, [[GermansLoveDavidHasselhoff most of that money came from overseas]] -- it only made $23,159,305 domestically, and was thus considered a flop by the American movie press.
* ''{{Ishtar}}'' -- Budget, $55 million. Box office, $14,375,181. Its failure led to Coca-Cola leaving the film business, selling off ColumbiaPictures to {{Sony}}.
* ''Film/JonahHex'' -- Budget, $47 million. Box office, $10,547,117.
* ''LooneyTunesBackInAction'' -- Budget, $80 million. Box office, $21 million (within the USA), $68 million (worldwide). The movie's financial failure led the WB to think the Looney Tunes don't have the lasting appeal that they hoped, canceling the planned Looney Tunes shorts in production. In light of this fiasco the Looney Tunes will probably never get another theatrical film release.
* ''MarsNeedsMoms'' -- Budget, $150 million. Box office, $39,549,758. Its failure led to {{Disney}} shutting down [=ImageMovers=] Digital, the production company it had formed with RobertZemeckis (the film's producer); he would later reopen the studio at {{Universal}}.
* ''{{The Nutcracker In 3D}}'' -- Budget, $90 million. Box office, $14,678,086, nearly all of which came from the Russian market.
* ''OneFromTheHeart'' -- Budget, $26 million. Box office, $636,796. This film [[CreatorKiller bankrupted]] FrancisFordCoppola, with most of his work for the next two decades being done [[MoneyDearBoy to pay off the debts he accrued from making it]]. Like ''Film/HeavensGate'', it also heavily contributed to the end of the NewHollywood era.
* ''Film/{{Outlander}}'' -- Budget, $47 million. Box office, $7,033,683, nearly all of which came from overseas.
* ''Film/ThePostman'' -- Budget, $80 million. Box office, $17,626,234. This film essentially [[CreatorKiller ended]] KevinCostner's A-list status and his run as writer and director of his own films, though he would continue finding success as an actor.
* ''RadioFlyer'' -- Budget: $35 million. Box office: $4,651,977.
* ''Film/RedPlanet'' -- Budget, $80-100 million. Box office, $33,463,969.
* ''{{Sahara}}'' -- Budget, $241.1 million[[hottip:*:$160 million in production costs, plus $81.1 million in distribution and marketing expenses]]. Box office, $202,938,255. After a lawsuit put several documents relating to the film's production into the public domain, the ''[[AmericanNewspapers Los Angeles Times]]'' did [[http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-movie15apr15,0,6005119.story a report]] using the film as a case study in production costs run amok.
* ''{{Showgirls}}'' -- Budget, $45 million. Box office, $20,350,754.
* ''{{Slither}}'' -- Budget, $15 million (not counting marketing costs), $29.5 million (counting them). Box office, $12,834,936.
* ''{{Soldier}}'' -- Budget, $75 million. Box office, $15 million.
* ''{{Sorcerer}}'' -- Budget, $22 million. Box office, $12 million.
* ''ASoundOfThunder'' -- Budget, $80 million. Box office, $11,665,465.
* ''Film/SpeedRacer'' -- Budget, $120 million (not counting marketing costs), $200 million (counting them). Box office, $93,945,766.
* ''{{Stealth}}'' -- Budget, $135 million. Box office, $76,932,872.
* ''StrangeDays'' -- Budget, $42 million. Box office, $7,959,291.
* ''{{The 13th Warrior}}'' -- Budget, $85 million (not counting marketing costs), $160 million (counting them). Box office, $61,698,899.
* ''TownAndCountry'' -- Budget, $90-105 million. Box office, $10,372,291.
* ''{{Zyzzyx Road}}'' -- Budget: $2 million. Box office: $30. Yes, thirty bucks. To be fair, the film received only a one-week domestic release (playing one screen in Dallas) to comply with Screen Actors Guild rules. The producer had no intention otherwise of opening it in the U.S. until after it had foreign distribution. (Foreign gross to date: $368,000.)

A BoxOfficeBomb, or a ''flop'', is a movie for which production and marketing cost greatly exceeds its gross revenue. It doesn't mean, however, that it merely made studios lose money - gross revenue doesn't equal studio profit [[hottip:*:(''{{Waterworld}}'' is commonly cited as a money sink, and it indeed made the studio lose money, but its gross revenue greatly exceeded its budget; thus, not a flop)]]. It means it lost a truly ''spectacular'' amount of money. On the other hand, most but not all box office bombs cost their studios money: gross revenue often doesn't include revenue from [=DVDs=] and whatnot (justified because the revenue from theaters is much easier to count), or (often) revenue from the world outside America[[hottip:*:(''Waterworld'' made more than its budget abroad)]]; justified, because [[LittleKnownFacts other countries don't actually exist]].

* Almost all films directed by OrsonWelles were bombs (yes, even the critically-acclaimed ''CitizenKane''), except ''The Stranger'', a thriller Welles made simply to prove that he could work successfully inside the studio system if he wanted to.

* Almost all films directed by OrsonWelles were bombs, except ''The Stranger'', a thriller Welles made simply to prove that he could work successfully inside the studio system if he wanted to.

* ''CatsDontDance'' -- Budget, $32 million. Box office, $3,566,637. Sadly [[ScrewedByTheNetwork it kinda fell through the cracks]] after Warner Bros. bought Turner, and proceeded to not promote it at all.

** Indeed, most non-Disney animated movies in general during Disney's Renaissance era, from the late 1980's through the 90's.

* ''TheFallOfTheRomanEmpire'' -- Budget, $19 million. Box office, $4,750,000. Comparisons with contemporary Roman epic ''Cleopatra'' are inevitable, although ''Fall'' had a substantially less TroubledProduction and was much more well-received by critics. Audiences, however, had lost interest in sword and sandal epics following ''Cleopatra'' (and, unlike ''Cleopatra'', ''Fall'' has largely faded into obscurity since its initial release in 1964).

* ''Film/BattlefieldEarth'' -- Budget, $75 million ([[HollywoodAccounting declared]]), $44 million (actual). Box office, $29,725,663. The {{egregious}} case of HollywoodAccounting involved in the production led to Franchise Pictures being sued into bankruptcy.

This is not to be confused with HollywoodAccounting, where the movie is not ''actually'' a flop but the real revenue is hidden either for tax evasion or as part of a SpringtimeForHitler scheme.

* ''AstroBoy'' -- Budget, $65 million, Box office, $39,886,986.

* ''CatsDontDance'' -- Budget, $32 million. Box office, $3,566,637.

** Indeed, most non-Disney animated movies in general during Disney's Renaissance era.

* Almost all UweBoll movies, but that's the idea.

* '''[[DuelingMovies Competition]]''': This is particularly often in effect with {{summer blockbuster}}s. People have a limited amount of brainless action they would watch, and if there's a lot of that available, some titles may be neglected. They also tend to be high-budget, and as such if the movie flops, it costs a ''lot''. There is, however, often a principle similar to AwardSnub in nature: several good movies (with similar target audiences) are released simultaneously, thus one of them performs truly spectacularly, another one flops, but both are considered [[VindicatedByHistory great in hindsight]] (the hit ''ETTheExtraTerrestrial'' and the flop ''BladeRunner'', for example).

* Most DonBluth films starting with ''RockADoodle''.