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Damnation Alley (1977) — Budget, $8 million. Box office, $4 million (rentals). This film adaptation of the Roger Zelazny novel was expected to be Fox's big summer movie but it was delayed to the fall due to extensive post-production. By that point, Fox's actual big summer movie made its mark and Damnation Alley was left in the dust. Its mixed reviews and dismissal by Zelazny himself for straying from the novel didn't help either.
The Damned United (2009) - Budget, $6.4 million. Box office, $4.1 million. This adaptation of a novel based on Brian Clough's infamous tenure as manager of Leeds United stalled at #5 in the UK box office, despite critical acclaim. It has since become a Cult Classic amongst association football fans.
Dance Flick (2009) — Budget, $25 million. Box office, $25,662,155 (domestic), $31,439,140 (worldwide). This Wayans Family vehicle is the last directing credit to date for Damien Dante Wayans.
Dangerous Game (1993) — Budget, $10 million. Box office, $23,671 (domestic). It's understandable, considering that it played for one week in one theater.
Dangerous Ground (1997) — Budget, $28 million. Box office, $5,406,722. This action thriller sent Darrell Roodt's directing career in remission for six years.
Dante's Peak (1997) — Budget, $116 million. Box office, $67,127,760 (domestic), $178,127,760 (worldwide). Buried the screenwriting career of Leslie Bohem for seven years, by which point the Michael Eisner/John Lee Hancock killer The Alamo buried it for another seven years. Dante also knocked Terminator vet Linda Hamilton out of the A-list.
Dark Blue (2002) — Budget, $15 million. Box office, $12,150,301. This debuted at the Noir in Festival in 2002 before its general release in February 2003. This and Hollywood Homicide would send director Ron Shelton's career into remission for over a decade.
Dark City (1998) — Budget, $27 million. Box office, $14,378,331 (domestic), $27,200,316 (worldwide). Although Roger Ebert called Alex Proyas' sci-fi thriller the best of the year, most critics gave it average reviews largely due to its Executive Meddling mandated cuts. It quickly became a Cult Classic and its subsequent director's cut allowed it to become Vindicated by History.
The Dark Half (1993) — Budget, $15 million. Box office, $10.6 million. This George A. Romero adaptation of the Stephen King book was finished in 1991 but was held back by Orion Pictures' bankruptcy.
Dark Phoenix (2019) — Budget, $200 million (production costs), $343 million (total costs including marketing). Box office, $65,845,974 (domestic), $252,442,974 (worldwide). According to Deadline, this was the biggest bomb of 2019, losing about $133 million. Expensive reshoots, bad buzz, a looming Continuity Reboot due to the Disney-Fox deal, and tepid reviews all combined to produce a franchise low from the opening weekend onward. Not only does it seem to be the last film to be made in the X-Men Film Series (outside of the horror-centric spin-off The New Mutants, which finished filming before Dark Phoenix but ended up being delayed for over 2 years), but it squashed any last hopes of independence for Fox under their new parent company Disney, with them citing Fox’s low earnings (and the failure of Dark Phoenix in particular) as a factor in them falling short of their Q3 earning projections despite the record-shattering success of Avengers: Endgame, and deciding to take a more direct role in greenlighting their films, canning many of their projects in pre-production. This also turned out to be the latest in a string of box office failures and disappointments for Michael Fassbender; this was his sole film role between 2017 and 2023, as he mostly turned his focus to endurance racing with the 24 Hours of Le Mans.
Dark Tide (2012) — Budget, $25 million. Box office, $432,274. The movie received an extremely limited release before getting dumped to video. The last film that production company Magnet Media Group^note has worked on to date.
The Darkest Minds (2018) — Budget, $34 million. Box office, $12,695,691 (domestic), $41,142,379 (worldwide). This adaptation of Alexandra Bracken's young-adult novel series of the same name was the live-action debut of DreamWorks Animation veteran Jennifer Yuh Nelson (of Kung Fu Panda 2 and 3 fame). Critics dismissed it as a Cliché Storm but the few audience members who saw it were more forgiving.
Darling Lili (1970) — Budget, $25 million. Box office, $3.25 million. One of a series of flops that sent Paramount Pictures into financial trouble in the early '70s. Director/Writer Blake Edwards was faced with continual Executive Meddling from the studio, who re-edited the film without his input and badly mismanaged the marketing. It didn't help that it came out when movie musicals were on the decline. Edwards and his star/wife Julie Andrews rebounded years later with The Return of the Pink Panther and Victor/Victoria, respectively. Edwards' co-writer William Peter Blatty had the quickest turnaround when he wrote The Exorcist and its subsequent film adaptation. The film was not released on video until 2006, but only in a half-hour shorter Director's Cut.
Date with an Angel (1987) — Budget, $8 million. Box office, $1,988,962. This film sent Tom McLoughlin's cinematic writing and directing career to Hell. He didn't get another story credit on another theatrical film for a full decade, and never directed another theatrical film for the rest of the 20th century, sticking with mainly TV movies.
DC Comics-based film have their own page.
The Dead (1987) — Budget, $3.5 million. Box office, $4,370,078. John Huston's final film was this adaptation of a James Joyce short story from Dubliners. This got glowing reviews but never left a limited release. This is the second and last screenplay by Huston's son Tony, who's currently a lawyer.
Dead Bang (1989) — Budget, $14.5 million. Box office, $8,125,592. One of the last films produced by Lorimar Productions, which released its last theatrical film the following year, though the company's acquisition by Warner Bros. that same year had more to do with it than anything.
Dead Heat (1988) - Budget, $5 million. Box office, $3,588,626. A bizarre premise, poor reviews, and unenthusiastic marketing all contributed to this buddy cop action comedy zombie crime film failing to break even despite its meager budget. Stars Joe Piscopo and Treat Williams made no secret of how much they hated being in this film, and it was the last nail in the coffin for Piscopo's efforts as a leading man in Hollywood. It's managed to become a bit of a Cult Classic.
Dead Ringers (1988) — Budget, $13 million. Box office, $8,038,508. Put a dent in David Cronenberg's producing career; he didn't take a producer credit again for 8 years. Also a bad start to co-writer Norman Snider's career. (That said, it's a serious contender for the title of Cronenberg's magnum opus.)
Dead Silence (2007) — Budget, $20 million. Box office, $16,809,076 (domestic), $22,217,407 (worldwide). Co-writer Leigh Whannell regrets making the movie due to apparent Executive Meddling when it came to writing the script. Any plans for a sequel/franchise were shot down. It was also the first of two films directed by James Wan to flop in the same year, followed by Death Sentence.
Dead Man Down (2013) — Budget, $30 million. Box office, $18,074,539. This WWE-produced thriller was chased out of theaters after six weeks.
Deadfall (1993) — Budget, $3.4 million. Box office, $18,369. Its gross came from a whopping two theaters. Between this and the same year's Gunfight at Red Dog Corral, it would be six years before Christopher Coppola (brother of star Nicolas Cage) would direct another film.
Deadly Friend (1986) — Budget, $11 million. Box office, $8,988,731. This was shot as a bloodless thriller but Executive Meddling turned it Bloodier and Gorier after a poor test screening. This resulted in a disjointed mess that critics gave a thrashing. Director Wes Craven stayed afloat but writer Bruce Joel Rubin waited four years before his next credit, Ghost.
Deal of the Century (1983) — Budget, $10 million. Box office, $10,369,481. Paul Brickman’s next writing credit came seven years after this one.
Dear Evan Hansen (2021) — Budget, $27-28 million. Box office, $15,002,646 (domestic), $17,246,176 (worldwide). While nowhere near as big a fiasco as Universal's previous attempt at adapting a hugely popular Tony-winning musical, it was still negatively received by critics for its casting decisions and the liberties taken in adapting its controversial plotline and became hugely contentious even with the show's fanbase, quickly falling by the wayside in theaters.
Dear God (1996) — Budget, $22 million. Box office, $7,138,523. It debuted at number eight on its opening weekend and its universal panning from critics, including Siskel & Ebert, helped send it further down. Director Garry Marshall waited three years before he made his next films, The Other Sister and Runaway Bride.
Death and the Maiden (1994) — Budget, $12 million. Box office, $3,103,716. Roman Polański's film version of Ariel Doffman's play received great reviews but a limited release which topped out at 572 theaters. Polanski waited five years to make his next film, The Ninth Gate.
Death on the Nile (2022) - Budget, $90 million. Box office, $137.3 million. A still recovering COVID-impacted marketplace, and controversy around cast member (and frequent box office cyanide pill) Armie Hammer hurt this sequel to Murder on the Orient Express (2017). Still managed to get a sequel, A Haunting in Venice, with the studio betting on a different tone, lower budget, and recovered theatrical marketplace.
Death Race (2008) — Budget, $45 million. Box office, $36,316,032 (domestic), $75,677,515 (worldwide). Its poor box office reception didn't stop two direct-to-DVD sequels from getting made.
Death Sentence (2007) — Budget, $20 million. Box office, $16,974,459. The second of two films directed by James Wan to flop in the same year, the first was Dead Silence.
Death to Smoochy (2002) — Budget, $50 million. Box office, $8,382,938. One of two films in the 2002/2003 schedule that killed Danny Devito's directing career after 1996's Matilda wounded it; Duplex is the other movie. This also completely incinerated Adam Resnick's cinematic writing career completely (he's only done a few TV jobs since) and ended Jon Stewart's front-of-camera film career.
Death Wish V: The Face of Death (1994) — Budget, $5 million. Box office, $1,702,394. This movie killed off the Death Wish franchise after five installments. This was also Charles Bronson's last theatrical starring role; he only did three Direct to Video movies before his retirement from acting in 1999, and his death four years later.
- Death Wish (2018) — Budget, $30 million. Box office, $34,017,028 (domestic), $48,578,407 (worldwide). This remake of the 1974 film was delayed from its planned Thanksgiving 2017 release after the Las Vegas shooting, only to land two weeks after the Parkland shooting. The film's poor timing bore the brunt of its scathing reception from critics, and it also killed Bruce Willis's mainstream career, with him only appearing in low-budget Direct to Video action films before retiring from acting altogether in 2022 due to his aphasia diagnosis.
Deception 2008 — Budget, $25 million. Box office, $17,741,298. This was heavily panned by critics and was promptly buried in the box office once Iron Man opened the next week.
Deck the Halls (2006) — Budget, $51 million. Box office, $47,231,070. The film suffered a Troubled Production mainly due to its stars Matthew Broderick, Danny Devito, Kristin Chenoweth, and Kristin Davis suffering from some form of Creator Breakdown. The end result was lambasted for its not-so jolly demeanor and crashed and burned at the box office.
Deconstructing Harry (1997) — Budget, $20 million. Box office, $10,686,841. Another Acclaimed Flop from Woody Allen.
The Deep End Of The Ocean (1999) — Budget, $38 million. Box office, $28,121,100. The film version of Jacquelyn Mitchard's novel received mixed reviews from critics. It was the last film directed by Ulu Grosbard before his death in 2012.
Deep Rising (1998) — Budget, $45 million. Box office, $11,203,026. The semi-final film from Cinergi Pictures; Disney had already ended their deal with the production company, and Burn Hollywood Burn would finish burning down the label by the end of the year. Competing with Titanic (1997) at the box office and coming off the heels of other CG creature features like Anaconda and The Relic didn't help. It ended up acting as a "test run" movie for director Stephen Sommers, the visual effects crew, and even Kevin J. O'Connor, who would all go on to much greater success the very next year with The Mummy (1999). Indeed, much of the ensemble would become bigger and better things (save for lead Treat Williams, whose star plummeted), and the film has since become a Cult Classic.
Deepstar Six (1989) — Budget, $8 million. Box office, $8.1 million. Part of a string of underwater thrillers released in the same year, including The Abyss and Leviathan (1989). Barely making its money back, Tristar was disappointed in the box office results. Talks of a sequel were halted, and this is so far the last theatrical film that Sean S. Cunningham has directed.
Deepwater Horizon (2016) — Budget, $156 million (one estimate), $110-120 million (another estimate). Box office, $61,433,527 (domestic), $119,463,870 (worldwide). Despite great reviews from critics, the Deadline press website accused Lionsgate of dropping the ball on marketing this film, which was released past the 2016 Summer Bomb Buster and with a handful of other major fall films such as Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children, The Magnificent Seven, and Sully.
Def Jam's How to Be a Player (1997) — Budget, $12 million. Box office, $14 million. One of only two theatrical films music video director Lionel C Martin has directed (and the other is a smaller production), it also put a major dent in Def Jam and co-founder Russell Simmons' move into filmmaking.
Defiance (2008) — Budget, $32 million. Box office, $28,644,813 (domestic), $51,155,219 (worldwide). In spite of big names (actors Daniel Craig and Liev Schreiber, plus director Edward Zwick), struggled to find a place against Gran Torino, Dump Months releases, or actual award contenders (the film's score ended up nominated for an Oscar... but Slumdog Millionaire and The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, which would dominate the ceremony, were on the rise).
Delgo (2008) — Budget, $40 million. Box office, $915,840. No, that's not a typo. It had one of the worst openings ever for a film playing in over 2,000 theaters, earning just $511,920 at 2,160 sites. It's also one of the most critically panned films of 2008 and only spent a single week in theaters before it vanished, and this is after director/writer Marc Adler spent a full decade getting the film through Development Hell. In the end, it's the only credit for Adler and production companies Electric Eye and Fathom Studios.
Delirious (1991) — Budget, $18 million. Box office, $5,546,826. The final theatrical film directed by Tom Mankiewicz and his final film credit. He spent the rest of his life in television.
De-Lovely (2004) - Budget, $15 million. Box office, $13.3 million (domestic), $18.3 million (worldwide). Irwin Winkler's biopic of Cole Porter was his penultimate film as director. It was panned by critics and it only went as wide as about 400 theaters.
Denial (2016) — Budget, $10 million. Box office, $4.2 million. Was an Acclaimed Flop, however, with an 81 on Rotten Tomatoes.
Desire Me (1947) — Budget, $4,149,000. Box office, $2,576,000. Recorded loss, $2,440,000. The film's Troubled Production saw various directors come and go and none of them took credit for the finished film ^note.
Desperate Hours (1990) — Budget, $18 million. Box office, $2,742,912. A remake of the 1955 Humphrey Bogart classic, this was Michael Cimino's third failed attempt to recover his fame from the fallout of Heaven's Gate.
Desperate Measures (1998) — Budget, $50 million. Box office, $13,806,137. This critically panned thriller was chased out of theaters after three weeks. This contributed to Michael Keaton's career downturn for several years and part of a string of several flops for director Barbet Schroeder.
Destroyer (2018) — Budget, $9-12.4 million. Box office, $1.5 million (domestic), $5.6 million (worldwide). Despite decent reviews and a gritty performance by Nicole Kidman this bleak film failed to gain an audience, opening in only three domestic theatres and topping out at only two hundred and thirty five. The overseas take was somewhat better but still not enough to rescue the film.
Detroit (2017) — Budget, $34 million. Box office, $21,096,357. The first film distributed (as opposed to co-produced) by Annapurna Pictures, it was praised by critics but came out at the tail-end of a mostly lackluster summer. Its serious subject matter was unlikely to receive a sizable audience in the States, and the audiences who might have been most likely to view a movie about the Detroit race riots were likely alienated by it when some critics questioned Kathryn Bigelow's perspective and treatment of them.
Detroit Rock City (1999) — Budget, $16 million. Box office, $4.2 million. While this rock comedy died at the box office after four weeks, it has since become a Cult Classic.
Deuces Wild (2002) — Budget, $10 million. Box office, $6,282,446. Its universal panning from critics and that it opened the same day as Spider-Man killed it financially. It was rubbed out of theaters after four weeks.
Devil in a Blue Dress (1995) — Budget, $27 million. Box office, $16,140,822. The first and only film appearance of Walter Mosley's detective character Easy Rawlins. It was an Acclaimed Flop, though.
Devilman (2004) — Budget, ¥1 billion ($9.4 million). Box office, ¥520 million (approx $5 million). The live-action version of Go Nagai's classic manga received a rancid reception from critics and audiences, primarily for its poor acting from its inexperienced cast, lackluster visual effects, and nonsensical story. This was the final film for director Hiroyuki Nasu, who died a few months later. His wife, Machiko Nasu, the film's screenwriter, saw her career slow down soon after.
The Devil's Double (2011) — Budget, $19.1 million. Box office, $1,361,512. A biopic of Yatif Yahia, the reluctant Body Double of Saddam Hussein's son Uday. The critics were mixed about it, though they lauded Dominic Cooper's performance as Yatif and Uday, while the film itself lingered in limited release. Director Lee Tamahori waited five years to make another film.
The Devil's Own (1997) — Budget, $90 million. Box office, $42,868,348 (domestic), $140,807,547 (worldwide). This served as the final film for director Alan J. Pakula, as he was killed in a car accident the next year after its release.
Devotion (2022) - Budget, $90 million. Box office, $21.7 million. The reviews for the film were decent, but the second film starring Glen Powell as a flying ace released in 2022 probably would have performed better had its release window not coincided with both Black Panther: Wakanda Forever and Avatar: The Way of Water.

Di - Dz

Diabolique (1996) — Budget, $45 million. Box office, $17,100,266. The second of 3 career-zapping bombs for director Jeremiah Chechik, and the last film Marvin Worth produced before his death.
Diana (2013) — Budget, $15 million. Box office, $335,359 (domestic), $21,766,271 (worldwide). In its native UK, this Princess Diana biopic received overwhelmingly negative reviews from critics and just barely broke even; as a result, distributor Entertainment One quietly dumped the film in a few theaters when it was brought over across the pond, before bringing it straight to DVD a mere three months later.
Diary of a Wimpy Kid: The Long Haul (2017) — Budget, $22 million. Box office, $20,541,739 (domestic), $33,561,079 (worldwide). The negative backlash over this adaptation replacing all of the cast from the previous three films (spawning the #NotMyRodrick meme), combined with the hiatus between the movies (even creator Jeff Kinney stated there wouldn't be more films starring said cast due to the child actors growing older; this resulted in Dog Days being severely rushed), critics panning it far more severely than the original trilogy and competition from Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2, dealt quite the damage to this film's overall performance. The chances of another live action Wimpy Kid movie are slim to none at this point. After Fox was acquired by Disney, they announced an animated Continuity Reboot for streaming on Disney+ .
Dick (1999) — Budget, $13 million. Box office, $6.3 million. It got pretty good reviews, but this comedy about two girls who get involved in Watergate suffered from an Uncertain Audience. It got Vindicated by Video and became a Cult Classic.
Dicks: The Musical (2023) - Budget, $8 million. Box Office, $1.5 million. This very raunchy musical from A24, based on the off-broadway musical Fucking Identical Twins, was ultimately too niche for mainstream audiences and went limp after expanding.
Did You Hear About the Morgans? (2009) — Budget, $58 million. Box office, $29,580,087 (domestic), $85,280,250 (worldwide). This unfortunately got released the same day as Avatar and it was left stranded on Earth. The negative critical reception didn't help either. Director Marc Lawrence wouldn't have another film credit until 2014's The Rewrite.
Diggstown (1992) — Budget, $17 million. Box office, $4,836,637. The start of a series of busts that ended the directorial career of Michael Ritchie.
The Dilemma (2011) — Budget, $70 million. Box office, $69,721,966. The trailers to this Ron Howard comedy caused controversy due to Vince Vaughn's character's gay joke, especially so since they were released during a rash of suicides by gay teens. While the offending line was excised in later trailers, it remained untouched in the finished film. Vaughn also caused problems by taking control from Howard and forced numerous rewrites. The end result derailed Vaughn's career when it opened to tepid reviews and some of the weakest results of his career. It also didn't help Kevin James' movie career.
Dirty Dancing: Havana Nights (2004) — Budget, $25 million. Box office, $27.7 million. This movie got called out on its attempt to remake the original '80s film. Director Guy Ferland was sent down to the TV stage, and the producers and writers also saw their careers pushed into the background for several years. Finally, it was the penultimate film from Artisan Entertainment prior to being absorbed into Lionsgate (their previous film was Uwe Boll's House of the Dead, and their next and last film was The Punisher (2004))
Dirty Love (2005) — Budget, $9 million. Box office, $36,099. This dirtied Jenny McCarthy's cinematic career. The Razzies said that giving Worst Picture among other "honors" to this was like how the Academy Awards also "spot a small, worthy title among better known but less deserving films".
A Dirty Shame (2004) — Budget, $15 million. Box office, $1,914,166. This very dirty movie's ugly box office returns and mixed reviews was cited by John Waters as to why he has yet to sit in the director's chair again (until his Self-Adaptation Liarmouth, expected in 2023).
Dirty Work (1998) — Budget, $13 million. Box office, $10,023,282. Bob Saget didn't direct another film until 2006's Farce of the Penguins, and killed Norm Macdonald's film career before it could get off the ground. This is also known for being the last film of Chris Farley. Fortunately, this movie was Vindicated by Video, and it would later become a Cult Classic.
The Disappointments Room (2016) — Budget, $15 million. Box office, $5.6 million. The film lived up to its title and them some with critics. Relativity Media having to deal with Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection led to them switching release dates before dumping it at the very end of the 2016 Summer Bomb Buster. It experienced a 97.4% drop in box office from weeks two to three (beating Gigli's drop), which put actor Wentworth Miller's writing career in a prison cell and did serious damage to the careers of the producers (director D.J. Caruso at least bounced back the following year with Xx X Return Of Xander Cage).
Disaster Movie (2008) — Budget, $20 million. Box office, $14,190,901 (domestic), $31,683,375 (worldwide). Considered to be the movie that started slowing the infamous Seltzer and Friedberg director duo.
Disorganized Crime (1989) — Budget, $20 million. Box office, $7 million. Director/Writer Jim Kouf waited four years to write another film, Another Stakeout, and another four to direct again.
Distant Thunder (1988) — Budget, $8 million. Box office, $156,000. Despite being critically acclaimed, it ended up having the overall worst results of a major movie in 1988. Director Rick Rosenthal wouldn't direct another theatrical film for ten years, and this was the last theatrical movie written by Robert Stitzel.
Disturbing Behavior — Budget, $15 million. Box office, $17 million. It placed director David Nutter in director jail. Though he has directed a lot of TV since, he hasn't directed another theatrical feature film.
The Divergent Series: Allegiant (2016) — Budget, $110 million. Box office, $66,184,051 (domestic), $179,240,773 (worldwide). This movie was easily the lowest grossing film in the franchise (compare the first and second movies' $54,607,747 and $52,263,680 opening weekends to Allegiant's $29,027,348) and came after a predecessor, Insurgent, that itself had been a financial and critical disappointment. This decline most likely had to do with Lionsgate forcing the creators to churn out a film every year without fine-tuning the script, the release of Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice the week after, and the dying genre/trend of young adult dystopian future novels where teens fight against evil adults; people started losing interest after Lionsgate's other such franchise,^note The Hunger Games, ended. Because of the weak box office performance, the planned fourth film, Ascendant, had its budget slashed and was re-imagined as a TV Movie, something almost unheard of for a big budget theatrical series; all of the big-name stars attached refused the paycut, and the series was cancelled outright without a conclusion.
DOA: Dead or Alive (2006) — Budget, $21 million. Box office, $480,813 (domestic), $7,516,532 (worldwide). This movie only spent 3 weeks in the North American market before succumbing to the Video Game Movies Suck backlash mixed with Invisible Advertising. It killed the directing career of Corey Yuen and inflicted a near-fatal wound on the writing career of co-writer J.F. Lawton, the latter of whom has written just one other film after this.
Doctor Detroit (1983) — Budget $8 million. Box office, $10,375,893. Fortunately for star Dan Aykroyd, his big hit Trading Places came out a month after this dire comedy about a literature professor masquerading as a pimp so he was unaffected. Director Michael Pressman was less fortunate, he was knocked back to television directing for thirteen years.
Doctor Dolittle (1967) — Budget, $17 million. Box office, $6.2 million. An infamous Troubled Production, part of a string of musical bombs for Twentieth Century Fox that killed the live-action musical, the Fox careers of Darryl Zanuck and his son Richard (Richard bounced back as a producer; his father didn't), and put the studio in a financial black hole until Star Wars in 1977 and the move to embrace VHS as an alternate viewing method, thanks in part due to negative reception from critics and competition from Disney's The Jungle Book for family audiences. Rex Harrison sunk his career with his prima donna attitude on the set. Despite this, the film was still nominated for nine Academy Awards (in which it won two for Best Original Song and Best Visual Effects), and an animated series adaptation produced by DePatie-Freleng Enterprises (of The Pink Panther fame) was produced in 1970. Another film version with Eddie Murphy eventually surfaced in the 90's, which spawned a series of mostly Direct-to-DVD sequels.
- Dolittle (2020) — Budget, $175 million. Box office, $77,047,065 (domestic), $223,343,452 (worldwide). The third Hollywood adaptation of the character, which starred Robert Downey Jr. (who also produced) as the doctor in his first major role after sending off Tony Stark in Avengers: Endgame, suffered a Troubled Production and Executive Meddling from Universal and Downey that had Oscar-winning director Stephen Gaghan's more mature cut reshot into a sillier and more kid-friendly film that received scathing reviews, primarily for the added humor, and opened to a disappointing $28 million over MLK Day weekend against Bad Boys for Life and Universal's own 1917, and its international take was severely hampered by the quickly spreading COVID-19 Pandemic. The film bombing wasn't great news for Universal, who had just suffered the failure of Cats only a month earlier.
Doctor Sleep (2019) — Budget, $47 million. Box office, $31,494,813 (domestic), $71,794,813 (worldwide). Despite good critical reception, Mike Flanagan's adaption of Stephen King's sequel to The Shining fell well below studio projections, making only $14.1 million on opening weekend as opposed to the expected $25 million, lost the top spot to Midway, and had a ghastly 69% drop in its 3rd week. In the end, the film made less money in the States than what Stanley Kubrick's version of The Shining made unadjusted in 1980. Box office analysts pinned the film's underperformance on the marketing focusing too much on imagery from its predecessor, which alienated younger audiences unfamiliar with the horror classic, and coming out after Halloween, when there's much less of a demand for horror movies. The second of three consecutive attempted franchise revivals to bomb within a week of each other, sandwiched between Terminator: Dark Fate and Charlies Angels.
Doctor T and the Women (2000) — Budget, $23 million. Box office, $22,844,291. Part of a 2000/2001 slate that put production company Artisan Entertainment on life support; they would rebound the next year before being absorbed by Lionsgate.
Domestic Disturbance (2001) — Budget, $53 million. Box office, $54,249,294. Director Harold Becker has not directed since this movie, and it put a dent in producer Jonathan D. Krane's career that remained until he died in 2016. This didn't hurt Steve Buscemi, one of this film's stars, one bit, as he rebounded after he lent his voice to Randall Boggs in Pixar's Monsters, Inc., which came out the same day as Domestic Disturbance.
Dominion: Prequel to The Exorcist (2005) — Budget, $30 million. Box office, $251,495. Paul Schrader's Exorcist prequel was hit with Invisible Advertising and an extremely limited release, not helped by it opening opposite Revenge of the Sith. However, it received slightly better reviews and an endorsement from William Peter Blatty.
Domino (2005) — Budget, $50 million. Box office, $22,944,502. This dramatization of the life of bounty hunter Domino Harvey saw its release date shuffled around multiple times, including at least once when the real Harvey died that June. The end result got scathing reviews from critics and was greeted apathetically by audiences. Director Tony Scott considered it one of his favorite films while Keira Knightley had better luck that year with Pride & Prejudice (2005).
Donnie Darko (2001) — Budget, $6 million. Box office, $1,270,522. The movie flopped thanks to being released a month after 9/11. However, thanks to DVD, the movie gained a cult following, and it kickstarted the career of its director and writer, Richard Kelly.
Don't Be Afraid of the Dark (2011) — Budget, $25 million. Box office, $24,046,682 (domestic), $39,126,427 (worldwide). The film's release was delayed due to Disney's sale of Miramax.
Don't Tell Her It's Me (1990) — Budget, $6.7 million. Box office, $1,171,762. Part of a string of star-derailing roles for Steve Guttenberg and one of the many films that drove Shelley Long back to television after leaving Cheers.
Doogal (2006) — Budget, $20 million. Box office, $7,417,319 (domestic), $26,691,243 (worldwide). An American dub of The Magic Roundabout, it was critically panned for its poor, pop-culture reference-filled writing, weak voice acting, and for lacking the charm of the original series. Worst of all, the movie was already dubbed in English, making this version even more unnecessary. It was the last time anyone in America heard anything about The Magic Roundabout.
Doom (2005) — Budget, $60 million. Box office, $55,987,321. An attempt to counter Video Game Movies Suck by even being R-rated to try to do justice to the bloody games, only to instead alienate the fanbase for being more of a generic action sci-fi, with the only positively received part being the scene that actually emulated the classic First-Person Shooter (which in turn got the scorn of those unfamiliar; Roger Ebert famously said it was like "some kid came over and is using your computer and won't let you play"). When this intended Grand Premiere installment got gunned down by critics and the box office, the planned sequels were cast into the fire; Universal would revisit the property in 2019 with the direct-to-video reboot Doom: Annihilation.
Doomsday (2008) — Budget, $33 million. Box office, $22,211,326. This received mixed reviews from critics, who generally accused the film of being a Post-Apocalyptic Cliché Storm.
Double Dragon (1994) — Budget, $7.8 million. Box office, $2,341,309. Another case of Video Game Movies Suck, it also helped put Gramercy Pictures in a bad spot (this would not be the last video game-based movie to do serious damage to Gramercy). This came out before another beat'em up/fighting game-based film from Gramercy co-parent Universal, Jean-Claude Van Damme's Street Fighter, which fared well at the box office, but not with critics. It proved to be a Star-Derailing Role for leads Mark Dacascos and Robert Patrick (who mostly stuck to television, and the former plays the Chairman on Food Network's Iron Chef), and knocked off some of the health bars belonging to producers Jane Hamsher and Don Murphy, who did not produce another film for 4 years, director James Yukich, who didn't direct another film for 5 years and otherwise stuck to TV, screenwriters Michael Davis and Peter Gould (the latter eventually moved on to Breaking Bad), and story men Paul Dini and Neal Shusterman (the former has only dealt with animated/comic book/video game material since, and the latter was written for TV and done novels since).
Double Team (1997) — Budget, $30 million. Box office, $11,438,337. This and Knock Off led to director Tsui Hark remaining in Chinese cinema, and it didn't help out Jean-Claude Van Damme or Dennis Rodman's careers too much, either (both of them earned Razzies for this film).
Down with Love (2003) — Budget, $35 million. Box office, $20,305,251 (domestic), $39,468,111 (worldwide). It opened in wide release on the same day as The Matrix Reloaded and was promptly buried that summer. Critics gave it a mixed-to-positive reception but time has been kinder to it.
Downsizing (2017) — Budget, $68 million. Box office, $52,694,653. Alexander Payne's sci-fi satire debuted to a packed holiday season and came up short. Critics didn't greet this as warmly as his other films, citing the wasted potential of the premise as their biggest concern.
Downtown (1990) — Budget, $10 million. Box office, $2,346,150. The movie was released during one of the fiercest seasons in movie history at the time, and suffered from barely any promotion. It almost ended director Richard Benjamin's career, though another movie he did later that year, Mermaids, did well enough to keep him steady.
Dr. Jekyll & Ms. Hyde (1995) — Budget, $8 million. Box office, $3,039,634. Robert Shapiro did not produce another movie for 4 years. Also one of the last leading roles for Sean Young.
Dracula 3D (2013) — Budget, $7.7 million. Box office, $643,758 (worldwide). Dario Argento's take on the infamous count was burned at the stake at its 2012 Cannes premier for its cheap looking 3D effects, unintentional humor and clichéd take on the source material. It would take a year for the film to be picked up for distribution; it only saw a limited run in Europe and went direct-to-video elsewhere, racking up a paltry score of 14% on Rotten Tomatoes. The last in a string of underperforming and critically skewered films from Argento, who didn’t direct another film for a decade.
Dracula: Dead and Loving It (1995) — Budget, $30 million. Box office, $10,772,144. Where Life Stinks failed (since that was followed by Robin Hood: Men in Tights, which despite negative reception was a moderate box office success), Dracula: Dead and Loving it succeeded in ending Mel Brooks' movie career after a previous record of accomplishments. He later found success in Broadway, notably stage versions of The Producers and Young Frankenstein.
Draft Day (2014) - Budget, $25 million. Box office, $29 million (worldwide). Despite getting the NFL's blessings, this American football drama couldn't score a touchdown in a box office dominated by Captain America: The Winter Soldier and Rio 2. The fact that it was a sports movie about the executives rather than the athletes fans usually root for probably didn't help matters, though the increase in popularity of the NFL draft in subsequent years has helped make it something of a Cult Classic that has made its money back on the home market. This would be the final film Ivan Reitman would direct before his death in 2022.
Dragonball Evolution (2009) — Budget, $30 million. Box office, $9,362,785 (domestic), $57,497,699 (worldwide). Hated by fans for being an In Name Only adaptation, it killed any chance of a live action film based on the sequel series, Dragon Ball Z. The Dragon Ball franchise rebounded with the release of Dragon Ball Z Kai and never looked back.
Dragonfly (2002) — Budget, $60 million. Box office, $52,323,400. Writer David Seltzer wrote one more film before sticking with television.
Dragonslayer (1981) — Budget, $18 million (estimated). Box office, $14,110,013. The last of two films in Walt Disney Productions' co-production deal with Paramount (following Robert Altman's Popeye); this film had more mature themes that weren't associated with Disney at the time. This film's creation and subsequent failure, along with several other films, would lead to the creation of Touchstone, which had released Splash by the time Paramount executives Michael Eisner and Jeffrey Katzenberg took Disney away from CEO Ron Miller. Dragonslayer is also the semi-final film from co-producer Hal Barwood before he jumped ship to LucasArts and started working on video games instead, and his final movie would come four years after Dragonslayer.
Dramatic School (1938) — Budget, $602,000. Box office, $433,000 (domestic), $664,000 (worldwide). Recorded loss, $206,000. This was the last film Luise Rainer made for MGM. She was brought in as a replacement for Greer Garson, who was supposed to make her MGM debut here. She made one more film, Hostages, in 1943, before she stuck to mainly TV for the rest of her life.
Dream House (2011) — Budget, $50 million. Box office, $38,502,340. Director Jim Sheridan and stars/spouses Daniel Craig and Rachel Weisz hated it so much they refused to promote it. The critics agreed with their disdain.
Dream Lover (1993) — Budget, $15 million. Box office, $256,264.
Dreamcatcher (2003) — Budget, $68 million. Box office, $33,715,436 (domestic), $75,715,436 (worldwide). The film's disappointing take prompted Lawrence Kasdan to spend nine years without taking any more film credits. It also forced superauthor William Goldman (who wrote Marathon Man and The Princess Bride), to withdraw from Hollywood until The New '10s. The source material (a Stephen King novel of the same name) may have been part of the problem: King himself has said it's one of the worst things he ever wrote, mainly because he was high as a kite on oxycontin.
Dredd (2012) - Budget, $50,000,000. Box office, $41,037,742. This take on the 2000 AD character got a considerably warmer reception from critics and fans than the prior attempt, but Invisible Advertising and lingering audience distaste from the 1995 film led to this being an Acclaimed Flop. It became a Cult Classic and did much better on home video sales, though apparently not enough to get a sequel greenlit.
Drillbit Taylor (2008) — Budget, $35 million. Box office, $32,862,104 (domestic), $49,690,625 (worldwide). This was John Hughes' last screen work before his death in 2009; he was credited with the pseudonym Edmond Dantès.
Drive Angry (2011) — Budget, $50 million. Box office, $41,042,583. One of several busts in The New '10s for Nicolas Cage. It also derailed director Patrick Lussier's career, whose next credits ^note were co-writing Terminator Genisys and directing an episode of Scream: The TV Series.
Driven (2001) — Budget, $72 million. Box office, $54,744,738. This was Sylvester Stallone's first film to open at number one since Cop Land, but he came to regret ever doing it. It also did no favors for director Renny Harlin.
The Driver (1978) — Budget, $4 million. Box office, $4.9 million (worldwide). Walter Hill's second directing job after Hard Times. Contemporary reviews from American critics sent it to the car crusher, deriding its minimalism as a pretentious attempt to imitate French neo-noir films and its car chases as excessive, while Roger Ebert scolded Hill for making characters symbols rather than people. Hill's career survived thanks to The Warriors, but Isabelle Adjani blamed it for sabotaging her American film career, and it was the beginning of a downturn for Ryan O'Neal. International critics and audiences were much more positive, and it would later be Vindicated by History and regarded as one of Hill's best films, influencing directors such as Michael Mann, Quentin Tarantino, and Nicolas Winding Refn.
Drop Zone (1994) — Budget, $45 million. Box office, $28,735,315. Went up against Terminal Velocity, another skydiving-themed thriller. This one did marginally better critically and commercially though still well below expectations. Screenwriter John Bishop never wrote another original screenplay (he did do rewrites over the next few years). The other writer, Peter Barsocchini, didn't write another film for 14 years and eventually moved on to the High School Musical series. Part of a string of flops for director John Badham.
D-Tox (2002) — Budget, $55 million. Box office, about $12,000 (domestic, and there is no mistake), $6,337,141 (worldwide). This film derailed Sylvester Stallone's film career, which was already damaged by the failures of Get Carter and Driven just a year ago. The film was shelved for a few years, Ron Howard and Brian Grazer took their names off of the film (they were the executive producers), and the test screenings were so bad that Universal decided not to release it. The film was subsequently picked up by DEJ Productions, who gave the film an EXTREMELY limited release before sending it to video (said company was owned by Blockbuster Video).
DuckTales the Movie: Treasure of the Lost Lamp (1990) — Budget, $20,000,000. Box office, $18,100,000. The film's disappointment led to the cancellation of other Disney Afternoon movies in development (except A Goofy Movie). Both this and The Rescuers Down Under later that year also ensured all Disney Renaissance films for the rest of the decade would be musicals; it would be a while before adventure animation came back to the forefront. DuckTales: The Movie is the sole made-for-cinemas film and one of only two cinematic films DC/Warner veteran Alan Burnett worked on; Batman: Mask of the Phantasm was originally meant to go Direct to Video.
Dudley Do-Right (1999) — Budget, $70 million. Box office, $9,974,410. Its failure along with that of the later released companion film The Adventures of Rocky & Bullwinkle ultimately killed off plans for a Mr. Peabody & Sherman Live-Action Adaptation. That project was later rebooted instead as a CGI adaptation at DreamWorks Animation, and that ended up underperforming as well (although unlike Rocky and Bullwinkle and Dudley Do-Right, it at least made back its budget). This and Blast from the Past also blasted director Hugh Wilson's career into the wall for 5 years, and cast member and Monty Python vet Eric Idle has not appeared in another live-action film in an extended capacity after this and Burn Hollywood Burn.
Duets (2000) — Budget, $16 million. Box office, $6,620,242. This was the final film directed by Bruce Paltrow and the only film where he worked with his daughter, Gwyneth.
Duma (2005) — Budget, $12 million. Box office, $994,790. This was a critical darling but it never left a limited release of 42 theaters.
Dumb Money (2023) - Budget, $30 million. Box office, $13,925,356 (domestic), $20,036,382 (worldwide). Despite garnering good reviews, this movie about the 2021 GameStop short squeeze was severely kneecapped by the SAG-AFTRA strike, which prevented its high-profile cast from doing any publicity for the movie.
Dune (1984) — Budget, $40 million. Box office, $30,925,690 (domestic). This adaptation of Frank Herbert's legendary novel was derided by critics for its incomprehensible plot and quickly died at the box office, taking plans to adapt the sequel novels with it. Although it is now a Cult Classic and Frank Herbert gave his approval of the final product, David Lynch disowned it instantly thanks to an infamously Troubled Production and lack of creative control, and Lynch resented the experience so much that he demanded his name taken off the extended cut. It also put producer Raffaella De Laurentis in the B-list of producers before she made a comeback with Backdraft. It would be over three decades before Hollywood would try once again to adapt the novel to better commercial results.
Dungeons & Dragons (2000) — Budget, $45 million. Box office, $33,807,409. Director Courtney Solomon blamed this movie's failure on an outdated script and Executive Meddling from D&D's copyright holders forcing him into the director's chair. This film had sequels, but they were sent straight to the home entertainment field and do not directly continue this film's story. Solomon did return for the first sequel, but he did not direct that one (as a matter of fact, he didn't direct or get another screen credit until 2005, and he's only directed two movies since). It would take 23 years for the property to get another crack at the big screen.
Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves (2023) - Budget, $150 million. Box office, $208,177,026. Despite general praise from both critics and general audiences, the film faced stiff competition from John Wick: Chapter 4 and The Super Mario Bros. Movie, and the studio failed to recoup the production budget in the theatrical window.
Dunston Checks In (1996) — Budget, $16 million. Box office, $9,871,066. Managed to send ideas of making movies with apes into the dumpster unless they are gorillas. It and Beautician and the Beast also left director Ken Kwapis's career lost in space until the mid-2000s (after a successful TV run with The Office (US), The Bernie Mac Show, and Malcolm in the Middle), and it dealt serious damage to the careers of all the actors in the movie who are not named Glenn Shadix and Faye Dunaway. That list includes Jason Alexander, Rupert Everett, and Paul Reubens, the last of whom was still recovering from the nudie theater fiasco.
Duplex (2003) — Budget, $40 million. Box office, $19,322,135. One of two films in the 2002/2003 schedule that killed Danny Devito's directing career after 1996's Matilda wounded it; Death to Smoochy is the other movie.
Duplicity (2009) — Budget, $60 million. Box office, $40,572,825 (domestic), $78,146,652 (worldwide). This was Julia Roberts's first starring role since Mona Lisa Smile and it was one of a series of busts that would cost Universal chairman Marc Smuger his job. The critics generally liked it, though, and Roberts got a Golden Globe nomination.
Dutch (1991) — Budget, $17 million. Box office, $4,603,929. The second and last theatrical film directed by Peter Faiman, who went back to TV after producing FernGully: The Last Rainforest.
Dylan Dog: Dead of Night (2011) — Budget, $20 million. Box office, $4,634,062. Producer Scott Mitchell Rosenberg, who is a Marvel alumni and the founder of Malibu Comics and Platinum Studios, has not had his name or Platinum's name attached to any film since thanks to this and Cowboys & Aliens. The other producer, Gilbert Adler, also does not have his name attached to another cinematic release past this point, and director Kevin Munroe and co-writer Thomas Dean Donnelly had the lights go out for their cinematic careers for 5 years. It also didn't help former Superman Brandon Routh's career either.

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