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Nadine (1987) — Budget, $12 million. Box office, $5,669,831. Robert Benton's next writing credit came in 1994 (his next film as director was 1991's Billy Bathgate, which was also a commercial failure).
Naked Lunch (1991) — Budget, $17-$18 million. Box office, $2,641,357. This film baffled critics such as Siskel & Ebert due to its content and likely baffled audiences as well.
Napoleon (2023) — Budget, $200 million. Box office, $221 million. One of several auteur-driven films granted a tremendous budget and creative freedom by Apple for the purpose of beefing up the prestige of Apple TV+. Many observers believed that Apple would have been happy to send this film straight to streaming and not even release it in theaters, only compromising to placate director Ridley Scott (though a partnership with Universal for the theatrical rollout likely helped reduce costs incurred by Apple). A three-hour runtime, oddly comic tone, historical inaccuracies, and mixed reviews limited the appeal for general audiences in the theatrical window. While it would have needed to make around half a billion dollars theatrically to cover its cost, experts have debated whether the film drove enough subscriptions to Apple TV+ to ultimately justify the pricetag.
Narrow Margin (1990) — Budget, $15-20 million. Box office, $10,873,237. This remake of the film noir is best known for Roger Ebert popularizing the tropes Idiot Plotinvoked and Da Chief in his review.
Nate and Hayes (1983) — Budget, $12 million. Box office, $1.9 million (domestic). This film was an attempt by Paramount, then under Michael Eisner, to capitalize on the success of Raiders of the Lost Ark through a pirate angle, but it failed, and helped contribute to the genre getting pushed onto the backburner (Cutthroat Island would hang the genre the next decade outside of Disney's Pirates of the Caribbean movies, which also started under Eisner).
National Lampoon's Gold Diggers (2004) — Budget, $6 million. Box office, $829,140. Gary Priesler's only credit as director.
National Lampoon's Movie Madness (1983) — Budget, $15 million. Box office, $5,027,193. Originally finished in 1981, it sat on the shelf for two years under the name National Lampoon Goes To The Movies. While it was critically despised and failed badly, it didn't slow National Lampoon down at all.
The Nativity Story (2006) - Budget, $35 million ($65 million with prints and advertising included). Box office, $46.4 million. New Line Cinema's attempt to cash-in on The Passion of the Christ was unsuccessful in trying to lure their coveted Christian demographic; the result of a poorly thought-out grassroots campaign and their failure to have the movie pre-screened for religious leaders (who would help spread word-of-mouth). Keisha Castle-Hughes, who played the Virgin Mary, was ironically outed as an unwed teenage mother before the film came out, which probably didn't help matters.
The Navigator: A Medieval Odyssey (1988) — Budget, A$4.3 million. Box office, A$480,344 (Australian box office), $1,333,379 (US Box office). This didn't set the box office on fire, but it impressed critics, got a five-minute standing ovation at Cannes, and got director Vincent Ward attached to Alien³ for a while.
Near Dark (1987) — Budget, $5 million. Box office, $3.4 million. Part of a string of box office underperformers for writer Eric Red, though this one became a Cult Classic.
Ned Kelly (1970) - Budget, $2.5 million. Box office, $808,000. This was The Rolling Stones frontman Mick Jagger's first feature film not As Himself, as he played the title character of Ned Kelly. This was Mark McManus's last role before returning to Great Britain, where he fared better by playing the title character of Taggart, starting in 1983. Screenwriter Ian Jones did not write his next non-television screenplay, The Lighthorsemen, until 1987. In the meantime, he produced one non-television film, The Box, based on the TV show of the same name, in 1975. This film also ensured that Shel Silverstein, who served as the film's music composer, stick to children's poetry, which was what he did best.
The Negotiator (1998) — Budget, $50 million. Box office, $44,748,766 (domestic), $71,848,766 (worldwide). Despite relatively good reviews, this action thriller opened at number four in a weekend led by holdover Saving Private Ryan. Director F. Gary Gray didn't work on another film until A Man Apart five years later.
The Neon Demon (2016) — Budget, $7 million. Box office, $3,559,803. This psychological horror-thriller about modeling received polarized reviews for its Surreal Horror and Gorn, with some critics finding it outright misogynistic in its excess. Combined with the Audience-Alienating Premise, it didn't last long in a limited release. Nicolas Winding Refn has not directed another film, going into TV.
Never Let Me Go (2010) — Budget, $15 million. Box office, $9,455,232. This film got decent reviews but was unable to exit limited release in the United States.
The NeverEnding Story II: The Next Chapter (1990) — Budget, $36 million. Box office, $17 million (domestic), $56,468,971 (worldwide). Thanks to a long gap between movies, only one actor from the first film, the librarian, returned for NeverEnding Story II. While it was a hit worldwide, it couldn't recoup its costs in America, as it got a horrible reception from critics and fans for the plot. Its failure in America didn't stop a third film from being made.
- The Neverending Story III Escape From Fantasia (1994) — Budget, $17 million. Box office, $5 million (Germany), possibly less than $10,000 (North America). Following part 2's poor reception, the third entry in the series, which has no basis on Michael Ende's novel and none of the actors from the other movies. NeverEnding Story III proceeded to get an even worse reception than the previous entry due to further aggravating the characters and plot problems beyond what II did, making Falkor and the Rock Biter Out of Character, and completely omitting Atreyu and the series's theme song. The rock-bottom reception prevented NeverEnding Story III from getting a general wide release in the U.S. until Miramax Films and Disney bought the distribution rights and brought it Direct to Video 2 years later after a poor test theatrical run. It's one of the few films Jack Black sees as a mistake, it erased writer Jeff Lieberman's cinematic career for a decade (except for one documentary), and it effectively ended the Neverending Story in America.
The New Adventures of Pippi Longstocking (1988) — Budget, $8-10 million. Box office, $3,569,939. One of two attempts in America to adapt the literary classic Pippi Longstocking. Columbia considered this film to be a flop plus it received mixed reviews at best. It was also Ken Annakin's last film he directed and wrote. The film gained some unintended notoriety when Pippi's actress, Tami Erin (who subsequently appeared on television shows after this film), resurfaced via a sex tape.
New Jersey Drive (1995) — Budget, $5 million. Box office, $3,565,508. Part of a year's slate that earned Gramercy Pictures shutdown threats from Universal.
The New Mutants (2020) — Budget, $67–80 million. Box office, $23,845,088 (domestic), $46,378,380 (worldwide), becoming one of the lowest grossing Marvel films. Following many postponements that undoubtedly diminished interest, it finally hit theaters three years after completing filming... in the middle of COVID-19 Pandemic. With less screens and audiences unwilling to leave their homes (it had an abysmal $750K opening night), this became the lowest grossing X-Men film, even worse than Dark Phoenix (though reviews were slightly better), ending Fox’s two decade run with the X-Men franchise on a whimper.
The New World (2005) — Budget, $30 million. Box office, $12.7 million (domestic), $30.5 million (worldwide). Terrence Malick's dramatization of the founding of Jamestown received mixed reviews upon release, with many critics calling out its excessive length and unfocused narrative, but was later Vindicated by History.
New York Minute (2004) — Budget, $30 million. Box office, $21,289,826. Derailed the careers of Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen (Ashley no longer acts) and killed off their Dualstar company.
New York, New York (1977) — Budget, $14 million. Box office, $16.4 million. Its famously Troubled Production was an early sign of the beginning of the end of New Hollywood and would've derailed Martin Scorsese's career for good if not for his next movie three years later. Its title track became a Breakaway Pop Hit.
New York Stories (1989) — Budget, $15 million. Box office, $10,763,469. Its widest release was in 514 theatres.
Newsies (1992) — Budget, $15 million. Box office, $2,819,485. This was originally intended to be a drama, but the higher-ups at maker Disney ordered it turned into a musical in an attempt to revive live-action versions of musicals on the back of the Disney Renaissance films The Little Mermaid and Beauty and the Beast. This move angered star Christian Bale, and the film's failure convinced him never to do another musical (after he lent a voice to Pocahontas first) and led to Disney's plans backfiring and keeping live-action musicals out of business until their next major attempt with High School Musical succeeded at this film's job. Eventually became a Cult Classic and earned a considerably better-received stage adaptation in 2011, which also happens to be a musical.
The Newton Boys (1998) — Budget, $27 million. Box office, $10,452,012. This was Richard Linklater's first mainstream studio film; it's also one of his lesser-known works.
Next (2007) — Budget, $70 million. Box office, $18,211,013 (domestic), $76,066,841 (worldwide). This Philip K. Dick short story adaptation was produced by Revolution Studios and was intended to be released by Sony in September 2006. But Paramount picked it up for the following April when Revolution and Sony's distribution deal dissolved. The end result was heavily panned by critics and faded away after eight weeks. Director Lee Tamahori waited four years before he made another film.
The Next Best Thing (2000) — Budget, $25 million. Box office, $24,362,772. This is the last time John Schlesinger took up a director's job in his life before his death in 2003, and this, among other movies, knocked Rupert Everett into the B-list of actors, as well as the penultimate film Madonna headlined.
The Next Karate Kid (1994) — Budget, $12 million. Box office, $8,751,228 (domestic), $15.8 million (worldwide). Critics and fans agreed that this fourth film in The Karate Kid series was an unnecessary sequel. It still got Hilary Swank noticed in Hollywood.
The Nice Guys (2016) — Budget, $50 million. Box office, $36,261,763 (domestic), $57,261,763 (worldwide). Despite glowing reviews from critics, this was released in the midst of one of the ugliest box office summers in cinema history and could not make up the budget as a result despite almost all of the big-budget competition getting worse reviews than Nice Guys got.
Nicholas and Alexandra (1971) - Budget, $9 million. Box office, $7 million (rentals). Franklin J. Schaffner's biopic of the last Tsar and Tsarina of Russia received critical acclaim and two Oscars for its Art Direction and Costume Design, but it was nowhere near the financial success Schaffner's last film was. Esteemed producer Sam Spiegel produced only two more films during his lifetime.
Nick of Time (1995) — Budget, $33 million. Box office, $8,175,346 (domestic). This film's failure sniped down director John Badham's cinematic career; he made just one more cinematic film (Incognito) before moving to television.
Night and the City (1992) — Budget, $20 million. Box office, $6,202,756. This remake of the 1950 film noir was generally liked by critics but was greeted with apathy upon release. Irwin Winkler returned to the director's chair three years later with The Net.
A Night in Heaven (1983) — Budget, $6 million. Box office, $5,563,663. Bryan Adams' theme song for the movie, "Heaven", is significantly better-remembered than the movie itself nowadays, as is the song "Obsession", which became a hit after it was Covered Up by Animotion.
Night of the Demons (2009) — Budget, $10 million. Box office, $64,040. Originally premiering at the London Frightfest in 2009, this film ultimately came Direct-To-DVD.
The Night of the Hunter (1955) — Budget, $750,000. Box office, $300,000 (US rentals). The first and only feature film directed by Charles Laughton. It's since been Vindicated by History as an all time masterpiece and its Sinister Minister villain has been expied and spoofed over the years.
Nightbreed (1990) — Budget, $11 million. Box office, $8.8-8.9 million. Director Clive Barker originally produced a 2 and a half hour cut of this movie, but 20th Century Fox, who wanted a straight-up horror film and a "Star Wars of Horror" trilogy, did some serious work on it in the editing room and doing reshoots, which led editor Richard Marden to Rage Quit. The final cut was 102 minutes, and earned bad reviews from critics, which killed the trilogy idea right out of the gates. Barker wouldn't direct again for 5 years. The original cut would not surface until the 25th anniversary in 2014.
Nightmare Alley (2021) — Budget, $60 million. Box office, $11,231,175 (domestic), $37,431,755 (worldwide). Guillermo del Toro‘s take on the classic noir novel was the most expensive film ever produced by Searchlight Pictures. While it received good reviews and Oscar nominations, it had the misfortune of opening on the exact same day as Spider-Man: No Way Home, on top of the Omicron variant of COVID-19 heavily reducing the turnout from older audiences.
Nil by Mouth (1997) — Budget, $9 million. Box office, $266,130. This is the only movie Gary Oldman wrote and directed, and while it got some decent reviews, it also earned notoriety for having the most usage of the word "cunt" (it also abused the F-Bomb).
Nine (2009) — Budget, $80 million. Box office, $53,998,806. This was compared unfavorably to director Rob Marshall's earlier musical smash Chicago. Critics cited its messy story and pacing among their problems with it.
Ninja Assassin (2009) — Budget, $40 million. Box office, $38,122,883 (domestic), $61,601,280 (worldwide). This was a setback for director James McTeigue and star Rain as neither made any movies for three years. Its negative reception from critics and being released shortly after New Moon, among other films, didn't help it either.
Nixon (1995) — Budget, $44 million. Box office, $13,681,765. Although co-writer Christopher Nickelson got an Oscar nomination for this Acclaimed Flop, he didn't write another script until Ali six years later.
No Escape (1994) — Budget, $20 million. Box office, $15.3 million. Director Martin Campbell rebounded with Goldeneye the next year.
No Good Deed (2002) — Budget, $12 million. Box office, $181,600 (faints). Was unfortunate enough to have a very limited release (402 theaters). It was the last film that Bob Rafelson has directed to date.
No Looking Back (1998) — Budget, $5 million. Box office, $222,099. This received mixed-to-negative reviews and a limited release of 23 theaters which ended two months later. This led director Edward Burns's friends to nickname it Nobody Saw It; it would be three years before Burns directed another film.
No Mercy (1986) — Budget, $14 million. Box office, $12,303,904 (domestic). According to Kim Basinger in a 1994 Movieline interview, No Mercy had an excellent script which was just destroyed along the way, and TriStar Pictures didn't market it properly.
Nocturnal Animals (2016) — Budget, $22.5 million. Box office, $10,663,357 (domestic), $29,252,978 (worldwide). Tom Ford's first directorial effort since his debut film, A Single Man, got generally positive reviews but its overwhelmingly bleak tone did it no favors with audiences.
Noises Off (1992) — Budget, $12 million. Box office, $2.2 million. The film version of Michael Frayn's stage farce only saw release in 451 theaters. Director Peter Bogdanovich only helmed one more film before he took the rest of the 20th century off.
Nomad the Warrior (2007) — Budget, $40 million. Box office, $3,088,685. This Kazakh historical epic was ravaged by critics for its messy screenplay and direction, though its cinematography and action scenes were praised. Director Sergei Bardov fared much better with his next film, Mongol, which became the first Kazakh film to be nominated for the Best International Feature Film Oscar.
Norm of the North (2016) — Budget, $18 million. Box office, $16.9 million (domestic), $22.6 million (worldwide). Trevor Wall's first animated feature directing job, this now has the potential to be his last. Two Direct to Video sequels were announced, but this film getting iced by nearly every critic in show business and immediately getting supplanted in bear entertainment by DreamWorks Animation's Kung Fu Panda 3 led to them being cut down and released as a single film to save costs.
North (1994) — Budget, $40 million. Box office, $7,182,747. Noteworthy for Roger Ebert saying he "hated, hated, hated, hated, hated this movie", and Ebert's partner Gene Siskel calling it "first class junk". Those negative reviews, along with dozens of others, and the intense summer competition of 1994, ultimately ensured the film's failure. Alan Zweibel, who wrote the novel it was based on, and his co-screenwriter, Andrew Scheinman, never worked on another movie until the end of The '90s. Rob Reiner, who has never regretted making North, found himself on the B-list of directors as a result of this film. This film's infamy also resulted in it only being available on VHS in the U.S. until 2012.
North Country (2005) — Budget, $35 million. Box office, $25,211,175. Niki Caro didn't direct another American theatrical film until McFarland, USA ten years later.
The Northman (2022) - Budget, $70-90 million. Box office, $69.6 million. Like The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent the same weekend, Robert Eggers' big-budget follow-up to The Lighthouse received great reviews from critics, but audiences weren't as interested in the director's more mature and arthouse style; while it grossed more than his previous films, it wasn't enough to make up for the much larger production costs.
Not Cool (2014) — Budget, $800,000. Box office, $36,026. This film was born from the short-lived Starz reality competition series The Chair, where two people (Anna Martemucci and Shane Dawson) went head-to-head in making their own movie from the same screenplay given to them. Shane won and both of the final films were dumped in a limited release, but Anna's Hollidaysburg was reviewed well by critics compared to Not Cool, which was widely panned especially for its offensive, scatological humor. It's one of six movies to hold a mere 1 rating on Metacritic.
Not Fade Away (2012) — Budget, $20 million. Box office, $427,000. Paramount basically gave this one the Invisible Advertising treatment as it was dumped onto the market with almost no trailers, TV or Internet spots, or posters.
Not Without My Daughter (1991) — Budget, $22 million. Box office, $14,789,113. The message about women being held against their will that this film attempted to convey unfortunately got Overshadowed by Controversy over its portrayal of Islam and Iran; criticism of the music from Jerry Goldsmith (which was accused of playing to Middle Eastern stereotypes), and star Sally Field getting a Razzie nomination for the film did not help. The last strike was, of course, the film failing in theaters and with critics, losing money for MGM/Pathe and derailing director Brian Gilbert's career. Alexis Kouros countered the film with his own documentary, Without My Daughter, which was endorsed by Betty Mahmoody's then-husband, Sayed Mahmoody, whose feud with his wife over their daughter was the focus of the original flop.
Nothing But the Truth (2008) — Budget, $11 million. Box office, $409,832 (worldwide). Its production company, Yari Film Group, filed for bankruptcy the month it was supposed to open in the US. It went straight-to-DVD there and limped into theaters around the world.
Nothing but Trouble (1991) — Budget, $40 million. Box office, $8,479,793. This served as star Dan Aykroyd's only directorial effort behind the camera, as the gross-out horror-comedy's bizarre premise and bloated budget ensured Warner Bros. didn't come close to a return on investment. Has become something of a Cult Classic.
Novocaine (2001) — Budget, $6 million. Box office, $2,036,682. This movie turned director/writer David Atkins's career rotten; he's only done an internet series about himself since. It also was part of a year's slate that put production company Artisan Entertainment on life support; they would rebound the next year before being absorbed by Lionsgate.
Nurse Betty (2000) — Budget, $35 million. Box office, $29,360,400. One of the movies that led to Gramercy Pictures winding up in the morgue until 2015, though it was reviewed well by critics.
The Nut Job 2: Nutty by Nature (2017) — Budget, $40 million. Box office, $28,370,522 (domestic), $65,146,020 (worldwide). Like its preceding film, it gained toxic reviews from critics, but while the last film did surprisingly well at the box office, this one performed very poorly. The second bomb in a row for animation studio Toonbox Entertainment and part of a very bad year for distributor Open Road Films.
The Nutcracker (1993) — Budget, $19 million. Box office, $2,119,994. The start of Macaulay Culkin's acting career downfall, as the next year would see the child actor star in not one, but three flops (Getting Even with Dad, The Pagemaster, and Richie Rich, in that order). After that, he would not appear in another feature film until Party Monster in 2003. This was also the final theatrical film from director Emile Ardolino, who died from AIDS 4 days before the film opened, and it's the sole movie that record producer Robert Hurwitz has a credit on.
The Nutcracker and the Four Realms (2018) — Budget, $120-133 million. Box office, $54,858,851 (domestic), $173,961,069 (worldwide). With only one week to make its mark before The Grinch and Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald opened in turn, this movie's $20 million opening in the U.S. (plus almost $40 million overseas) and its lack of legs were disastrous for a film with a nine-figure budget, never mind promotional costs. Between it being a Christmas movie opening two days after Halloween, the poor stigma attached to film adaptations of The Nutcracker (especially after The Nutcracker in 3D), Disney deciding to invoke Not Screened for Critics, Morgan Freeman's sexual harassment allegations, the Girl-Show Ghetto, and audiences just being more interested in Bohemian Rhapsody, this film never really stood a chance. It was the third major bomb for Disney in 2018 after A Wrinkle in Time and Solo: A Star Wars Story, although a number of box office pundits noted the colossal box office grosses of Black Panther, Avengers: Infinity War and Incredibles 2 easily mopped up those losses for the company.
The Nutcracker in 3D (2010) — Budget, $90 million. Box office, $14,678,086, nearly all of which came from the Russian market. This sat on The Shelf of Movie Languishment for three years to get a 3D conversion. The end result was universally despised by critics thanks to its shockingly family-unfriendly content, and died a quiet death in limited release. It derailed director Andrei Konchalovsky's career for four years.

The Obama Effect (2012) — Budget, $10 million. Box office, $110,000. The last film directed by Charles S. Dutton to date; it was also his only writing credit.
OC and Stiggs (1987) — Budget, $7 million. Box office, $29,815. Robert Altman's first major studio film since Popeye was a much bigger fiasco. It sat on The Shelf of Movie Languishment for three years before getting a perfunctory release.
Oceans (2010) — Budget, $80 million (marketing included). Box office, $19,422,319 (domestic), $82,651,439 (worldwide). This Disneynature documentary suffered due to competition from Paramount and DreamWorks Animation's How to Train Your Dragon and Lionsgate's Kick-Ass.
Odd Thomas (2013) — Budget, $27 million. Box office, $1.3 million. This adaptation of a Dean Koontz novel was beset by legal disputes which crippled the film's marketing and distribution, and it imploded at the box office as a result. As of 2021, Stephen Sommers has yet to direct a film.
Off Limits (1988) — Budget, $12 million. Box office, $7,242,035. Despite bombing at the box office, it reportedly made a big profit on video. The final film produced by American Entertainment Partners.
Offending Angels (2002) — Budget, £70,000. Box office, around £89. This was a smash hit on the festival circuit, but it received mixed to negative reviews upon release. It didn't help that original financier Ardent Productions was going through financial difficulties at the time, and the job went to Guerilla Films.
Old Gringo (1989) — Budget, $27 million. Box office, $3,574,256. This was dumped in a limited release of 237 theaters after it was booed at the Cannes Film Festival. Director Luis Puenzo did two more films for the 20th century, then two more in the 21st and nothing since. It was a box-office success in Mexico, which is the film's setting and shooting location. It was the penultimate film Jane Fonda starred in before she went on a 15-year break from acting.
Oldboy (2013) — Budget, $30 million. Box office, $4,861,022. Spike Lee's remake of the 2003 Park Chan-wook film was deemed a case of It's the Same, Now It Sucks! and it was the penultimate film for Film District before it was absorbed into Focus Features.
Oliver Twist (2005) — Budget, $60 million. Box office, $42,580,321. Roman Polański's version of the Charles Dickens novel was generally liked by critics, but its widest release was in 779 theaters and it lost all but 98 of them by its fourth and final week.
On a Clear Day You Can See Forever (1970) - Budget, $10 million. Box office, $14 million (gross), $5.35 million (domestic rentals). The film version of Alan Jay Lerner and Burton Lane's musical came out when movie musicals were on the decline. Barbra Streisand had better luck that year with The Owl And The Pussycat—the only reason why that one isn't on Blu-ray yet is because she hates it and will only allow release of an edited version that would no doubt get videophiles up in arms if the film were to ever be released on Blu-ray like that.
On Deadly Ground (1994) — Budget, $50 million. Box office, $38.5 million. This Vanity Project was the first and last film directed by Steven Seagal (barring some alleged uncredited work on a few DTV films). This film was part of a series of blows that, along with The Patriot and Fire Down Below, knocked out Seagal's action star career in Hollywood, soon relegating him to the direct-to-DVD shelves.
On the Line (2001) — Budget, $16 million. Box office, $4,403,019. A failed cinematic vehicle for Joey Fatone and Lance Bass that was shuffled off stage after four weeks. Director Eric Bross stuck to TV and Direct to Video releases after this fiasco.
On the Road (2012) — Budget, $25 million. Box office, $8,784,318. Crashed the career of director Walter Salles.
Once Around (1991) — Budget, $16 million. Box office, $14,851,083. Lasse Hallström's first American film got decent reviews from critics, but it didn't go far in limited release.
Once Upon a Crime (1992) — Budget, $18 million. Box office, $8,669,847. The first and only feature film directed by Eugene Levy.
Once Upon a Forest (1993) — Budget, $13 million. Box office, $6,582,052. This film was devoured by negative critical reviews and Jurassic Park but was successful on home video. Director Charles Grosvenor didn't direct another movie for 4 years, and after that next movie, a remake of Babes In Toyland, Grosvenor never returned to cinema and his directing career would be focused solely on the series of The Land Before Time Direct to Video sequels. It would also be 3 years before screenwriter Kelly Ward wrote his second and last theatrical screenplay, returning to family television.
Once Upon a Time in America (1984) — Budget, $30 million. Box office, $5,321,508. Executive Meddling from The Ladd Company butchered this gangster epic in the editing room despite protests from director and co-writer Sergio Leone, whose career crumbled following its negative reception by critics and audiences. The Ladd Company wouldn't be attached to another film until Braveheart eleven years later. It was later Vindicated by History by the release of a Director's Cut and is now regarded as one of Leone's greatest masterpieces, alongside the Dollars Trilogy.
The One (2001) — Budget, $49 million. Box office, $43,905,746 (domestic), $72,689,126 (worldwide). This opened at number two behind Monsters, Inc. and stayed in the top 10 for its first three weeks before it faded fast by its sixth weekend. Critics dismissed this Jet Li vehicle as a shameless imitation of The Matrix, but audiences were more receptive by comparison. Director James Wong wouldn't helm another film until Final Destination 3.
One-Eyed Jacks (1961) - Budget, $6 million. Box office, $4.3 million. This Western film was the one and only film directed by Marlon Brando.
One for the Money (2012) — Budget, $40 million. Box office, $36,893,721. This film of the first Stephanie Plum novel was shrugged by critics and audiences but author Janet Evanovich liked it. Part of several busts for Katherine Heigl.
One from the Heart (1982) — Budget, $26 million. Box office, $636,796. Originally intended as a small-budget musical for director Francis Ford Coppola to recover from the hellish production of Apocalypse Now, his ambition grossly inflated the budget. The low box office can be partially blamed on distribution issues; Paramount screened an unfinished workprint of the film in August 1981 and angered exhibitors into rejecting the film. Columbia Pictures picked it up at the last second, with the film only making it to 44 theaters in the USA. This film was one through the heart for Coppola's Auteur License, and he spent the next two decades taking whatever projects he could to pay off the debts he accrued from making it. Like Heaven's Gate, it also contributed to the end of the New Hollywood era.
One Man's Hero (1999) — Budget, $20 million. Box office, $240,067. This epic about the Mexican-American War was filmed in 1997 and was a victim of MGM burying the films they inherited from Orion. Its widest release was in 52 theaters. MGM retired the Orion Pictures brand for 15 years after this film was released.
One Night at McCool's (2001) — Budget, $18 million. Box office, $13,473,370. The movie suffered from weak marketing, as well as being thrown in a surprisingly competitive month, competing with comedic successes such as Bridget Jones' Diary and Joe Dirt; as a result, it was out from most theaters within two weeks. The first and only film written by Stan Siedel, who died the previous year. This was also one of the last movie produced by October Films before it was absorbed into the newly-formed Focus Features the following year.
One Night Stand (1997) — Budget, $24 million. Box office, $2,618,335. This came after Leaving Las Vegas, and the failed experiment of a film put a crutch on the career of director Mike Figgis.
One Night with the King (2006) — Budget, $20 million. Box office, $13,728,450. This adaptation of the Biblical story of Esther fared much better on home video. The film's production company, Gener8Xion Entertainment, a division of TBN, would produce 2 more films and distribute another after this, with far less success. Also not helping matters was the release two weeks earlier of Sleeper Hit Facing the Giants; which proved a surprise hit with over $10 million off a budget of just over $100,000 peeling away much of the evangelical Christian audience.
One True Thing (1998) — Budget, $30 million. Box office, $26,616,840. This was a highly Acclaimed Flop that earned Meryl Streep one of her numerous Oscar nominations. Its limited release and mid-September release date didn't do it favors.
One, Two, Three (1961) — Budget, $3 million. Box office, $4 million. This political satire set in West Berlin was overshadowed by the construction of the Berlin Wall, which began four months before the film's release. James Cagney had such a negative experience with this movie that he stayed off the big screen until Ragtime, his final film role.
Onegin (1999) — Budget, $14 million. Box office, $206,128 (Ouch). The fact that it was released in 6 theaters didn't help.
The Only Game in Town (1970) — Budget, $10 million. Box office, $1.5 million. The film's box office failure led to acclaimed director George Stevens' complete retirement from directing.
Only the Brave (2017) — Budget, $38 million. Box office, $23,096,888. This film based on the Granite Mountain Hotshots firefighter crew was the only movie on its opening weekend to score fresh on Rotten Tomatoes (and its reviews were glowing), but it still fizzled out once its first numbers came.
Onward (2020) — Budget, $175-200 million. Box office, $61,555,145 (domestic), $141.9 million (worldwide). Pixar's urban fantasy film, despite great critical reception, became their second financial failure after The Good Dinosaur, largely because of the COVID-19 Pandemic starting to spread in earnest shortly after its release. The film's fate was sealed when it dropped a whopping 73% in its second weekend — an all-time low for Pixar — topping the lowest grossing domestic weekend since 1998, as governments enforced social distancing guidelines and/or closed down non-essential businesses to limit the spread of the virus. Disney decided to temporarily halt the release of box office data, releasing Onward for digital download and streaming just two weeks after its theatrical release, followed by a early Disney+ release two weeks later. This eventually resulted in future Pixar releases Soul, Luca, and Turning Red also skipping theaters and premiering on Disney+. This is Pixar's worst-performing film at the box office in the studio's history, albeit one that will carry an asterisk due to unfortunate real-world events.
The Oogieloves in the Big Balloon Adventure (2012) — Budget, $20 million ($60 million when marketing is factored in). Box office, $1,065,907. The triple-G-rated film produced by Kenn Viselman (who was instrumental in importing Teletubbies to the United States) has become infamous for its absolutely dismal theatrical run. Notably, it underperformed Delgo in its opening weekend, becoming the new worst opening weekend for a film playing in around 2,000 theaters. Despite this, sequels remain desired.
Operation Fortune: Ruse de Guerre (2023) - Budget, $50 million. Box office, $37.8 million. This action film sat on The Shelf of Movie Languishment for a year after a last minute release date change due to the Russian invasion of Ukraine (the film's villains are Ukrainian). The movie was ultimately given a very disjointed release with mostly Invisible Advertising, dropping into theaters just weeks after announcing different release dates; most of the world got it in the traditional dump month of January, while North America waited until March (where it opened against Creed III) and its native UK didn't receive it until April. Part of a rough stretch for Guy Ritchie, who would see another film struggle at the box office the same year.
Opportunity Knocks (1990) — Budget, $13 million. Box office, $11,359,129.
The Opposite Sex (1956) — Budget, $2,834,000. Box office, $1,735,000 (domestic), $2,760,000 (worldwide). Cost MGM $1,513,000. The Musical remake of The Women, which, unlike the source, featured men on-screen, was the final film for Charlotte Greenwood.
The Order (2003) — Budget, $35 million. Box office, $11,559,747. Brian Helgeland wouldn't direct again until 2013's 42.
Original Sin (2001) — Budget, $42 million. Box office, $35,402,320. The fatal directing/writing career sin for Michael Cristofer, who never directed again and never wrote another screenplay; he would only create a story for one more film in 2005.
Oscar (1991) — Budget, $35 million. Box office, $23,562,716. It spent two weeks at #1 but eventually lost steam. This and Stop! Or My Mom Will Shoot the next year prompted Sylvester Stallone to never star in a comedy again afterwards. It also marked the start of career-zapping busts for director John Landis.
Osmosis Jones (2001) — Budget, $75 million. Box office, $14,026,418. This live-action/animated hybrid couldn't bring much of an audience between the Animation Age Ghetto, Parental Bonus, and gross-out content, and was part of a short series of bombs for Warner Bros. Feature Animation, and their next film, Looney Tunes: Back in Action, caused the division to go under in 2003. It also poisoned the A-list reputation of the Farrelly Bros., who directed the live-action parts of the movie (they haven't attempted anything with animation since; it was also one of two films that year, the other being Pootie Tang, that put Chris Rock in a bad spot). Still, the film performed well in the home video/DVD market and spawned a two-season animated series on Kids' WB!.
Othello (1995) — Budget, $11 million. Box office, $2,844,379. This was the first major film version of the Shakespeare play to cast an African-American, Laurence Fishburne, in the title role. It never left a limited release despite the glowing reviews and had the misfortune of being run against Jumanji.
The Other Side of Heaven (2001) — Budget, $7,000,000. Box office, $4,760,014. The film was the highest grossing LDS movie at the time, but the take was unable to recoup its fairly high budget. Director Mitch Davis would not direct another film for seven years. Despite its poor performance at the box office, a theatrical sequel was produced 18 years later.
The Other Sister (1999) — Budget, $35 million. Box office, $27,807,627 (domestic). This glurge-laden film's failure, along with Mandeville Films' founder David Hoberman temporarily going to work for Hyde Park Entertainment for the next few years, led to Mandeville not getting another film into theaters for 5 years.
Our Brand is Crisis (2015) — Budget, $28 million. Box office, $7 million. This narrative remake of the 2005 documentary sputtered out after 21 days. It's the lowest opening of Sandra Bullock's career.
Out Of Bounds (1986) — Budget, $9 million. Box office, $5,099,316.
Out of Reach (2004) — Budget, $20 million. Box office, $104,502. This Steven Seagal vehicle was dropped by Warner Bros. and picked up by Sony, which sent it straight to DVD (which had become the new normal for Seagal movies). It did get a theatrical release in the United Arab Emirates.
Out of Sight (1998) — Budget, $48 million. Box office, $37,562,568 (domestic), $77,745,568 (worldwide). This film version of the Elmore Leonard novel didn't set the box office on fire, but the critics loved it and kept George Clooney's film career afloat.
Out of the Furnace (2013) — Budget, $22 million. Box office, $15,660,668. This had its release date shuffled a few times before settling on December 6th, usually a slow week for filmgoing. Its mixed reviews and tough competition sandwiched in-between did it no favors.
Out of Time (2003) — Budget, $50 million. Box office, $41,088,845 (domestic), $55,495,563 (worldwide). Carl Franklin wouldn't direct another film for ten years after this. It did get respectful reviews, though.
The Out-of-Towners (1999) — Budget, $40 million. Box office, $28,544,120. The first of three box office misfires that sent director Sam Weisman's career over the horizon.
Out On A Limb (1992) — Budget, $11 million. Box office, $1,659,542. The final English language film directed by Francis Veber; his following directorial efforts were in his native France.
Out to Sea (1997) — Budget, $33 million. Box office, $30,716,901. The penultimate pairing of Jack Lemmon and Walter Matthau opened against Men in Black to unenthusiastic reviews.
Outcast (2014) - Budget, $25 million. Box office, $4.8 million. Despite pandering specifically to Chinese audiences, the film's premise about two Paladins (played by Hayden Christensen and Nicolas Cage) saving the Han Dynasty from a tyrannical prince didn't really fare well with Chinese audiences, who criticized the film's plot about two Mighty Whiteys as the lead. It didn't even have a wide release Stateside. Part of a string of flops for both Christensen and Cage, the latter also starring in the second film adaptation of Left Behind that same year.
Outlander (2008) — Budget, $47 million. Box office, $7,033,683, nearly all of which came from overseas. It's an understandable gross considering its U.S. release in January 2009 topped out at 81 theaters.
Over the Top (1987) — Budget, $25 million. Box office, $16,057,580. This is one of the films that eventually did in The Cannon Group. Director Menahem Golan was reassigned as a B to C list director when this movie failed, and it also T.K.Oed the film careers of writer Stirling Silliphant and actor David Mendenhall.
Overlord (2018) — Budget, $38 million. Box office, $21,704,844 (domestic), $41,657,844 (worldwide). It got good reviews, but the film's mashup of World War II and zombie flicks proved to be too weird for audiences, as it lost to the more crowd-pleasing Grinch and holdover Bohemian Rhapsody on opening weekend and dropped hard after that.
The Ox-Bow Incident (1943) — Budget, $565,000. Box office, $750,000 (US rentals). Fox placed this on The Shelf of Movie Languishment for a few months due to its sobering themes. It was highly praised by critics and received an Academy Award nomination for Best Picture (its only nomination), but it was outgrossed by one of the studio's Laurel and Hardy films.

P - Pi

The Pagemaster (1994) — Budget, $21 million. Box office, $13.7 million. Along with Getting Even with Dad and Richie Rich, one of three Macaulay Culkin films that performed poorly at the box office that year. He did not appear in another feature film until 2003. This one, however, was partially salvaged by home video sales. The director of this film's animated portions, Pixote Hunt (credited as Maurice here), didn't get another directing credit until the opening number in Fantasia 2000, and The Pagemaster is the only time live-action director Joe Johnston has attempted to work a movie that involved animation.
Paint Your Wagon (1969) — Budget, $20 million. Box office, $31.7 million. Although it was the sixth highest-grossing film of the year, it came out when movie musicals were on the decline and it failed to make back its high budget. Clint Eastwood and Lee Marvin's singing abilities (and their presence, in general) bore the brunt of the film's negative reviews, though the latter's rendition of the ballad "Wandrin' Star" became a surprise hit in Europe. Co-Star Harve Presnell was praised for his rendition of the film's other famous song, They Call the Wind Maria. This was the final film for director Joshua Logan and would be memorably parodied in The Simpsons in 1998. One bright side is that the film's Troubled Production gave Eastwood valuable experience for his later directorial career.
The Painted Hills (1951) — Budget, $667,000. Box office, $1,085,000. Recorded loss: $122,000. This Darker and Edgier installment of MGM's Lassie series nearly killed the franchise, but the beloved collie's transition to television revived public interest.
The Pallbearer (1996) — Budget, $8 million. Box office, $5,656,388. Director Matt Reeves took a 4-year leave from cinema, and writer Jason Katims didn't work in cinema again until 2012, sticking with television.
Pan (2015) — Budget, $150 million. Box office, $35,088,320 (domestic), $128,309,320 (worldwide). This one is most remembered for the casting of Rooney Mara, who caused controversy after she landed the role of the traditionally Native American character Tiger Lily. Critics agree the whitewashing was the least of the film's problems, though, as it continued the struggles of modern live-action Peter Pan adaptations to make a profit.
Pandorum (2009) — Budget, $33 million. Box office, $20,645,327. This and another Christian Alvart-directed film, Case 39, sent his career back to Germany, where it's been since.
Paparazzi (2004) — Budget, $20 million. Box office, $16,796,512. The only theatrical film directed by Paul Abascal and the only film written by Forrest Smith.
The Paperboy (2012) — Budget, $12.5 million. Box office, $2,424,372. It received mixed to negative reviews which at best called it So Bad, It's Good, though its performances, particularly from Nicole Kidman, were praised.
The Paradine Case (1947) — Budget, $4,258,000. Box office, $2.2 million. Far and away the least successful film for Alfred Hitchcock after he moved to Hollywood, this was an odd case of a film going over budget because of Executive Meddling. Producer David O. Selznick kept a tight grip on production and forced Hitchcock to reshoot numerous scenes. Selznick ended up spending more money on it than he had with Gone with the Wind. It was released to tepid reviews and little public interest, and Hitchcock and Selznick bitterly parted ways.
Paradise Road (1997) — Budget, $16 million. Box office, $2,007,100. This World War II drama received mixed reviews and it topped out in 350 theaters.
Paranoia (2013) — Budget, $35 million. Box office, $13,385,015. Notable for having Harrison Ford's lowest-grossing opening weekend, though this critically-panned thriller undeniably caused much greater harm to the career of star Liam Hemsworth; he would get just one more shot as a lead in the similarly panned Independence Day: Resurgence before disappearing from theatrical films. Director Robert Luketic has not helmed another theatrical film since.
ParaNorman (2012) — Budget, $60 million. Box office, $56,003,051 (domestic), $107,139,399 (worldwide). It was an Acclaimed Flop, however, and it would do much better on video and television.
Parker (2013) — Budget, $35 million. Box office, $17,616,641 (domestic), $48,543,388 (worldwide). This film version of the Parker novel Flashfire by Donald Westlake was one of several busts that piled up and broke distributor FilmDistrict.
Parnell (1937) — Budget, $1,527,000. Box office, $992,000 (domestic), $1,576,000 (worldwide). Recorded loss, $637,000. This biopic of the Irish politician Charles Stewart Parnell was lambasted for its sluggish pace and its miscasting of Clark Gable in the title role. This is the biggest flop for Gable and Myrna Loy, who played his wife. The disastrous reception initially made Gable hesitant to do Gone with the Wind.
Partners (1982) — Budget, $6 million. Box office, $6.1 million. Critics found this comedy about a straight officer who poses as a gay man to be unfunny and offensive, and its failure ended James Burrows's directing career (though he rebounded when he co-created Cheers the same year). It also did no favors for Ryan O'Neal's career.
Passion (2012) — Budget, $25 million. Box office, $92,181 (domestic), $1,393,407 (worldwide). Brian De Palma's first movie after his hiatus in the late 2000s, Passion only played in 14 theaters stateside, hence the low gross. De Palma has not announced any projects since this movie.
Passion Fish (1992) — Budget, $5 million. Box office, $4.8 million. This received a very limited release, but it received praise from critics on Rotten Tomatoes and two Academy Award nominations.
Passion in the Desert (1997) - Budget, $5 million of writer, director, and producer Lavinia Currier's own money. Box office, $250,897. This odd adaptation of an Honoré de Balzac story was Currier's last film until 2011.
Passion of Mind (2000) — Budget, $12 million. Box office, $769,000. The first English film from Belgian director Alain Berliner... and considering the negative reactions to the script, it showed. He never did another theatrical American film.
Pathfinder (2007) — Budget, $45 million. Box office, $30,822,861. This remake of the Oscar-nominated Norwegian film bored critics with its excessive violence and annoyed them with its stylistic choices.
Patriots Day (2016) — Budget, $45 million. Box office, $44,352,284. This film about the manhunt for the Boston Marathon bombers was viewed by many as coming too close to the actual tragedy, and it was kept from the finish line by numerous competitors that season. It still got plenty of good critical notice, though.
Paulie (1998) — Budget, $23 million. Box office, $26,875,268 (domestic). Director John Roberts (no, not the Supreme Court chief justice) didn't direct another feature film for 14 years.
Paws of Fury: The Legend of Hank (2022) - Budget, $45 million. Box office, $42.5 million. This Mel Brooks-produced animated feature had an incredibly Troubled Production that came out five years after its original planned release date... only to have to directly compete with Minions: The Rise of Gru for family audiences. Poor reviews, along with it being a children's film that actively had to hide its Audience-Alienating Premise (A reimagining of Brooks’ own classic Blazing Saddles but in feudal Japan with talking animals) didn't help.
Pay It Forward (2000) — Budget, $40 million. Box office, $33,519,628 (domestic), $55,707,411 (worldwide). It killed director Mimi Leder's cinematic career until 2009 with Thick as Thieves.
Paycheck (2003) — Budget, $60 million. Box office, $53,790,451 (domestic), $96,269,812 (worldwide). Was part of a very bad slump of movies around the early 2000s that helped damage star Ben Affleck's career until his Career Resurrection a few years later. This was also the last Hollywood film John Woo worked on before moving back to Hong Kong, where he continues to make movies.
The Peacemaker (1997) — Budget, $50 million. Box office, $41,263,140 (domestic), $110,463,140 (worldwide). Mimi Leder's theatrical directorial debut was also the inaugural film for DreamWorks SKG.
The Pebble and the Penguin (1995) — Budget, $28 million. Box office, $3,983,912. Became victim of constant Executive Meddling, with many of the voices getting rerecorded and characters heavily edited. It was the last production of Don Bluth's studio before he and co-director Gary Goldman moved to Twentieth Century Fox (their partner, John Pomeroy, returned to Disney). Bluth was so embarrassed with the film's final results that he had his name removed from the credits, but since his name was attached to the production company that made it, the studio found a clever way to indirectly associate him with the movie.
Peeples (2013) — Budget, $15 million. Box office, $9.3 million.
Pennies from Heaven (1981) — Budget, $22 million. Box office, $9 million. This was critically acclaimed, but bombed anyway. Pennies From Heaven, Heartbeeps, and Annie led to Bernadette Peters dropping off the big screen until the end of the 80's.
People I Know (2003) — Budget, $22 million. Box office, $126,793 (domestic), $5.7 million (worldwide). This was filmed for release in 2001 but was delayed due to 9/11, which required the World Trade Center being edited out. Critics took it to class for its derivative and incoherent plot and it died in limited release.
People Like Us (2012) — Budget, $16 million. Box office, $12,558,931. Alex Kurtzman's directorial debut had a mixed-to-positive reception and was buried under a glut of competitors on its opening weekend. Kurtzman wouldn't direct again until The Mummy.
The People vs. Larry Flynt (1996) — Budget, $35 million. Box office, $20,300,385. The reason for the gross coming in below the budget was the film only screened in limited release (that said, it was a hit with critics and the audience in said limited release).
The Perez Family (1995) — Budget, $11 million. Box office, $2,669,359. It got generally good reviews from critics but it only topped out at 928 theaters.
Perfect (1985) — Budget, $20 million. Box office, $12,918,858. One of several busts in the mid-eighties for John Travolta, though he's not ashamed of it. This was the penultimate film directed by James Bridges.
A Perfect Getaway (2009) — Budget, $14 million. Box office, $15,515,460 (domestic), $22,852,638 (worldwide). It got generally positive reviews but was greeted with audience apathy upon release. David Twohy didn't return to the director's chair until Riddick and it was one of several flops for Milla Jovovich.
The Perfect Man (2005) — Budget, $10 million. Box office, $19,770,475. A lot of the people who took part in this movie (Hilary Duff, Heather Locklear, Mike O'Malley, Chris Noth, Caroline Rhea, director Mark Rosman) took severe damage to their cinematic careers, but most have found success in television (and music for Duff).
The Perfect Score (2004) — Budget, $20 million. Box office, $10,876,805. It opened at number five on January 30th and immediately fell flat before it was expelled after week nine. The critics compared it unfavorably to other teen comedies like The Breakfast Club.
Perfect Stranger (2007) — Budget, $60.8 million. Box office, $23,984,949 (domestic), $73,090,611 (worldwide). This was one of the most heavily panned films of 2007, with critics in particular lambasting the film's Mandatory Twist Ending. It derailed the cinematic career of director James Foley, who did not direct another film for 10 years until Fifty Shades Darker.
The Perfect Weapon (1991) — Budget, $10 million (estimated). Box office, $14,061,361. The first of three films and bombs for screenwriter David C. Wilson, and he did not write his second, Supernova, until 2000. This is also the last of two films producer Mark DiSalle ever directed.
Personal Best (1982) — Budget, $16 million. Box office, $5,672,311. The film's budget went slightly up due to Executive Meddling. Writer/director Robert Towne also felt that Warner Bros. did a poor job marketing the film.
The Pest (1997) — Budget, $8 million. Box office, $3.6 million. This parody of The Most Dangerous Game flopped at the box-office thanks to scathing reviews and it opening a week after the special edition of A New Hope.
Peter Pan (2003) — Budget, $100 million (not counting marketing costs), $130.6 million (counting them). Box office, $48,462,608 (domestic), $121,975,011 (worldwide). Critics praised the film for its dark and faithful take on the Peter Pan story. However, its failure, thanks to a much bigger adventure film released the same month, caused distributor Universal's parent company Vivendi to sell off controlling interest in the studio to NBC's parent, General Electric, which formed a partnership that later became NBCUniversal.
Phantom (2013) — Budget, $18 million. Box office, $1,197,759. This deep-sixed director Todd Robinson's career until he emerged to produce The Last Full Measure.
The Phantom (1996) — Budget, $45 million. Box office, $17,323,326. One of three period superhero films in the early-mid '90s to fade out at the box office. Its failure has been blamed on its Lost in Medias Res script, but it became a Cult Classic once it hit home video.
Phantom of the Paradise (1974) - Budget, $1.3 million. Box office, $250,000 (after its first two months). Critics didn't know what to make of Brian De Palma's gothic rock 'n' roll musical and it faded away pretty quickly in the States. It was later Vindicated by History as a Cult Classic.
Phantom Thread (2017) — Budget, $35 million. Box office, $21 million (domestic), $44.6 million (worldwide). This Paul Thomas Anderson drama marked Daniel Day-Lewis's final role before his retirement. It was an Acclaimed Flop that never left a limited release.
The Philadelphia Experiment II (1993) — Budget, $5 million. Box office, $2,970. It was given a short run in two theaters (rumors say due to awful test screenings) and never got a wider release. As a result it ended up being the overall lowest grossing non-documentary in 1993. This also killed Brad Johnson's theatrical career for the decade; he'd have a small, but modest comeback in the '00s.
Phobia (1980) — Budget, $5.1 million. Box office, $59,167. The lowest-grossing film of John Huston's career.
Physical Evidence (1989) — Budget, $17 million. Box office, $3,560,932. Michael Crichton never returned to the director's chair for the rest of his life after this movie bombed out.
The Pickup Artist (1987) — Budget, $15 million. Box office, $13,290,368. This film, combined with For Keeps, Fresh Horses, and Betsy's Wedding, marked the beginning of the end of Molly Ringwald's leading actress career.
Piglet's Big Movie (2003) — Budget, $35 million. Box office, $23,103,423 (domestic), $63 million (worldwide). The budget for the next Winnie-The-Pooh movie from Disneytoon, The Heffalump Movie, was trimmed a bit, and then there wouldn't be another Pooh film in theaters until 2011.
Pimp (2010) — Budget, unknown. Box office, £205. This was mauled by critics so badly it was yanked from UK theaters after one screening. It would be seven years before director/star Robert Cavanagh would direct another film.
Pink Cadillac (1989) — Budget, $19 million. Box office, $12,143,484. This movie, along with Slaves Of New York, ran Bernadette Peters' cinematic career back off the road after she took a seven year hiatus from the big screen for her role in several bombs at the beginning of the 80's. The stage actress and singer has not been in a leading role in movies she appears in since 1989. However, several songs from the soundtrack enjoyed success on the Hot Country Songs charts.
The Pink Panther 2 (2009) — Budget, $70 million. Box office, $35,922,978 (domestic), $75,946,615 (worldwide). The third Franchise Killer for The Pink Panther film series, this ended plans for a third film. A CGI/Live-action hybrid reboot was announced in 2014, but no further news has been announced for the franchise since.
Pinocchio (1940) — Budget, $2,289,247. Box office, $1.4-1.9 million (original theatrical release tally only). The outbreak of World War II hurt this film badly, and, along with Fantasia and Bambi's initial disappointing releases and a bitter strike from animators, resulted in Walt Disney having to make package films for the remainder of the 40s until Cinderella brought animation back to the mainstream. It's also one of a handful of RKO Pictures-distributed flops in the early '40s that dealt damage to the studio. Pinocchio has since been considered one of Walt's best, along with Fantasia and Bambi, as its later theatrical reissues kept making money until the 1984 reissue, which grossed $26 million and was the second most successful movie release that Christmas. This prompted new Disney CEO Michael Eisner to override his colleagues Jeffrey Katzenberg and Roy E. Disney and release Pinocchio on video as the second release in the Walt Disney Classics line, where it sold very well and was crucial in the overall development of home entertainment. The film's main theme, "When You Wish Upon a Star", had become the central theme of Disney by that point and is the jingle in the Walt Disney Pictures Vanity Plate.
Pinocchio (2002) by Roberto Benigni — Budget, 40 million euros ($39.4 million). Box office, 41,323,171 euros ($40.7 million; worldwide). Benigni followed up his Oscar-winning hit Life Is Beautiful by mounting a production of the classic novel with himself as the titular puppet. This casting decision was widely mocked by critics and along with the poor English dub in the US release, it got the film to a 0% rating on Rotten Tomatoes. Benigni's career got pulverized by the reception in the States. In his native Italy, the film was not as badly received, and Benigni would later get a second shot with the story by appearing in the 2019 adaptation, in the far more age-appropriate role of Gepetto.
Pinocchio and the Emperor of the Night (1987) — Budget, $10 million. Box office, $3,261,638. This entered development after Filmation began getting hammered financially, so they decided to create an unofficial sequel to Walt Disney's signature classic Pinocchio. Problem was, they attempted to do this without Disney's input, and the newly christened Walt Disney Company was angered and sued Filmation to stop production right away. The suit was defeated with a Public Domain argument, but Filmation still altered the design to avoid any further controversy. Their attempt to stay relevant failed, and Filmation was forced to shutter in 1989, with their other unofficial sequel, Happily Ever After, being stuck in limbo until 1993, when it also tanked and drove another nail into the studio's coffin.
Pippi Longstocking (1997) — Budget, $11.5 million. Box office, $505,335. One of two attempts in North America to adapt the literary classic. However, HBO and Nelvana were impressed enough by the film to help launch a television series based on it that year.
The Pirate (1948) — Budget, $3,768,000. Box office, $2,656,000. This film wound up costing MGM more than $2 million, and it didn't help that production went way over budget. Bad word of mouth also led to lackadaisical ticket sales.
The Pirate Movie (1982) — Budget, AUS$6 million. Box office, $1,013,000 Australian dollars (Australia), US$8 million (worldwide). Pirates derailed politician Ted Hamilton's attempt to become an actor (he helped provide development funds for a few more movies such as Disney's Flight of the Navigator, but never went before a movie camera again).
Pirate Radio (2009) — Budget, $50 million. Box office, $36,348,784. This was a commercial failure in the UK, where it was released as The Boat that Rocked. Critics took issue with its excessive length and muddled storyline, which prompted a re-edit for the American release (Pirate Radio) which cut 20 minutes. That version was also unsuccessful. Director/Writer Richard Curtis would wait four years before sitting in the director's chair for About Time.
Pirates (1986) — Budget, $40 million. Box office, $1,641,825. A giant blow to the career of director Roman Polański, who was thrown overboard and marooned in the B-list for the rest of the 20th century. This was one of numerous busts that helped insure the downfall of the Cannon Film Company.
The Pirates Who Don't Do Anything (2008) — Budget, $15 million. Box office, $13,155,091. VeggieTales hasn't ventured outside its Direct to Video roots since this movie, and the franchise slowly jumped ship from original creators Big Idea afterwards.
Pixels (2015) — Budget, $129 million (production only). Box office, $78.7 million (domestic), $244.9 million (worldwide). Opened a week after Ant-Man, which was bad enough — and a day after a shooting at a movie theater (at the premiere of a film with a significantly lower profile — and one that made a lot more money in the long run); the next week saw the release of the fifth Mission: Impossible movie, Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation, and the remake of National Lampoon's Vacation, which, along with a resurging of Minions and another theatre shooting ^note further jeopardized the film's chances of success. Pixels became the latest in a string of Adam Sandler starring flops and kept a terrible year for Sony going, and pretty much killed the relationship of both parties, with Sandler and his production company Happy Madison jumping ship to Netflix later that year (it also nearly sent Josh Gad's career to the penalty box after his success with Frozen and The Book of Mormon).

Pj - Pz

Plain Clothes (1988) — Budget, $7.5 million. Box office, $289,323. Blamable on a very limited release.
Planet 51 (2009) — Budget, $70 million. Box office, $42,194,060 (domestic), $105,647,102 (worldwide). This and the Jack Black version of Gulliver's Travels dealt a heavy blow to screenwriter Joe Stillman's career.
Platinum High School (1960) — Budget, $627,000. Box office, $175,000 (domestic), $150,000 (international), $570,000 (worldwide). This led to MGM losing $270,000 on this project. It signaled the beginning of the end for Albert Zugsmith's producing career; he did not produce another film for 3 years and only produced two more films. Director Charles Haas also never directed another theatrical film, sticking with television.
Play It to the Bone (1999) — Budget, $24 million. Box office, $8,434,146. One of three busts that sent director Ron Shelton's cinematic career into remission until 2017. It was officially KO'd after six weeks in theaters.
Playing by Heart (1998) — Budget, $20 million. Box office, $3,970,078. It topped out at 308 theaters.
Playing for Keeps (2012) — Budget, $35 million. Box office, $27,805,632. One of several busts that piled up and broke distributor Film District. It was universally panned by critics and it was buried in the box office once The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey debuted the next week.
Playing God (1997) — Budget, $12 million. Box office, $4,166,918. This was placed on The Shelf of Movie Languishment for two years due to poor test screenings and was panned upon release. Roger Ebert was one of its few defenders.
Playmobil: The Movie (2019) — Budget, $75 million. Box office, $1,115,008 (domestic), $15,911,707 (worldwide). The animated feature based on the German toys had its US release delayed across the year. Originally set to be released by Global Road in January, it was then pushed to April, and then Global Road went bankrupt and the film was picked up by STX, who then moved the film to August, and then finally moved to the first week of December. And when it did come out, STX took the rare move of having theaters sell tickets for only $5; this likely hurt more than helped, as the film made only $656,530 in its opening weekend, the 4th worst opening ever for a wide release playing in 2,000+ theaters. Not helping matters was the film's horrible reviews, the perception that it was a transparent and inferior copy of The LEGO Movie (a franchise whose box office numbers had already petered out), the marketing being basically non-existent outside of theaters, and coming out around the same time as Frozen II.
Playtime (1967) — Budget, 12-17 million francs. Box office, $2 million. The massive budget is due to the film's equally massive set—an entire urban neighborhood built by Jacques Tati for the film, called "Tativille"—and Tati filming it on 70mm film and using stereophonic sound. Its low gross is due to not many theatres being able to screen the film properly. It's since been Vindicated by History as Tati's all-around masterpiece. This however didn't save Tati from total disaster, as he put up his own money. He wound up losing his house, his production company, and the rights to all of his prior movies.
Pleasantville (1998) — Budget, $60 million. Box office, $49,805,462. This was one of the most acclaimed films of the year but fell by the wayside upon release. It's since become a Cult Classic. It also dealt with bad publicity when a cameraman was killed in a car crash after working 19 hours one day, which resulted in a wrongful death lawsuit.
The Pledge (2001) — Budget, $35 million. Box office, $29,419,291. This was an Acclaimed Flop but Sean Penn wouldn't occupy the director's chair until 2007's Into the Wild.
Plunkett & Macleane (1999) — Budget, £8,490,000 (approx $14 million). Box office, $474,900 (United States), £2,757,485 (approx $4.55 million) (worldwide). Critics dismissed this colourful bowl of Anachronism Stew as style-over-substance, and poor advertising meant audiences (who took more kindly to this film) hardly knew about it. This was the first of two directing jobs from the son of Ridley Scott, Jake, and he didn't make his second one for eleven years. It also didn't help Gary Oldman's producing career out too much. An example of a film where its original score became more well-known than the film itself, as pieces were later used as Recycled Trailer Music.
Point Break (2015) — Budget, $105 million. Box office, $28.8 million (domestic), $128.9 million (worldwide). A failed attempt to remake the original 1991 film, critics declared this a soulless wipeout that lacked the charisma of the original. This was the first major Hollywood film to be released in Chinese theaters before hitting American theaters, where it saw the most box office gross. Alcon Entertainment CEO Andrew Kosove regretted this film and swore off any future attempts at reboots.
Police Academy: Mission To Moscow (1994) — Budget, $10 million. Box office, believe it or not, $126,247. The very poor performance of this final entry killed the film franchise altogether. It was also director Alan Metter's last theatrically released movie, and he disowned it.
Pollyanna (1960) — Budget, $2.5 million. Box office, unknown. It got strong reviews despite critics being initially pessimistic, even earning star Hayley Mills an Honorary Academy Juvenile Award at the Oscars, but it failed to make it even halfway to a projected $6 million goal gross. Walt Disney blamed the film's box office performance on a failure to attract male audiences. No sequels to the movie were produced when it couldn't perform financially. Disney did remake the film for TV as the musical Polly in 1989, which managed to get a sequel, Polly: Comin' Home! a year later.
Poltergeist III (1988) — Budget, $10 million. Box office, $14,114,488. Killed off the Poltergeist theatrical movies until a reboot in 2015. Also had the unfortunate situation of being released shortly after the death of its 12-year-old star Heather O'Rourke, causing the studio to take great lengths to advertise the film without making it look like they were exploiting her passing.
Pompeii (2014) — Budget, $100 million. Box office, $23,219,748 (domestic), $117,831,631 (worldwide). Production company FilmDistrict was absorbed into Focus Features after this film. It also buried the cinematic careers of its cast under ash, with at least three of them (Kit Harrington of Game of Thrones, Kiefer Sutherland of 24, and Sasha Roiz of Grimm) focusing back on television (though their screen credits after this are not completely dry).
Poms (2019)- Budget, $10 million (not counting promotion costs), $20-30 million (counting them). Box office, $13,631,124 (domestic), $16,418,218 (worldwide). Part of a series of 2019 flops from distributor STX, which opened at number six amid competition from Avengers: Endgame and Pokémon Detective Pikachu.
Pootie Tang (2001) — Budget, $7 million. Box office, $3,313,583. Roger Ebert accused this film of being "unfinished" and said "It was hardly a movie at all". This sentiment was shared by director Louis C.K., who was fired during editing and disowned the film, which was his last cinematic endeavor as director until shelved ''I Love You, Daddy'' in 2017. One of two films that year, the other being Osmosis Jones, that put Chris Rock in a bad spot.
Popstar: Never Stop Never Stopping (2016) — Budget, $20 million. Box office, $9,496,130. After grossing a mere $4 million on its opening weekend, the film was kicked out of wide release after its second week. Its positive critical reception helped it become a Cult Classic, similar to This is Spın̈al Tap.
Porgy and Bess (1959) — Budget, $7 million. Box office, $3.5 million. This film version of George Gershwin's opera was only shown in a Roadshow Release due to its controversial subject matter. This was the last film produced by Samuel Goldwyn. It didn't help that the Gershwins disliked the film due to its Adaptation Decay and have kept it out of circulation to this day.
Poseidon (2006) — Budget, $160 million. Box office, $60,674,817 (domestic), $181,674,817 (worldwide). This modernized remake of The Poseidon Adventure suffered the unfortunate fate of being a film about a disaster at sea released when the Indian Ocean tsunami was still fresh on everyone's mind. Between that and the film's negative reviews, this derailed director Wolfgang Petersen's career in Hollywood, as his next film, Four Against the Bank, would be made ten years later in his native Germany.
Possession (1981) — Budget, $2.1 million. Box office, $1,158,473 (worldwide). Andrzej Żuławski's artsy Surreal Horror divorce drama initially received a lukewarm reception from critics, and was mostly ignored by audiences due to its bizarre mixure of dark subject matter. The explicit gore and sexual content put the film in the list of Video Nasties, further harming its box office gross. Zulawski made the film in responce to his own devastating divorce, and put Sam Neill and Isabelle Adjani through a hellish filming experience in the name of Enforced Method Acting (the latter of whom attempted suicide after seeing the premier). The film was Vindicated by History as critics came to appreciate the symbolism of its horror elements, earning Cult Classic status among arthouse watchers.
Possession (2002) — Budget, $25 million. Box office, $14,815,898. The film version of A.S. Byatt's novel got generally good reviews but topped out at 619 theaters.
Post Grad (2009) — Budget, $15 million. Box office, $6,561,243. This comedy was director Vicky Jenson's only live-action feature, and it stalled her career for nearly a decade. It was reviled by critics, though Roger Ebert was one of its few defenders.
Postal (2007) — Budget, $15 million. Box office, $146,741 (worldwide). An adaptation of an unpopular and controversial video game franchise (it had only two games up to this film's release), the film itself was hampered by the opening scene trivializing the 9/11 terrorist attacks, and turning the Al Qaeda terrorist organization into a bunch of comedy buffoons... among many other controversial issues too numerous to list (the ending with George W. Bush and Osama bin Laden also attracted all the wrong kinds of attention). The opening scene alone was enough to cause nearly every US theater to pass on the film (it was in a total of 21 theaters in the US). To make things even worse, it came out one day after Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, with a harsh campaign saying it would destroy that film at the box office, which clearly did not happen. Most of the film's earnings came from non-US screenings. It was directed by Uwe Boll, which may explain much of this. An attempt at a sequel was blown up when Boll could not acquire the necessary funds.
The Postman (1997) — Budget, $80 million. Box office, $17,626,234. Released on a holiday weekend dominated by Titanic (1997) and Tomorrow Never Dies. Between the box office drubbing and critics mocking it as a Glurge-y Vanity Project, it suffering a 67% drop on its third weekend and left theaters shortly after. The Postman was the blow that succeeded in ending Kevin Costner's A-list status and his run as producer-director of his own movies, getting even worse reviews than Waterworld or Wyatt Earp. He would later rebuild his reputation as an actor and director in smaller productions like Open Range, but he never quite reached the echelon he had dwelled in during the early '90s.
Power (1986) — Budget, $16 million. Box office, $3.8 million. This political drama from Sidney Lumet got a mixed reception from critics, earning an NAACP award for Denzel Washington but a Razzie nomination for Beatrice Straight. Straight waited five years before she made her final film, Deceived. Lumet had better luck that year with The Morning After.
The Power of One (1992) — Budget, $18 million. Box office, $2,827,107 (domestic). This film sent the career of director John G. Avildsen to the mat; he directed only two more films before the 20th century was out.
Power Rangers (2017) — Budget, $100 million (production only). Box office, $85,364,450 (domestic), $142,337,240 (worldwide). The movie was released at a very poor time, coming out just after the mega-popular Logan and Beauty and the Beast (2017), and had any potential earnings shot down by The Boss Baby and fellow bomb Ghost in the Shell (2017) the very next week. The movie ends on a explicit Sequel Hook, and Saban had plans for six sequels, but it was not to be. With Hasbro now holding the rights to the franchise, another reboot is in the works.
The Powerpuff Girls Movie (2002) — Budget, $10 million. Box office, $15 million (domestic). It had the bad fortune to open opposite the widely-anticipated Men in Black II on the same day, and Warner Bros. (distributor of the PPG movie) exhausting their promotional energies to the Scooby-Doo movie, leaving much of the marketing campaign to ads run on Cartoon Network. Its failure pretty much killed off any chance of there being another theatrical movie based off a Cartoon Network original series, with all planned movies being made strictly for TV (if one doesn't count Teen Titans Go! To the Movies that came out in 2018, 16 years after, which is more a joint production between Cartoon Network, DC Comics, and Warner Bros and not based on an original CN IP). In some countries such as Japan, it was released Direct to Video. Having a large amount of scenes featuring the destruction of high-rise buildings and being released a little more than a year after the September 11 attacks may not have helped.
Practical Magic (1998) — Budget, $60 million. Box office, $46,683,377 (domestic), $68,336,997 (worldwide). The film version of Alice Hoffman's novel was panned by critics for its copious Mood Whiplash. It debuted at number one and spent its first three weeks in the top three before it dropped down hard. Warner Bros. did try twice to produce a TV series based on the property, though nothing went beyond a pilot.
The Predator (2018) — Budget, $88 million (not counting money spent on reshoots or advertising). Box office, $51,024,708 (domestic), $160,542,134 (worldwide). Already plagued by a shoot filled with Executive Meddling and a reshot climax after poor test screenings that ballooned the budget, the film attracted unwanted publicity days before its release when it was revealed that director Shane Black cast a friend of his who turned out to be a convicted sex offender, leading the studio to cut his scenes last-minute. It opened atop the box office but made the same amount as the significantly cheaper Predators back in 2010. Bad reviews and word of mouth sunk the film and its planned sequels, with the series eventually being followed by a direct-to-Hulu prequel. This was the second straight flop for Black, and the controversy around this film's production and release seems to have knocked him out of Hollywood entirely.
Prefontaine (1997) — Budget, $8 million. Box office, $589,304. One of two films about sprinter Steve Prefontaine (Without Limits is the other) to come out a year apart. This earned glowing reviews but never sprinted out of a limited release.
Premium Rush (2012) — Budget, $35 million. Box office, $31,083,599. Despite being Not Screened for Critics, they generally liked it.
Prêt-à-Porter (1994) — Budget, $18 million. Box office, $11,300,653. This was not only a major bust for director Robert Altman but it finished off Kim Basinger's career until she re-emerged three-years later for her Oscar-winning role in L.A. Confidential.
Pride and Glory (2008) — Budget, $30 million. Box office, $15,740,721 (domestic), $31,148,328 (worldwide). This police drama was pushed from March to October to avoid competition with co-stars Colin Farrell and Edward Norton's other big movies. It ended up with an apathetic critical reception and was smashed by High School Musical 3 that weekend. Director Gavin O'Connor's frustrations with the delay led him to take his script for Warrior to Lionsgate.
Pride and Prejudice and Zombies (2016) — Budget, $28 million. Box office, $16,374,328. Mixed reviews and zombie fatigue made this the last in a series of box office flops from director Burr Steers, which seems to have ended his career.
Priest (2011) — Budget, $60 million. Box office, $29,136,626 (domestic), $78,309,131 (worldwide). This In Name Only film version of the Manhwa saw its release date shuffle around a few times for about a year. The end result was derided by critics for being a So Okay, It's Average action movie Cliché Storm and promptly disappeared between heavy competition.
Primary Colors (1998) — Budget, $65 million. Box office, $52,090,187. This political comedy inspired by Bill Clinton's first run for president was released early into the Monica Lewinsky scandal. This was the last feature film written by Elaine May, who earned a BAFTA and an Academy Award nomination for her script.
Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time (2010) — Budget, $200 million. Box office, $90,759,676 (domestic), $336,365,676 (worldwide). A heavily-promoted attempt from Jerry Bruckheimer and Disney to avert the Video Game Movies Suck trope. Instead of ending the trend, the adaptation of the game fell headlong into it. While it managed to become the highest-grossing game adaptation until Warcraft 6 years later, the producers certainly expected numbers comparable to Pirates of the Caribbean to make a similar franchise, and that was not the case.
The Producers (2005) — Budget, $45 million. Box office, $38,058,335. This version of the play/film is the one cinematic directing job for theatre director Susan Stroman. Critics felt that the film was too stagebound.
Prom (2011) — Budget, $8 million. Box office, $10,130,219. This movie's failure put the career of director Joe Nussbaum in indefinite time-out and helped get Disney studio chief Rich Ross expelled from the company.
The Promise (2016) — Budget, $90 million. Box office, $9,831,487. This drama set before the Armenian Genocide was a passion project for casino maverick and former MGM owner Kirk Kerkorian, who didn't live to see the film released. The film was also Overshadowed by Controversy due to genocide deniers' attempts to smear it. Critics thought the film was So Okay, It's Average while the niche subject matter may have killed it more than the controversy.
Promised Land (2012) — Budget, $15 million. Box office, $8.1 million. The energy, gas, and oil companies from Shell to oilmen in Pennsylvania all had a negative outcry to the film's portrayal of fracking, prompting a CNBC report on the matter when Penn residents started a Facebook page after Focus Features filmed the movie in their neck of the woods. Star Matt Damon, who is a heavy anti-oil man, has yet to write a new script, and director Gus Van Sant's cinema career would be deactivated for a few years as well.
Proof (2005) — Budget, $20 million. Box office, $14,189,860. The film version of David Auburn's play was generally liked by critics but it never left a limited release.
Proof of Life (2000) — Budget, $65 million. Box office, $62,761,005. This loose adaptation of the Thomas Hargrove book Long March to Freedom gained considerable tabloid coverage for the off-screen affair between co-stars Meg Ryan and Russell Crowe, which led to the former's divorce from Dennis Quaid. It also dealt with the death of David Morse's stand-in in an accident on the set. Director Taylor Hackford would have better luck four years later with Ray.
Prospero's Books (1991) — Budget, £1,500,000. Box office, $1,750,301. This reinterpretation of The Tempest was one of the earliest films to be edited with HDTV technology; it also received considerable attention for its Mind Screw elements and bountiful nudity and it never left a limited release.
Psycho III (1986) - Budget, $8.4 million. Box office, $14.4 million. The third film in the Psycho series marked the directorial debut of Norman Bates himself, Anthony Perkins. Critics were mixed; some admired Perkins' efforts (even if he didn't) while others bemoaned the Sequelitis. Its underperformance sent the fourth film in the series, Psycho IV: The Beginning, to television.
- Psycho (1998) — Budget, $60 million. Box office, $37,141,130. This film was heavily panned by critics for being a shot-for-shot remake of Alfred Hitchcock's original classic, but in colour (this included copying the original script from Joseph Stefano, who was credited as the screenwriter on this one as well), with many questioning what the point was. While director Gus Van Saint claims the studio "broke even" financially, it sent Van Sant's career to the B-list (he also would not get another producer credit until 2005), helped convince Vince Vaughn to shift his career to comedy, and this and several other box office bombs derailed the A-list career of Anne Heche, who spent the rest of the decade being associated with her romance with Ellen Degeneres.
The Public Eye (1992) — Budget, $15 million. Box office, $3,067,917. This crime thriller loosely based on the life of photographer Arthur Fellig never went beyond 635 theaters. Howard Franklin only made one more theatrical film after this, Larger than Life.
Pudsey the Dog: The Movie (2014) — Budget, £2.5 million. Box office, £1.9 million (UK). The movie starring Pudsey the dog, one half of the dancing duo Ashleigh and Pudsey^note, flopped in its opening weekend, only making £446,000 (opening at no. 6), and got a rare 0% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes. The fact that it was released just a day after Dawn of the Planet of the Apes and released in just 400 theaters really didn't help. This was also Pudsey's only theatrical adventure before his death three years later.
Pulse (1988) — Budget, $6 million. Box office, $40,397. One of several Columbia Pictures films greenlit by president David Puttnam before his departure in September 1987. This was left out to dry in limited release like most of the leftovers from Puttnam's slate.
Punch-Drunk Love (2002) — Budget, $25 million. Box office, $24,591,032. One of the few Adam Sandler films to not be despised by critics (it was a drama rather than a comedy), and he wound up with a Golden Globe nomination for his performance. Punch-Drunk Love only had a limited release, and director Paul Thomas Anderson and producer JoAnne Sellar would have a 5 year wait before their next movies (for Sellar, her next movie would be The Wicker Man, which also tanked).
Punchline (1988) — Budget, $15 million. Box office, $21,042,667. One of several films Columbia Pictures president David Puttnam greenlit before his departure in September 1987. This fared better than most of the leftovers from his slate but it still failed to recoup its marketing costs. Director David Seltzer waited four years before he directed another film again.
Punisher: War Zone (2008) — Budget, $35 million. Box office, $10,100,036. This has the dishonor of being the lowest grossing wide-release theatrical movie ever based on a Marvel property. (Yes, lower than Howard the Duck; Man-Thing grossed less but its theatrical release was very limited.) This was director Lexi Alexander's second to last movie (her final one being Lifted) before her retirement from filmmaking due to constant Executive Meddling from Lionsgate; she now happily resides in television directing (though she would later come out of retirement to do a biopic about Chris Benoit). The movie bombing also allowed Marvel to regain The Punisher film rights and integrate the character into the Marvel Cinematic Universe with the second season of Daredevil (2015).
The Purple Rose of Cairo (1985) — Budget, $15 million. Box office, $10,631,333. It did well in limited release as per Woody Allen's usual output.
Push (2009) — Budget, $38 million. Box office, $31,811,527 (domestic), $48,858,618 (worldwide). This was the first of three comic/superhero-adjacent bombs to feature Chris Evans (the others being The Losers and Scott Pilgrim vs. The World) between his stints as the Human Torch and Captain America.
Pushing Tin (1999) — Budget, $33 million. Box office, $8,408,835. Mike Newell's career was grounded on the tarmac until 2003's Mona Lisa Smile after this disaster. The film is perhaps best known nowadays for when Angelina Jolie and Billy Bob Thornton met and fell in love after making this.

Queen of Katwe (2016) — Budget, $15 million. Box office, $10,195,036. This and the underperformance of McFarland, USA caused Disney to exclusively focus on tentpole fare for their theatrical releases, not returning to low-to-mid-budget fare until Disney+ arrived. It did get great reviews from critics though.
Queen of the Damned (2002) — Budget, $35 million. Box office, $30,336,800 (domestic), $45,479,110 (worldwide). This was Aaliyah's last film performance before the plane crash that would sadly claim her life; it was released posthumously in her memory.
Queens Logic (1991) — Budget, $12 million. Box office, $612,781. Never got out of a limited release.
Queen of the Desert (2015) - Budget, $36 million. Box office, $2 million. A rare complete failure for Werner Herzog.
Quest for Camelot (1998) — Budget, $40,000,000 (Not counting marketing costs). Box office, $31.8 million. A rare film in that its soundtrack became far more popular than the movie; the Céline Dion/Andrea Bocelli hit "The Prayer" was written for this movie. This movie was the first created in-house by Warner Bros. Animation... and was the closest to being financially successful. It is believed that WB's disappointment in the film led to the studio's half-hearted advertising campaign for the animation unit's next, The Iron Giant; the division would be folded in the early 2000s, and Warner would not regain foothold in the theatrical animation industry until The LEGO Movie in 2014. Lauren Faust worked on this movie and regrets ever it heavily. Director Frederik Du Chau and one of the writers, The Croods co-director Kirk De Micco, didn't do another theatrical film for seven years, and both it and The King and I banished the career of another writer, David Seidler, from the cinemas until 2010.
The Quick and the Dead (1995) — Budget, $32 million. Box office, $18.6 million. This star-studded Western divided critics on release. It started a slump of underperforming Sam Raimi movies for the next several years, but became a Cult Classic on home video.
Quick Change (1990) — Budget, $17 million. Box office, $15,260,154. Based on Jay Cronley's novel of the same name, which was filmed in 1985 as Hold-Up, this crime comedy was Bill Murray's only film as director. His co-director, Howard Franklin, directed only two more films.
Quicksilver (1986) — Budget, $10 million. Box office, $7,246,979.
The Quiet American (2002) — Budget, $30 million. Box office, $27,573,124. This film was an Acclaimed Flop, in large part because the events of 9/11 caused audiences to perceive the film as "anti-American propaganda", mirroring the reception that the source material (a novel by Graham Greene) got when it was first published during the Red Scare in 1955. The commercial failure hurt the director and writers, one of whom, co-writer Robert Schenkkan, didn't write another cinematic screenplay until Hacksaw Ridge in 2016. It also halted actress Do Thi Hai Yen's chance at breaking through to American film, as this ended up being the only non-Vietnamese production she appeared in.
Quigley Down Under (1990) — Budget, $20 million. Box office, $21,413,105. This Australia-set Western received mixed reviews from critics, but audiences were more favourable. Cable re-runs and home video allowed it to find a following.
Quills (2000) — Budget, $13.5 million. Box office, $7,065,332 (domestic), $18 million (worldwide). The film version of Doug Wright's play about the last days of the Marquis de Sade received good notices from critics, even if they admitted it was hard to watch, but it topped out at 223 theaters. Director Philip Kaufman waited four years before his next film, Twisted.
Quiz Show (1994) — Budget, $31 million. Box office, $24.8 million. Robert Redford's film about the 1950s Quiz Show scandals earned glowing reviews but its release topped out at 822 theaters.

R - Rg

RAD (1986) — Budget, $11 million. Box office, $2,015,882. This was Hal Needham's final theatrical film (his final directed film period got Screwed by the Lawyers and wound up a Direct to Video release). RAD is noteworthy for having the most severe case of Critical Dissonance on Rotten Tomatoes (0% from critics, 91% from the audience. This Critical Dissonance allowed RAD to become a top rental video for several years.
Radio Days (1987) — Budget, $16 million. Box office, $14,792,779. Another Acclaimed Flop from Woody Allen.
Radio Flyer (1992) — Budget, $35 million. Box office, $4,651,977. This family drama fell flat thanks to its Audience-Alienating Premise (two kids convert a wagon into a makeshift plane to fly away from their abusive stepfather). Despite the plot issues, the screenplay was a hot property around Hollywood and David Mickey Evans was given a princely sum for a Hollywood outsider not only for his script but also for directing duties. Ultimately, Evans was fired from the director's chair early in production and replaced by Richard Donner. Evans recovered briefly with The Sandlot but ultimately never achieved the promising Hollywood career expected from him. It could also have been Donner's last movie if not for Lethal Weapon 3 just three months later.
The Radioland Murders (1994) — Budget, $15 million. Box office, $1.3 million. George Lucas conceived this slapstick comedy mystery in the '70s while filming American Graffiti, but it wasn't until 1993 that production finally took off. The end result was mauled by critics and suffered a historic 78.5% second weekend drop at the box office from $835,570 to $179,315. It did become a Cult Classic over time. This was George Burns's final film before his death a few years later at 100.
The Rage: Carrie 2 (1999) — Budget, $21 million. Box office, $17,762,705. This was intended to be an original film called The Curse before it became retrofitted into a sequel to Carrie. The end result was criticized for not living up to the original film.
Raggedy Ann & Andy: A Musical Adventure (1977) — Budget, $4 million. Box office, $1.35 million. The film suffered a hugely Troubled Production due to Creative Differences between the producers and director Richard Williams, who took the project to help fund The Thief and the Cobbler. The end result was criticized for its thin plot, overabundance of musical numbers, and overly Deranged Animation. It was never released on home video past VHS, in large part because the original camera negatives have gone missing, though it ended up becoming a Cult Classic thanks to the aforementioned animation.
Raggedy Man (1981) — Budget, $9 million. Box office, $1,976,168.
Raging Bull (1980) — Budget, $18 million. Box office, $23.4 million. Martin Scorsese's biopic of boxer Jake Lamotta won Robert De Niro an Oscar for Best Actor but polarized critics with its brutal violence and dreariness. It also received Invisible Advertising from United Artists, which was suffering from the Troubled Production of Heaven's Gate and may have led to it getting KO'd for the top Oscars. It's since been Vindicated by History as one of Scorsese's masterpieces.
Ragtime (1981) — Budget, $28.3 million. Box office, $21.2 million. This was part of a string of flops for producer Dino De Laurentiis but it still received glowing reviews and award nominations. Director Milos Forman rebounded a few years later with his next Oscar winner, Amadeus, but screenwriter Michael Weller waited eight years before his next film. This marked the final feature film appearances of screen veterans and constant co-stars James Cagney and Pat O'Brien, and early appearances of, among others, Samuel L. Jackson, Jeff Daniels, and Debbie Allen.
Raise the Titanic! (1980) — Budget, $40 million. Box office, $7 million. The production was beset with problems and prompted financer Lew Grade to remark that "it would have been cheaper to lower the Atlantic." The movie running into its own killer iceberg in the box office helped bring about the demise of Grade's ITC Entertainment. This is also the only major motion picture directed by Jerry Jameson, who stuck with TV for the rest of the century. Clive Cussler, the author of the Dirk Pitt book upon which the film was based, hated the end result and refused to allow any more film adaptations of his works for the next 20 years. The next big screen Dirk Pitt film was an equally catastrophic disaster that Cussler hated more, further dimming the series' movie prospects. This is the only theatrically released film featuring the RMS Titanic to be a serious bomb (this was also the last Titanic film made and released before the wreckage of the famed ship was discovered in 1985, proving that the ship broke in half in its 1,500+ deadly sinking in 1912), and no major theatrical film with the Titanic that was not a documentary would be made again until James Cameron's smash hit in 1997 on the ship's 85th anniversary.
Raise Your Voice (2004) — Budget, $15 million. Box office, $14,867,514. This film resulted in the writing careers of Mitch Rotter and Sam Schreiber stillborn; it is the sole writing credit they have (Rotter still works as a producer).
Raising Helen (2004) — Budget, $50 million. Box office, $49,718,611. This had the misfortune of opening on Memorial Day Weekend, when holdover Shrek 2 and newcomer The Day After Tomorrow occupied the top two spots. Its critical panning did it no favors either.
Rambo: Last Blood (2019) — Budget, $50 million. Box office, $44.7 million (domestic), $86.9 million (worldwide). The fifth film in the Rambo series was eviscerated by critics and series creator David Morrell for its messy script, gorn, and perceived racist storyline. Audiences who did turn out to see it were more forgiving, however.
Rampage (1987) — Budget, $7.5 million. Box office, $796,368. It went unreleased in America for five years when its original distributor, De Laurentiis Entertainment Group, went bankrupt before Miramax Films eventually picked it up and gave it a limited run. Director William Friedkin also recut and changed the ending for US audiences.
Rampant (2018) — Budget, $15 million. Box office, $11.8 million. It received mixed reviews and general consensus is that the action sequences are impressive while the plot and character development aren't.
Rancid Aluminum (2000) — Budget, $12 million. Box office, $4.3 million. The film version of James Hawes's novel was universally despised by critics and was hailed as one of the worst films ever made. This is director Ed Thomas's only theatrical feature. Hawes, who wrote the screenplay, only wrote one more screenplay, Dead Long Enough, based on another of his novels.
Random Hearts (1999) — Budget, $64 million. Box office, $31,502,583 (domestic), $74,608,570 (worldwide). Director Sydney Pollack waited six years to direct his next and final narrative film, The Interpreter.
Rapa-Nui (1994) — Budget, $20 million. Box office, $305,070. The next film director/writer Kevin Reynolds would write didn't come until 2016.
Ratchet & Clank (2016) — Budget, $20 million. Box office, $12.3 million. It got caught up in the wake of Zootopia's mammoth success despite the wide berth Focus Features, through the newly-resurrected Gramercy Pictures, gave that movie, and was also viewed as yet another case of Video Game Movies Suck by critics (fans of the games were much more forgiving). This movie has already earned co-production company Rainmaker Entertainment a $10 million impairment charge, and they promptly blamed the failure on Disney's Zootopia, The Jungle Book (2016), and Captain America: Civil War all plummeling the box office. Its failure in America resulted in it being denied a run in Australian cinemas in favor of going Direct to Video. It became an embarrassment for early writer T.J. Fixman, and this failure caused a planned Sly Cooper film to be replaced by a TV series, which itself fell into Development Hell. This also convinced Focus Features and Comcast/Universal to send the Gramercy Pictures label back into hibernation; the Ratchet and Clank series as a whole also went on a 5-year break before returning in 2021 with Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart.
The Raven (2012) — Budget, $26 million. Box office, $16,008,272 (domestic), $29,657,751 (worldwide). Its script and acting were derided by critics and it was promptly buried in the box office when The Avengers opened the following week.
Ravenous (1999) — Budget, $12 million. Box office, $2,062,405. Blamable on 20th Century Fox marketing the film very poorly.
Raw Deal (1986) — Budget, $11 million. Box office, $16 million (domestic), $18.1 million (worldwide). Producer Dino De Laurentiis got a raw deal when he made this action film in an attempt to raise money for his version of Total Recall (1990). The first film released by DEG and the first of several busts that would kill the studio and drive De Laurentiis into bankruptcy a few years later. The careers of director John Irving and Arnold Schwarzenegger (who only agreed to star in this film as a Contractual Obligation Project) shrugged this failure off and continued unabated into the 1990s.
The Razor's Edge (1984) — Budget, $12 million. Box office, $6,551,987. Bill Murray only agreed to make Ghostbusters in exchange for Columbia agreeing to finance this adaptation of W. Somerset Maugham's classic novel. The film's disappointing commercial and critical reception prompted Murray not to take any leading-man offers until Scrooged in 1988.
Ready to Rumble (2000) — Budget, $24 million. Box office, $12,453,363. This wrestling comedy featuring the stars of WCW^note went Direct to Video in a few countries after it was pinned down after its seventh week, and was criticized for a nonsensical plot and treating its intended demographic of wrestling fans as drooling idiots, and is considered another bad decision by the struggling promotion well in its Audience-Alienating Era. In an infamous promotional stunt, lead actor David Arquette was booked to win the WCW World Heavyweight Championship, to the condemnation of practically everyone not named Vince Russo, including Arquette, who silently donated his paycheck to the families of the late Owen Hart and Brian Pillman^note to save face. WCW went out of business about 9 months after this movie was released, with Arquette's title win considered by most to be the final nail in the coffin for the promotion.
The Real Cancun (2003) — Budget, $8 million. Box office, $5,345,083. Billed as the first "Reality Movie", this was released to theaters the month after it wrapped and exited theaters just as quickly. This was a Star-Derailing Role for everybody in the cast (all of whom played themselves) except for Laura Ramsey.
Rebound (2005) — Budget, $33.1 million. Box office, $17,492,014. It had tepid reviews from critics and pairing it with War of the Worlds (2005) on opening weekend only ensured its destruction. This was also co-star Tara Correa-McMullen's only film role before her murder later that year.
Red 2 (2013) — Budget, $84 million. Box office, $53,262,560 (domestic), $148,075,565 (worldwide). A sequel was greenlit before it came out but its subsequent financial and critical takedown made it less likely. Director Dean Parisot went straight to TV after this film.
The Red Baron (2010) — Budget, $22.5 million. Box office, $2,037,189. This was a significant critical and financial flop in Germany, where it was released in 2008.
Red Corner (1997) — Budget, $48 million. Box office, $22,459,274. It received lukewarm reviews and sent director Jon Avnet off-screen for four years. However, co-star Bai Ling's performance was praised and won awards from the National Board of Review and the San Diego Film Critics Society.
Red Dawn (2012) — Budget, $65 million. Box office, $48,169,782. This remake of the 1984 Cold War movie sat on The Shelf of Movie Languishment for two years due to MGM's financial troubles, during which, the filmmakers decided to change the invading army from China to North Korea to avoid getting Banned in China. It did so poorly that it wasn't even released theatrically in China anyway.
Red Planet (2000) — Budget, $80–100 million. Box office, $33,463,969. Director Antony Hoffman had no screen credits before this, and none after. It also for all intents and purposes finished Val Kilmer off as a leading man in major studio films.
Red Rock West (1993) — Budget, $8 million. Box office, $2,551,502. It received almost no promotion and flopped, killing the writing career of director John Dahl after he wrote three movies. However, it received critical acclaim and is generally considered an unheralded neo-noir classic.
Red Scorpion (1989) — Budget, $16 million. Box office, $4.2 million. This Dolph Lundgren vehicle ran into trouble when it was denied permission to film in Swaziland, forcing the filmmakers to switch to Namibia, then part of South Africa, which was under international boycott for its Apartheid. Its scathing reception from critics and its ensuing box office crash kept director Joseph Zito off-screen for eleven years.
Red Sonja (1985) — Budget, $17.9 million. Box office, $6,948,633. This movie slaughtered the films connected to Conan the Barbarian that featured Arnold Schwarzenegger (who played a different character here), wrecked the Sword and Sorcery genre quite a bit, was a blow to Dino De Laurentiis, and was the semi-final major film directed by 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea director Richard Fleischer. The two men who wrote the film's script also never had a serious career in cinema afterwards. Any chances of this film going anywhere in the box office vanished quickly when it opened against Back to the Future. Schwarzenegger sees Red Sonja as a gigantic stain for his career, as does lead Brigitte Nielsen (the latter won a Razzie for it). A remake has since been stuck in Development Hell.
Red Tails (2012) — Budget, $58 million. Box office, $50,365,377. This is the last film from Lucasfilm that 20th Century Fox and producer and Star Wars veteran Rick McCallum had any involvement in, for The Walt Disney Company purchased Lucasfilm and all their assets only months after Red Tails failed to leave an impact at the box office, severing Lucasfilm's ties with Fox after 35+ years and forcing McCallum to retire from the studio and the film industry; founder George Lucas was also asked to leave per the terms of the deal but remained somewhat attached. This is also the only cinematic film directed by Anthony Hemingway and written by The Boondocks showrunner Aaron McGruder.
Redeeming Love (2022) - Budget, $30 million. Box office, $9.4 million. This adaptation of the popular Christian romance novel was DOA after being dumped in January.
Redline (2007) — Budget, $26 million. Box office, $8,267,379. The film was an attempt by subprime lender and gambler Daniel Sadek and his firms, Quick Loan Funding and Chicago Pictures, to get into filmmaking to show off both his fiancee and his collection of cars, with Sadek borrowing against possible profits for the film. When the film crashed and burned at the box office and with critics, it not only halted Sadek's move into movies, but it crushed his subprime loan business and, along with lawsuits from Wells Fargo and the Bellagio casino regarding his gambling, led to his personal bankruptcy. The film itself, which included a scene of two expensive cars crashing and had controversy over cast member Eddie Griffin crashing a $1.5 million car himself, was called an example of excess for the subprime loan market before it crashed by a CNBC report and resulted in Sadek getting called "Predator Zero for the Subprime Mortgage Game" by Vanity Fair. As for director and professional stuntman Andy Cheng, he never directed again.
Reds (1981) — Budget, $32 million. Box office, $40.4 million. Warren Beatty produced, wrote, directed and starred in this Epic biopic of journalist John Reed and his coverage of the Russian Revolution. While critics loved it and it won three Oscars, including Beatty as Best Director, it didn't exactly make its money back. Beatty wouldn't appear in another film until Ishtar and he didn't direct again until Dick Tracy.
The Ref (1994) — Budget, $11 million. Box office, $11,439,193. Denis Leary blamed the film's lackluster performance on Touchstone for lying about the film's premise in the marketing.
Regression (2015) — Budget, $20 million. Box office, $17.6 million. This film's poor critical and commercial performance has the potential of sending director/producer Alejandro Amenabar's career into permanent regression (this was his first movie since 2009).
Reign of Fire (2002) — Budget, $60 million. Box office, $43,061,982 (domestic), $82,150,183 (worldwide). Most were left puzzled by the premise (a post-apocalyptic action film with dragons) and at the hammy performance of a Playing Against Type Matthew McConaughey, though its uniqueness earned it some fans on home video. Writer Matt Greenberg didn't write another film for 5 years, and this is the second-to-last theatrical job for director Rob Bowman.
Reign Over Me (2007) — Budget, $20 million. Box office, $19,661,987 (domestic), $22,222,308 (worldwide). One of the few Adam Sandler films to not be despised by critics (it was a drama rather than a comedy, and actually received okay reviews), its producer, Jack Binder, didn't work another movie for 5 years, and it is the only film released by Happy Madison's drama division, Madison 23 (although they were given an off-screen credit on Funny People).
Reindeer Games (2000) — Budget, $42 million. Box office, $32.1 million. Poor test screenings resulted in this action thriller being pushed out of the holiday season, and released after hasty recuts that did little to improve reception of the final product. This was director John Frankenheimer's final theatrical film, and Charlize Theron considers it her biggest mistake.
The Relic (1997) — Budget, $60 million. Box office, $33,956,608. Writing duo Rick Jaffa and Amanda Silver didn't get another theatrical credit after this until Rise of the Planet of the Apes fourteen years later. It almost killed production company Cloud Nine Entertainment, though some box office hits shortly after saved them.
The Reluctant Dragon (1941) — Budget, $600,000. Box office, $400,000. Walt Disney made this movie to showcase his studio's new headquarters in Burbank, recover money after the losses of Pinocchio and Fantasia, and stave off a strike from some of Walt's former animators. The strikers foiled this by picketing the film, and critics were disappointed in the movie being mostly live-action.
Reminiscence (2021) — Budget, $54-68 million. Box office, $15,800,193. Released in a market not fully recovered from the COVID-19 pandemic along with a simultaneous streaming release on HBO Max, it broke the record set by the below mentioned The Rhythm Section of the lowest 3,000+ screen opening with a paltry $2 million.
Remo Williams: The Adventure Begins (1985) — Budget, $40 million. Box office, $15 million. This film of The Destroyer novels is its only cinematic outing. The book series Outlived Its Creators with new authors, but director Guy Hamilton's career flatlined, as he made one more film before his death in 2016.
Renaissance Man (1994) — Budget, $40 million. Box office, $24,332,324. Co-producer Sara Colleton did not get another screen credit until 2001, after which she mostly stuck to television with material such as Dexter.
Rendition (2007) — $27.5 million. Box office, $27,038,732. One of several films about the "War on Terror" released in 2007, and like most of those films, was not a success.
Renegades (1989) — Budget, $16 million. Box office, $9,015,164. Despite the presence of Lou Diamond Phillips and Kiefer Sutherland, this was a failed attempt to recapture the magic of Young Guns.
Renegades (2017) — Budget, $77.5 million. Box office, $2.2 million. The disintegration of EuropaCorp in the wake of the failure of Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets resulted in this expensive action movie barely receiving a release in a handful of mostly European countries and going straight-to-video elsewhere (though terrible reviews suggest the performance wouldn't have been much better if it had received a wide release).
Renfield (2023) - Budget, $65 million. Box office, $26.3 million. Mixed reviews and audience unfamiliarity with the Trope Namer title character hurt this fairly pricy action-horror-comedy, but its release date proved most deadly. It opened at fourth at the North American box office behind the juggernauts of Universal's own The Super Mario Bros. Movie and John Wick: Chapter 4 and the much-less-expensive horror film The Pope's Exorcist. The release of an even more successful horror film the next week, Evil Dead Rise, put a stake through Renfield's heart, and it vanished from theaters not long after.
RENT (2005) — Budget, $40 million. Box office, $31,670,620. The film version of the long running musical was in Development Hell for years, changing attached studios and directors a few times before settling on Revolution Studios and Chris Columbus. The end result was given a mixed reception by critics and fans of the show, who all recognized that the original Broadway cast was probably too old to still play the characters a decade later. The film faded away from the box office spotlight quickly.
The Replacement Killers (1998) — Budget, $30 million. Box office, $19,204,929. Co-produced by John Woo, this was both the directorial debut of Antoine Fuqua and the American film debut of Chow Yun-fat. Executive Meddling resulted in the film cutting its character moments and romance elements due to American test audiences being uncomfortable with an Asian leading man, contributing to a film that was knocked by critics and ignored by audiences for its style-over-substance approach. One of many failures^note that prevented Mira Sorvino from ever taking off as a leading lady.
The Replacements (2000) — Budget, $50 million. Box office, $50,054,511. Director Howard Deutch was benched for four years after this football comedy flopped. Its mid-August release date probably didn't help; while it may have been intended to cash in on anticipation for the upcoming football season, it lacked any sort of tie-in with the NFL. It was generally liked by those that did see it, with a respectable 66% audience score on Rotten Tomatoes. This marked the final screen appearance of Jack Warden before his death six years later. Somewhat Vindicated by Cable thanks to repeated showings on TNT.
Replicas (2019) — Budget, $30 million. Box office, $9,037,427. This was dumped in January after a brief stint on The Shelf of Movie Languishment, where it was shredded for its poor screenplay and acting.
Repo Men (2010) — Budget, $32 million. Box office, $18,409,891. The first film by director Miguel Sapochnik, whose credits were relegated to TV for the next decade. It was compared unfavorably to the recent Repo! The Genetic Opera, whose premise was almost the same, though it was based on a novel by co-writer Eric Garcia, which was conceived when the first version of Repo! debuted on stage. Perhaps these comparisons were why it spent two years on The Shelf of Movie Languishment.
Repo! The Genetic Opera (2008) — Budget, $8.5 million. Box office, $188,126. It never went past a limited release, though it became a Cult Classic.
The Rescuers Down Under (1990) — Budget, $37,931,000. Box office, $27,931,461 (domestic), $47,431,461 (worldwide). This is unsurprising, given what it was up against; the opening box office gross was only $5 million, which prompted Jeffrey Katzenberg to call up the makers of the movie and inform them "It's over"; he cut the advertising. It didn't hamper Disney's then-fledgling Renaissance, but it did prompt Disney to make all its future Disney Animated Canon sequels Direct to Video and outside the canon until the sequels to Frozen and Wreck-It Ralph.^note Plans for a third Rescuers movie were nixed following both this movie's disappointing box office take and the death of co-lead Bianca's voice actress, Eva Gabor (this was her final film role before her death in 1995). Down Under is remembered fondly, was popular with critics, and performed well in the VHS market under the Walt Disney Classics brand 10 months after its theatrical release.
Resident Evil: Welcome to Raccoon City (2021) — Budget, $25 million. Box office, $17,000,612 (domestic), $41,914,915 (worldwide). This Continuity Reboot of the film series was more faithful to the video games it was based on, but critics were unimpressed by the incoherent plot amalgamation of the first two games, while game fans were split by its liberties with the source material. General audiences were more positive, but the film missed the Halloween season and was released just before an unusually sleepy Thanksgiving Day weekend, putting it in danger even with its slashed budget over the prior film series. A lack of marketing and a strong run from Sony Pictures' own Ghostbusters: Afterlife also contributed to its unimpressive box office numbers. The final nail in the coffin for this installment was no release in China, where the preceding series had been an absolute juggernaut.
Respect (2021) - Budget, $55 million. Box office, $32.8 million. This Aretha Franklin Biopic received decent reviews but was another victim of a COVID-depressed box office and a lack of interest in the source material outside of the United States.
Restless (2011) — Budget, $8 million, Box office, $163,265. The only movie actress Bryce Dallas Howard attempted to produce, and Gus Van Sant would not produce another movie for 4 years.
Restoration (1995) — Budget, $19 million. Box office, $4,005,941. Its widest release was at 457 theaters, but that didn't stop it from winning Oscars for its elaborate sets and costumes.
Resurrecting the Champ (2007) — Budget, $13 million. Box office, $3,242,427. An acclaimed flop that saw its widest release at 1,605 theatres.
The Return of Captain Invincible (1983) - Budget, $7 million. Box office, $55,110 (Australian box-office). This Australian superhero musical crashed and burned in its home country, while its US release was thwarted by its would-be distributor, Jensen Farley Pictures, going out of business. Fortunately, most of its cast and crew emerged unscathed and the film is now a Cult Classic, particularly for Christopher Lee's performance as the singing villain, Mr. Midnight.
Return to Oz (1985) — Budget, $25 million. Box office, $11,137,801. Disney's Truer to the Text adaptation of the Land of Oz books^note was criticized for its Darker and Edgier take on the material, especially in comparison to the much more well-known The Wizard of Oz. This remains the only film directed by editor and sound designer Walter Murch, who returned to those lines of work ever since. It would go on to be a Cult Classic, and Disney's next attempt at an Oz film was the much more successful (but less critically appreciated) Oz the Great and Powerful.
Return to Paradise (1998) — Budget, $14 million. Box office, $8.3 million. This, Money Train, and the critical hatred towards The Good Son all delivered a severe blow to the career of director Joseph Ruben.
Return To The Blue Lagoon (1991) — Budget, $11 million. Box office, $2,807,854. A decade-long battle over the rights between Columbia Pictures and the estate of Henry De Vere Stacpoole^* delayed the development of a sequel. It became a forgotten blunder for star Milla Jovovich. Director William Graham never worked on another theatrical film after this one crashed, writer Leslie Stevens only wrote one other cinematic film, Gordy, before he died, and no further attempts to adapt The Blue Lagoon into moving image formats have surfaced since, though a quasi-remake was produced as an unpicked TV pilot in 2012. The
Return with Honor (2007) — Budget, $300,000. Box Office, $103,601. The Mormon Cinema movement went off the radar for a while.
Revenge (1990) — Budget, $20 million. Box office, $15,645,616. Kevin Costner's first time as producer was this romantic thriller which lasted four weeks in theaters. Costner wanted to make this his directorial debut but was persuaded to make way for Tony Scott. His actual directorial debut, Dances with Wolves, followed later that year to much greater critical and financial acclaim.
Revolution (1985) — Budget, $28 million. Box office, $358,574 (domestic), $1.1 million (worldwide). An American Revolutionary War picture from British production house Goldcrest Films, a Troubled Production, and Executive Meddling led to the film being Christmas Rushed when it wasn't even finished. American critics revolted over its miscast stars, dull script, and graphic violence; British critics were only kinder by comparison. It was considered the most expensive box-office disaster in British film history at the time and combined with Absolute Beginners, crippled Goldcrest, who had little influence after this point. The British film industry fell into a downturn thanks to this bomb, as scared investors prompted government action against film tax reliefs, and only began recovering late in the 1990s. Al Pacino didn't make another movie for four years, while Nastassja Kinski kept to a low profile for nine years, and Hugh Hudson only directed three more theatrically released films.

Rh - Rz

Rhinestone (1984) — Budget, $28 million. Box office, $21 million. Coming off of the massive success of Porky's and A Christmas Story, Bob Clark would never have another major hit again (save for the critically panned Baby Geniuses). Dolly Parton also took several years off before appearing in another movie.
The Rhythm Section (2020) — Budget, $50 million. Box office $5,437,971 (domestic), $5,895,612 (worldwide). This action thriller from James Bond producer Eon Productions starring Blake Lively received largely negative reviews from critics and opened in the box office dead zone of Super Bowl Weekend to a mere $2.7 million, breaking the almost 14-year record held by Hoot for the worst opening ever for a movie opening in 3,000+ theaters. This dubious record was quickly followed up by another one, as it was pulled from 2,955 theaters in the biggest third-weekend theater drop in history, beating The Darkest Minds' record of 2,679; Paramount pulled the plug on it by the end of the week, and the disastrous run overall convinced the producers to scrap further plans for adaptations of the Stephanie Patrick series. The film also cost Paramount, still fresh off of the double whammy of Gemini Man and Terminator: Dark Fate, $30 million to distribute, but they quickly recovered with Sonic the Hedgehog. Lively has yet to return to acting, with her biggest credit since being for directing a Taylor Swift music video.
Rich and Famous (1981) - Budget, $11.5 million. Box office, $5.1 million. George Cukor's final film was this adaptation of the John Van Druten play Old Acquaintance, which was previously filmed in 1943. While critical opinion was mixed, it won the Writer's Guild Award for Best Comedy Adapted from Another Medium. It also marked the screen debut of Nicole Eggert and Meg Ryan, both playing Candice Bergen's on-screen daughter.
Richard III (1955) — Budget, £6 million. Box office, £400,000 (UK box office), $2,600,000 (US box office). Laurence Olivier's take on the Shakespeare play was the first film to premiere simultaneously in theaters and on television in the US. This likely killed its chances for success despite the glowing reviews. Its failure killed Olivier's proposed film of Macbeth and it was the last Shakespeare adaptation he directed. It was also the penultimate film produced by Alexander Korda.
Richard III (1995) — Budget, 6 million GBP/$7,880,400. Box office, 2,044,239.81 GBP/$2,684,904. One of the most critically acclaimed films that year, but the adaptation of the William Shakespeare play still hung the careers of director Richard Loncraine and co-producer Stephen Bayly; Bayly moved on to the U.K.'s National Film and Television school, and Loncraine did not direct another theatrical film for 9 years.
Richard Jewell (2019) — Budget, $45 million. Box office, $22,345,542 (domestic), $36,345,542 (worldwide). Clint Eastwood's biopic of the security guard who was wrongly suspected of the 1996 Centennial Park Bombing opened to respectful reviews from critics but was Overshadowed by Controversy for its Historical Villain Upgrade of reporter Kathy Scruggs. Its $5 million opening weekend was Eastwood's worst opening weekend in forty years.
Richie Rich (1994) — Budget, $40 million. Box office, $38,087,756. Along with Getting Even with Dad and The Pagemaster, one of three Macaulay Culkin films that performed poorly at the box office that year. He did not appear in another feature film until 2003.
Ride with the Devil (1999) — Budget, $38 million. Box office, $635,096. It's an understandable gross considering the film topped out at 60 theaters. Fortunately for Ang Lee and writer James Schamus, their next collaboration would have much better reception.
Riding in Cars with Boys (2001) — Budget, $48 million. Box office, $35,743,308. The movie probably wasn't benefited by a misaimed trailer that made it look like a nice uplifting family movie when it was really a depressing melodrama. Nor could audiences reconcile with Drew Barrymore's decidedly unsympathetic protagonist. This is the last film that Penny Marshall directed before her death in 2018. After this, co-producer Sara Colleton's career has been mainly in TV.
The Right Stuff (1983) — Budget, estimated between $19 million to $27 million. Box office, $21,192,102. An Acclaimed Flop. The triple-hit knockout of this film, Twice Upon a Time, and Once Upon a Time in America (the third of which became the unfortunate victim of Executive Meddling) led to the film's executive producer Alan Ladd, Jr. to shut down his production company and leave Warner Bros., and while he was appointed executive of MGM/UA just a year after the third aforementioned film's release, he would not personally produce another film until Braveheart. The film's disappointing performance may have also had effects outside Hollywood; as one of the astronauts at the center of the film, John Glenn - by the time of the film's release a Senator from Ohio - had entered the race for the Democratic nomination for President in 1984, only for Glenn's campaign to perform very poorly.
Righteous Kill (2008) — Budget, $60 million. Box office, $40,081,410 (domestic), $78,460,699 (worldwide). Director Jon Avnet wouldn't work on another film until 2017's Three Christs.
Ringmaster (1998) — Budget, $20 million. Box office, $9,257,103. A failed attempt for controversial talk show host Jerry Springer to get into movies.
R.I.P.D. (2013) — Budget, $130 million. Box office, $78,324,220. This film was a Star-Derailing Role for Ryan Reynolds until the 2016 adaptation of Deadpool; he did low-budget films until then.
The River (1984) — Budget, $18 million. Box office, $11,489,982. This was the third of three films that year dealing with the struggles of a farm family (Places in the Heart and Country being the other two) and fared the worst of them critically. Critics took umbrage with Mel Gibson's casting (as did he) and the screenplay, though Sissy Spacek was still nominated for an Oscar, and Sound Editor Kay Rose won a Special Achievement Oscar. It washed away director Mark Rydell's film career for seven years until he re-emerged with For The Boys.
River Queen (2005) — Budget, $16 million. Box office, $915,442 (international gross). This Troubled Production saw director Vincent Ward sacked near the end of filming and replaced by the cinematographer, only to be reinstated during post-production. It went Direct to Video in the US while it limped along at the international box-office. Ward only directed one film since.
The Road (2009) — Budget, $25 million. Box office, $8,117,000 (domestic), $27,635,305 (worldwide). The film version of Cormac McCarthy's novel got respectable reviews but it never expanded beyond 396 theaters. Its pitch-black tone probably didn't help either.
The Road to El Dorado (2000) — Budget, $95 million. Box office, $76,432,727. The first box-office bomb from Dreamworks Animation. Plans for sequels were cancelled due to its lackluster take, and the series became a Stillborn Franchise as a result. This is one of several traditionally animated films at the turn of the millennium that sent the genre into the sunset until Disney's The Princess and the Frog. After this and Shark Tale 4 years later, director Eric "Bibo" Bergeron's American directing career sank like a stone; his next theatrical film was French and didn't come until 2011. El Dorado is also the second and last time Elton John and Tim Rice would work together, with their other teamup being on the music for DWA founder Jeffrey Katzenberg's final Disney film, The Lion King (1994), and this film's failure ensured that The Lion King would be more fondly remembered. The rush by Katzenberg to get this film out ahead of Disney's The Emperor's New Groove (another buddy comedy in Mesoamerica) also led animator Will Finn to defect back to Disney (sadly, this move led him to direct Home on the Range, an even bigger bust that further derailed his career and 2D animation as a whole). El Dorado did become a Cult Classic.
The Road to Wellville (1994) — Budget, $25 million. Box office, $6,562,513. Based on a novel by T. Coraghessan Boyle about John Harvey Kellogg, the inventor of Corn Flakes, this comedy-drama was derided by critics for its servings of Nausea Fuel. Matthew Broderick does not look back kindly on it.
Roar (1981) — Budget, $17 million. Box office, $2 million. This movie went through a decade-long Troubled Production that emerged from dealing with untrained lions and tigers (plus an elephant) causing lots of injuries, plus a flood that ruined $3 million worth of equipment. This film ultimately was never released in United States theaters and came Direct to Video in sparse quantities there, and it didn't last long internationally, though the Alamo Drafthouse movie theater company, through their Drafthouse Films subsidiary, did reissue it in 2015. The film's failure resulted in producer and star Tippi Hedren establishing a foundation to keep their lions and having to take smaller roles. The film ended her marriage to director Noel Marshall; this was his sole directing acting/writing job, and he only worked one more film in 1988 before he died.
Robin Hood (2010) — Budget, $200 million. Box office, $105,669,730 (domestic), $321,669,741 (worldwide). The start of a second Audience-Alienating Era for Ridley Scott.
Robin Hood (2018) — Budget, $100 million. Box office, $84,780,546. The movie was unfavorably compared to both its predecessor (indicating audiences aren't especially interested in more Robin Hood adaptations) and 2017's King Arthur: Legend of the Sword, another medieval British Public Domain Character whose modernized reboot failed miserably.
RoboCop 3 (1993) — Budget, $22 million. Box office, $10,696,210. Executive Meddling from Orion Pictures that removed the franchise's trademark gore and satire to appeal to younger audiences backfired dramatically, releasing to brutal reviews while younger audiences didn't care for it. This killed the film franchise for over 21 years before the 2014 Continuity Reboot. Nancy Allen, writer Frank Miller, and director Fred Dekker all voiced various levels of regret over the final product, and this was also a death sentence for Dekker's directorial career, though he continued as a uncredited script doctor and as co-writer for The Predator.
Robot Jox (1990) — Budget, $10 million. Box office, $1.2 million. This died a quiet death in a limited release with Invisible Advertising and those that saw it didn't view it favorably. It's a Cult Classic nowadays.
Rock-A-Doodle (1991) — Budget, $18 million. Box office, $11,657,385. This film sank Don Bluth's studio into bankruptcy, though it would survive to make three more critical and commercial busts (Thumbelina, A Troll in Central Park, and The Pebble and the Penguin). This was a Star-Derailing Role for voice actors Glen Campbell and Toby Scott Ganger. Campbell went back to his recording career. Ganger essentially disappeared from acting, with only bit parts for the next 5 years. Christopher Plummer, who voiced the villain, did not do another theatrically released animated film until 2009, when he portrayed the villain of Pixar's Up. This was Phil Harris's last film appearance before his death in 1995.
Rock and Rule (1983) — Budget, $8 million. Box office, $30,379. Yes, only thirty thousand bucks. The film received no promotion from MGM in either its original American release, nor its home video release.
Rock Dog (2017) — Budget, $60 million. Box office, $20,830,546. Screenings of the film in China during its original run were extremely limited by the country's biggest cinema chain Wanda Line Cinema, allegedly due to anti-Tibetan sentiments. However the movie would develop something of a cult following, with two Direct to Video sequels.
Rock of Ages (2012) — Budget, $75 million. Box office, $59,418,613. The film version of the Jukebox Musical got mixed reviews which called it an overlong Cliché Storm. The soundtrack sold very well, though, and Tom Cruise's performance was singled out for praise.
Rock Star (2001) — Budget, $38 million. Box office, $19,334,145. Part of a string of career-zapping busts for director Stephen Herek.
Rock the Kasbah (2015) — Budget, $15 million. Box office, $3,020,664. It opened against a packed crowd that weekend (all of whom were trampled by The Martian and Goosebumps) and finished with the fifth-worst opening weekend for a wide release. The universally negative reviews didn't help either.
The Rocker (2008) — Budget, $15 million. Box office, $8,767,338. The cinematic swan song for director Peter Cattaneo, who's currently sticking to television work. It opened the same week as co-star Emma Stone's The House Bunny, which ultimately outperformed it. Rainn Wilson hasn't headlined a major studio film since.
The Rocketeer (1991) — Budget, $40 million (not counting marketing costs). Box office, $46.7 million. Despite favourable reviews, this film opened against the strong box office runs of City Slickers and Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves, and was crushed flat when Terminator 2: Judgment Day landed. Disney downplayed their involvement in advertising to avoid turning off older audiences (international releases put it under Touchstone Pictures instead). It did very well on home video and became a Cult Classic, gaining an additional $23 million, but it wasn't enough to prevent the intended film series from being grounded. The film's video performance and TV airings ultimately led to director Joe Johnston directing Spiritual Successor Captain America: The First Avenger for The Rocketeer's 20th anniversary. Disney greenlit a full sequel for Disney+, The Return of the Rocketeer, and would also revisit the property in a Disney Junior series in 2019.
The Rocky Horror Picture Show (1975) — Budget: $1.2 million. Box office at initial run, unknown. Afterwards, $139,876,417. The film version of Richard O'Brien's stage musical The Rocky Horror Show proved too bizarre for general audiences. However, it was soon Vindicated by History, being the Cult Classic and definitely making its money back and much more with home video and midnight screenings.
Rollerball (2002) — Budget, $70 million. Box office, $25,852,764. This critical and commercial disaster promptly ended Chris Klein's mainstream career. More infamously, it's Troubled Production not only helped end the career of legendary action director John McTiernan, it flat out ruined his life; he wound up being sent to prison (and going bankrupt) for committing perjury to the F.B.I. concerning his relationship with shady private eye Anthony Pellicano, who was convicted of wiretapping the film's producer Charles Roven in an effort by McTiernan to preserve his vision of the film.
Rollover (1981) — Budget, $16 million. Box office, $10,851,261. This political thriller did no favors for Kris Kristofferson's career after he starred in the disastrous Heaven's Gate earlier that year. Co-Star Jane Fonda had better luck that year with On Golden Pond, while director Alan J Pakula rebounded with Sophie's Choice.
Roman J. Israel, Esq. (2017) — Budget, $22 million. Box office, $11,854,730 (domestic). Critics and audiences were not impressed, but Denzel Washington's performance was praised.
Romeo and Juliet (1936) — Budget, $2 million. Box office, $962,000 (domestic), $2,075,000 (worldwide). Recorded loss, $922,000. This version of the Shakespeare play infamously cast middle-aged actors Leslie Howard (43) and Norma Shearer (34) as the teenaged Star-Crossed Lovers. While it received some critical praise and four Academy Award nominations, its lukewarm reception kept the Bard off-screen until Laurence Olivier's Henry V eight years later. This was the last film produced by Irving G. Thalberg, Shearer's husband, who died on the night of its premiere. It's since been Vindicated by History as one of MGM's best films.
Romeo and Juliet (2013) — Budget, $17 million. Box office, $1,162,635 (domestic), $3 million (worldwide). This version of the Shakespeare play kept the plot intact but jettisoned all but a few lines of the original play, leading many critics to question the truthfulness of the trailers. It died out in a very limited release of 461 theaters which went down to 91 by its third week.
Romeo is Bleeding (1993) — Budget, $10 million. Box office, $3,275,585. Director Peter Medak did not direct again for 5 years, and it poisoned the producing career of Hilary Henkin, who also only got one more writing credit.
Ronin (1998) — Budget, $55 million. Box office, $41,610,884 (domestic), $70,692,101 (worldwide). John Frankenheimer's penultimate theatrical film became a Cult Classic thanks to its elaborate car chases.
The Rookie (1990) — Budget, $30 million. Box office, $21,633,874.
The Room (2003) — Budget, $6 million. Box office, $1,800. This infamously bad film only played in two Los Angeles theaters in its initial release. The movie's infamous Troubled Production was covered in a book (and later film) called The Disaster Artist, which noted the strange, off-the-wall, and downright bizarre directorial choices by director Tommy Wiseau, who ballooned the budget of his very small-scale script with several poor decisions. Of course, most of the funding for the film came out of Wiseau's own pocket, and he probably has more than made his money back once it became a So Bad, It's Good Cult Classic after a number of runs on Adult Swim and countless midnight screenings.invoked
Roommates (1995) — Budget, $22 million. Box office, $12,096,881. This ended the A-list career of director Peter Yates. It was also a major blow to co-star D.B. Sweeney’s theatrical film career, as he hasn’t led another live-action release since, mostly sticking to TV and voiceovers.
Rosewood (1997) — Budget, $31 million. Box office, $13,130,349. John Singleton's biopic was a critical darling but its February release date might have killed its chances for success; then again, Warner Bros. didn't give it enough of a marketing push and sent the film Direct to Video outside the U.S. Even if Warner Bros. had given it wider exposure, the film's extremely dark subject matter (the 1923 Rosewood massacre) might not have helped its success either. This was one of several films in the late-'90s that derailed the career of producer Jon Peters, who's probably now better known as "That Guy Who Wanted Superman to Fight a Giant Spider."
The Rover (2014) — Budget, $12 million. Box office, $3.2 million. It had a limited release in the US, but it performed even worse in its native Australia. Even so, the critics were generally supportive and it was nominated for and won numerous Australian film awards.
Royal Space Force: The Wings of Honnêamise (1987) — Budget, ¥800,000,000 ($7.1 million). Box office, ¥347,000,000 ($3.1 million). Studio Gainax's first anime production received great reviews and the Seiun Award, but was overshadowed by Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind from three years earlier. Gainax rebounded the following year with the Appleseed and GunBuster OVAs.
Ruby (1992) — Budget, $9 million. Box office, $919,286. John Mackenzie's biopic of Jack Ruby just three months after JFK, which likely overshadowed its prospects.
Ruby Cairo (1992) — Budget, $24 million. Box office, $608,866. (OMG). Director Graeme Clifford's last theatrical film; he's stuck to television since.
Ruby Gillman, Teenage Kraken (2023) — Budget, $70 million. Box office, $15.7 million (domestic) and $41.8 million (worldwide). The film had a dismal opening weekend of $5.5 million, which was the worst for any DreamWorks film ever due to its Invisible Advertising (especially in Europe and Asia) and fairly last-minute domestic release date change (before any marketing began), which was on the exact same date as Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny and placed it in direct competition with Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse and Elemental in the family animation market.
Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer: The Movie (1998) — Budget, $10 million. Box office, $113,484. GoodTimes Entertainment's only ever attempt at a theatrical feature film, it had animation on par with their direct-to-video movies, with most of the budget going to A-list actors and the rights to use Rudolph and a Paul McCartney song. Getting released in the middle of October rather than December might have also played a part. Not helping matters was that it was given a very limited release before it was released on video the following month (which was probably the intended plan given that GoodTimes was primarily a home video company).
Rules Don't Apply (2016) — Budget, $25 million. Box office, $3,871,448. This was the first movie in 15 years that Warren Beatty has made. Its disastrous reception led to back-and-forth lawsuits between production company New Regency and the producers.
Rules of Engagement (2000) — Budget, $60 million. Box office, $61,335,230 (domestic), $71,732,303 (worldwide). Although it spent two weeks at #1, the film wasn't able to cover its marketing costs.
The Rum Diary (2011) — Budget, $45 million. Box office, $23,947,544. This adaptation of the Hunter S. Thompson novel is currently the last film by director Bruce Robinson. It also set off a string of flops for Johnny Depp that continues to this day.
Rumble Fish (1983) — Budget, $10 million. Box office, $2,494,480. This opened later the same year as The Outsiders, based on a novel by the same author (S.E. Hinton), the same director (Francis Ford Coppola), and much of the same cast and crew. Its avant-garde style confounded critics and audiences but it became a Cult Classic later on.
Rumor Has It... (2005) — Budget, $70 million. Box office, $43,000,262 (domestic), $88,933,562 (worldwide). Production started with screenwriter Ted Griffin directing in what was supposed to be his debut but he was fired eight days in and replaced by Rob Reiner. The end result was panned by critics and was buried amidst a very crowded holiday season.
Run (1991) — Budget, $16 million. Box office, $4,409,328. The final film credit for director Geoff Burrowes.
Run All Night (2015) — Budget, $50 million. Box office, $26,461,644 (domestic), $66,961,644 (worldwide). This opened far, far behind Cinderella (2015) despite opening at number two ($11 million vs the latter's $67 million). Its mixed reviews deriding its plot didn't help its numbers at all.
Run for Your Wife (2012) — Budget, £900,000. Box office, £602. Based on the theatrical farce of the same name, this was completely destroyed by critics upon its release in theaters, to the point that the reviews themselves were widely reported in the UK media. Not surprisingly, it has a 0% on Rotten Tomatoes.
Runaway (1984) — Budget: $8 million, Box office: $6,770,587. This went up against The Terminator, a similarly themed sci-fi film that Runaway was expected to crush given that it had a higher budget, Michael Crichton writing and directing, and Tom Selleck starring. Instead, Terminator was a runaway success that completely overshadowed this film both critically and commercially, with Runaway barely out-grossing Terminator on its opening weekend while the latter was in its eighth week in theaters, and debuting against the box office reign of Beverly Hills Cop sealed its fate. This was Crichton's penultimate film as director, as well as Gene Simmons' film debut. Runaway later gained a cult following through cable showings.
Runaway Jury (2003) — Budget, $60 million. Box office, $49,443,628 (domestic), $80,154,140 (worldwide). This and the following year's Christmas with the Kranks would keep any future John Grisham adaptations off the screen until The New '10s.
Runaway Train (1985) - Budget, $9 million. Box office, $7.7 million. Despite a glowing critical reception, and Oscar nominations for Jon Voight and Eric Roberts, this action thriller conceived by Akira Kurosawa and realized by director Andrei Konchalovsky couldn't clear its budget. Part of a string of fatal blows for Cannon Films.
The Rundown (2003) — Budget, $85 million. Box office, $80,916,492. It opened at number one and got good reviews but it fell short of its budget. Director Peter Berg bounced back the next year with Friday Night Lights.
Running (1979) — Budget, $4 million. Box office, $2.8 million. This was sold to TV for $5 million before being released. Director Steven Hilliard Smith has mostly focused on TV movies after this.
Running Brave (1983) — Budget, $8 million. Box office, $3 million. This Canadian production was picked up by Disney for distribution and was part of the studio's disastrous 1983 release slate.
Running Free (1999) — Budget, $25 million. Box office, $117,608. The first English language film by Sergei Bodrov was lambasted by critics for its narration which detracted from its gorgeous cinematography. It didn't help that it was released in just 100 theaters.
Running Scared (2006) — Budget, $15 million. Box office, $9,380,029. One of several busts that would kill off production company Media 8 Entertainment by 2012.
Rush (1991) — Budget, $17 million. Box office, $7,241,350. This crime drama is notable for Eric Clapton's Breakaway Pop Hit "Tears in Heaven" and for being the second and last film appearance by Gregg Allman.
Rush Hour 3 (2007) — Budget, $140 million. Box office, $140 million (domestic), $258 million (worldwide). It was regarded as a major case of Sequelitis and it put the brakes on the film series. A TV series reboot ran in 2016.
The Russia House (1990) — Budget, $21.8 million. Box office, $23 million (domestic). Notable for being the second and final American movie to film in the Soviet Union.
Rustlers' Rhapsody (1985) — Budget, $15 million. Box office, $6,090,497. This western spoof was compared unfavorably to Blazing Saddles, but viewers responded more favorably.

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