40 Movies That Lost Millions At The Box Office
Movies are a risky business. Although the biggest hits often have a sizable marketing push behind their impressive revenues, it's not unusual for similar hype to be attached to a massive flop. Whether reviews were harsh, word-of-mouth warned others to stay away, or a movie was released alongside a runaway hit, some movies crash and burn at the box office.
Indeed, the odds are stacked against success for many studios. That's because — as Dustin Rowles explained in a Pajiba article — movie studios don't receive 100% of their grosses. They get 80% during the first week and less as time goes on, which means that most box office calculators tend to assume the studio responsible for a movie made about half of its grosses back. As you'll learn, many movies are considered box office failures-- read your way through to see how much money these titles lost. Did any of these surprise you? Let us know in the comments!
The Lone Ranger - Lost $190 Million
Even if one were to look at the raw returns, Box Office Mojo's report of The Lone Ranger making $260 million against a $215 million budget has grim implications for the troubled release. Given the studio's likely 50% return on that investment, they were already looking at an $85 million loss.
Naturally, that doesn't account for the marketing budget, but The Los Angeles Times noted that Disney made their own calculations a month after The Lone Ranger's opening weekend and estimated a $190 million loss. Since that was very near the end of the film's time in theaters, that seems like a reasonable estimate. If they're right, that loss looks more like $250 million when adjusted for inflation.
The 13th Warrior - Lost $129.2 Million
It's a largely forgotten movie about Antonio Banderas playing an ancient Iraqi ambassador forced to take up arms alongside Vikings, but The 13th Warrior is notable for being one of the biggest box office disasters in cinema history. Although the data on how much it truly lost is scant, even the broad strokes paint a grim portrait.
According to Box Office Mojo, the 1999 film grossed about $61 million while it was in theaters. Even if the studios received 100% of that, they would still be looking at a $100 million loss since the movie's production budget was $160 million. But since they don't, this $129.2 million loss seems more likely, if a little conservative. Adjusted for inflation, that amounts to a staggering $238 million.
Mortal Engines - Lost $188 Million
According to Box Office Mojo, the cyberpunk Peter Jackson project Mortal Engines made just shy of $84 million during its time in theaters. And that was bad news for Universal Pictures because Deadline reported that even if the film made $120 million, it still likely would have lost about $100 million.
That's because the outlet obtained information suggesting that the movie's production budget was $110 million and that it had an additional marketing budget of $120 million. And considering the studio doesn't make 100% of its grosses, a $120 million payout wouldn't have covered either budget. But since the actual grosses fell well short of that, Mortal Engines likely lost around $188 million (or $229 million when adjusting for inflation).
Cutthroat Island - Lost $95 Million
Once upon a time, Cutthroat Island was the biggest box office flop in cinema history. But while a few colossal failures in the years since its 1995 release have edged it out for that dubious honor, the ill-fated pirate movie remains infamous for its legendary losses.
The lack of public interest in Cutthroat Island all but demolished both Genna Davis and Matthew Modine's acting careers, and according to Forbes, resulted in a $10 million gross against its $100 million budget. Adjusted for inflation, its $95 million loss looks closer to $191 million.
Battleship - Lost $150 Million
From the very beginning, audiences and critics were skeptical of the idea of turning a board game with no storyline or characters into a major release. Nonetheless, that didn't stop Universal Pictures from sinking well over $210 million into this ill-fated blockbuster. But while it didn't perform as badly as it could have, that didn't make much of a difference.
Although Box Office Mojo reported that Battleship made only $65 million among domestic audiences, it grossed over $237 million internationally. However, the studio's split on that return didn't cover the production budget, and when marketing costs were factored in, The Hollywood Reporter described Universal Pictures as losing an estimated $150 million on Battleship. Adjusted for inflation, that number grows to $200 million.
The Adventures Of Pluto Nash - Lost At Least $96.5 Million
Eddie Murphy's once-unsinkable popularity took some major hits during the 2000s, and The Adventures Of Pluto Nash could very well be the biggest. According to Box Office Mojo, the ill-fated spacefaring action-comedy grossed $7.1 million at the box office, of which Warner Bros. likely saw about $3.5 million.
This would suggest that The Adventures Of Pluto Nash lost the studio about $96.5 million, but the real number is almost certainly much higher due to the film's marketing budget. Adjusted for inflation, even this minimum possible loss amounts to $164 million. And again, that's not even factoring in the unknown advertising budget.
Sinbad: Legend of the Seven Seas - Lost $125 Million
When comparing its production budget with its total grosses, the Dreamworks animated feature Sinbad: Legend Of The Seven Seas already looks like a flop. According to Box Office Mojo, the movie made a total of $80.7 million, which wasn't enough to cover its $60 million production budget if Dreamworks could be understood to receive half of that.
However, The Los Angeles Times painted a far more perilous picture than this seeming $20 million loss would suggest. Not only did Dreamworks lose $125 million, but the studio came close to bankruptcy as a result. Remember, $125 million in 2003 is roughly the equivalent of $208 million now.
Mars Needs Moms - Lost At Least $180 Million
If not for John Carter and Strange World, Mars Needs Moms could have been Disney's most embarrassing flop in history, and it probably contributed significantly to the closing of Robert Zemeckis's ImageMovers Digital animation studio. The $39 million grosses reported by Box Office Mojo do a lot to explain why it was so disastrous when compared to the movie's $150 million production budget.
Of course, those numbers don't tell the whole story. When marketing is taken into account, The Hollywood Reporter estimated that Mars Needs Moms cost at least $200 million before it saw its release. And since Disney likely saw just shy of $20 million out of the film's total grosses, it's likely that it lost at least $180 million ($245 million when adjusted for inflation).
Tomorrowland - At Least $120 Million
Although Disney struck gold by turning its Pirates Of The Caribbean ride into a film series, none of its other attractions seem able to make the jump into the movie world. And the most embarrassing proof of this came with the failure of 2015's Tomorrowland.
By the time the movie grossed $170 million, The Guardian reported that Disney was likely to lose $140 million due to Tomorrowland's $180 million production budget and $150 million marketing budget. Although Box Office Mojo reported that the movie went on to gross a total of $209 million, that's unlikely to be enough to offset the studio's losses beyond the lower end of analyst estimates, which pointed to a $120 million loss (or $155 million when adjusted for inflation).
Strange World - Lost $197 Million
The most recent of the staggering failures listed here, the exploratory Disney property Strange World seemingly couldn't have failed harder. According to Deadline, total box office, video, and streaming revenues from Strange World amounted to $120 million.
However, those totals didn't even cover the movie's $180 million production budget, to say nothing of the $147 million Disney apparently spent on marketing it. With these heavy expenses compared to Strange World's low revenues, it's not hard to see how this reported $197 million loss happened.
King Arthur: Legend Of The Sword - Lost $153 Million
Considering director Guy Ritchie's then-recent success with the Sherlock Holmes movies, Warner Bros. had enough confidence that his take on Arthurian legends would yield similar success to pump $175 million into its production. But while Deadline's reported $148 global box office would seem disappointing in that respect to an outsider, the studio likely considered them disastrous.
As Deadline explained, that's because Warner Bros. only made an estimated $61 million from its theatrical performance, a number that grows to $133 million when other revenue streams are factored in. And since Deadline estimated the film's total cost at $286 million, it's likely that King Arthur: Legend Of The Sword lost at least $153 million.
Terminator: Dark Fate - Lost As Much As $188 Million
On paper, Box Office Mojo's reported worldwide grosses of $261 million make Terminator: Dark Fate look only slightly disappointing. Considering that it cost $185 million to make the movie and studios typically get half of the grosses, that amounts to about $130 million earned. However, there's more to the story than that.
According to Variety, the marketing budget that may have totaled $100 million and the complicated web of financing it took to make the movie means that Terminator: Dark Fate needed to gross as much as $450 million to break even. Since it fell short of that margin by about $188 million, that's a plausible estimate for its potential loss.
Pan - Lost At Least $85.5 Million
According to The Hollywood Reporter, Pan's dismal opening weekend grosses of $15.5 million made it seem likely that the Peter Pan retelling would go on to lose over $100 million for Warner Bros. As the outlet saw it, the film's only hope was a vastly improved international showing. But while that improvement came, it wasn't enough.
According to Box Office Mojo, the movie went on to gross about $128 million worldwide, which still wasn't enough to cover its $150 million production budget. And since Warner Bros. likely saw about $64 million of that money, the best they could hope for was to lose $85.5 million ($110 million when adjusted for inflation). However, that doesn't account for the marketing budget, so the initial predictions could've been right.
Titan A.E. - Lost $56.6 Million
Although it seemed like an ambitious animated release before it came out, 2000's Titan A.E. performed notoriously badly at the box office back then. According to Box Office Mojo, its worldwide grosses totaled $36.7 million, which accounted for less than half of its $75 million production budget.
Although that would make Titan A.E. a flop even if 100% of that total went to Twentieth Century Fox, the fact that it didn't do so means that the studio lost $56.6 million just by making it. Marketing likely put the studio even further down in the hole and considering that the known loss amounts to about $100 million when adjusted for inflation, that hole is almost certainly a deep one.
Wonder Woman 1984 - Lost At Least $100 Million
According to The Hollywood Reporter, Wonder Woman 1984 was projected to lose "north of" 100 million, judging by how it had performed by January 27, 2021. Considering that this was when it was close to its total gross of $169.6 million, it's unlikely that this projection is all that far off. Adjusting for inflation, Wonder Woman 1984 lost the equivalent of $118 million today in 2020.
Considering how successful the first Wonder Woman movie was, that drop in performance likely came as an unpleasant surprise. However, the movie was considered deeply flawed compared to its predecessor and unfortunate enough to be released in 2020, which likely made its failure less surprising when all the circumstances surrounding it were considered.
Jupiter Ascending - Lost $213 Million
By some metrics, Jupiter Ascending almost looks like a modest success. According to Box Office Mojo, the Wachowskis's maligned sci-fi adventure grossed about $184 million on a $176 million budget. However, it seems that their estimate for that budget is a little overly optimistic even when the usual estimate of the studio taking 50% of those grosses is considered.
That's because Deadline reported that the movie's budget ballooned to at least $205 million during production, which doesn't account for its estimated $100 million marketing budget. With all of that in mind, Jupiter Ascending was a disastrous flop that lost $213 million, or $275 million, when inflation is taken into account.
Battlefield Earth - Lost At Least $58 Million
Although this hopelessly goofy yet bizarrely self-serious sci-fi romp was famously a passion project for star John Travolta, that passion wasn't shared by audiences. According to Box Office Mojo, the film grossed a total of $29.7 million globally, which hardly made a dent in its reported $73 million production budget.
And when factoring in how much the studio behind Battlefield Earth likely made from it, even the most optimistic outlook on the movie's performance suggests that it lost its studio about $58 million ($103 million when adjusted for inflation). Naturally, that number is almost certainly higher when the film's marketing budget is considered, but that total isn't known.
Turning Red - Lost At Least $165 Million
In November of 2022, The New York Times reported that Disney and Pixar spent about $175 million on the animated coming-of-age story Turning Red. Unfortunately, that movie's box office performance would only make that hefty investment seem more and more like a lead weight as time went on.
That's because, according to Box Office Mojo, Turning Red only grossed a total of $20 million. Since about half of that was likely to go back to the studio, even an estimate that Turning Red lost $165 million seems overly optimistic since that $175 million investment likely doesn't count its marketing budget.
Ben Hur - Lost As Much As $120 Million
A remake of the classic 1959 epic, Ben Hur severely disappointed upon its release in 2016. Although Box Office Mojo reported that it grossed about $95 million, only about $47 million of that total likely went to the studios responsible for it.
However, The Hollywood Reporter suggested that the expensive marketing push behind the movie meant it lost as much as $120 million. And while that projection assumed it wouldn't make more than $75 million worldwide, even the rosiest face one could put on the movie's performance would still describe a $100 million loss. That means that when adjusted for inflation, the worst-case scenario looks like a $153 million loss.
A Wrinkle In Time - Lost As Much As $186 Million
According to Yahoo Finance, A Wrinkle In Time's total budget (incorporating production and marketing) could have totaled anywhere from $150 million to $250 million. Although reports on that budget vary, both numbers paint a grim portrait of A Wrinkle In Time's performance in light of its box office blunder.
That's because the movie grossed $132.6 million worldwide, of which Dinsey is believed to have made about $66 million after all of the movie's ancillary concerns were taken care of. Depending on A Wrinkle In Time's true budget, it could have lost anywhere from $86 million to $186 million.
Evan Almighty - Lost $123 Million
Derided as an unnecessary sequel to Bruce Almighty that leaned far more heavily on its religious themes than its predecessor, Evan Almighty was a tough sell for what it was supposed to be. But according to Deadline, it turned out to be even tougher than its studio thought, as they projected a $40 million opening weekend instead of the $32.1 million that actually came in.
To make matters worse, that outlet reported that despite the studio's insistence that Evan Almighty's budget was $175 million, the production's cost had actually ballooned to about $210 million. That's bad news, given Box Office Mojo's report of a $174 million gross. And since that's not accounting for the marketing budget, this $123 million loss figure ($182 million when adjusted for inflation) is a pretty conservative estimate.
Monster Trucks - Lost $123 Million
According to Deadline, even Viacom didn't have much faith in Monster Trucks, as it expected the action-comedy to lose about $115 million when it hit theaters. However, the outlet's analysts found that the movie performed even worse than its producers thought, as all of the studio's revenues from it amounted to about $72 million.
That would have already been bad in light of Monster Trucks' $125 million production budget, but it's particularly painful considering that the film's total costs amounted to $195 million. As a result, Monster Trucks likely lost its backers $123 million.
Power Rangers - Lost At Least $30 Million
Sometimes, a movie that seems like a modest success actually underscores a larger failure. And that needs to be taken into account for a movie that succeeds on paper, like the 2017 Power Rangers reboot. After all, Box Office Mojo didn't quite tell the whole story when they reported that it made $140 million off a $100 million budget.
For one thing, it's unclear what the movie's additional marketing budget was. And for another, it's worth remembering that the studio likely made about half of that total gross. So not only did the film likely lose a hidden amount of money, but Forbes noted that this was supposed to be the first in a series of films that never materialized due to its underperformance.
Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within - Lost $94 Million
Although Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within looked visually stunning back in 2001, neither Final Fantasy fans nor more casual moviegoers found much to attach to emotionally in the movie. As a result, the expense that went into this movie ended up working against it as audiences stayed away in droves.
More specifically, Box Office Mojo reported that the movie grossed about $85 million, with $42.5 million of this total likely going to its makers. However, that's positively paltry when compared to the movie's $137 million production budget, which means the most optimistic estimates suggest it lost $94 million. When adjusting for inflation, that loss balloons to $163 million.
Jungle Cruise - Lost At Least $90 Million
According to The Hollywood Reporter, Disney put at least $200 million into their ill-fated ride adaptation Jungle Cruise and were already looking to make a sequel. However, the prospect of any follow-up became much more uncertain when it turned out that the movie wasn't the moneymaker they expected.
Although Box Office Mojo reported that the movie pulled in over $220 million, that's not going to cover that lofty budget as much as it may seem. Considering that Disney likely received about half of that total, Jungle Cruise's best-case scenario has it losing the company $90 million.
Mulan - Lost At Least $137 Million
Although Disney's live-action remakes of their classic animated features have largely been considered a license to print money, Mulan stands out as one of the rare exceptions to this rule. Although The Atlantic noted that the movie's domestic release on Disney+ muddies the waters of its performance a little, the most optimistic estimates have it grossing $90 million domestically and — according to Box Office Mojo — $69 million internationally.
Although that sounds like it performed decently, it's worth noting that the movie cost about $200 million to make and that the studio likely made about $62 million when all was said and done. That means even the most optimistic figures have Mulan losing Disney $137 million.
Dark Phoenix - Lost As Much As $200 Million
According to Deadline, both the production and marketing of Dark Phoenix cost an estimated total of $350 million. As such, it was projected to lose between $100 million and $120 million if it made $300 million at the box office and "sink like a stone" if it made $285 million.
According to Box Office Mojo, however, even the worst projections didn't measure up to the $252 million the movie actually made. Since the studios don't get that full amount and the movie would have lost $100 million if it made even $325 million in grosses, it doesn't seem outside of the realm of possibility for Dark Phoenix to have lost as much as $200 million.
Onward - Lost $133 Million
Although Onward's explorations of loss earned it significant critical praise, that acclaim didn't translate to any significant box office returns. Even at the surface level, a report by The Numbers suggesting that the movie grossed $133 million didn't bode well, considering that it had a production budget of $200 million.
Of course, its performance is even worse under the assumption that the studio sees about half of the film's box office returns. With that in mind, it seems more likely that Onward ended up losing as much as $133 million.
The Alamo - Lost $132 Million
By every metric possible, the 2004 historical war drama The Alamo was a dismal failure. Box Office Mojo's report of 25.8 million in worldwide grosses paints a brutal picture on its own, but that number is particularly bleak when it's reduced to the likely studio return of $12.9 million.
Worse yet, Time reported that The Alamo's production and marketing budget totaled $145 million. Despite this being severely reduced from Ron Howard's original planned budget of $200 million, it still meant that the movie would amount to a $132 million loss for Disney. Adjusted for inflation, that loss soars to $214 million.
Stealth - Lost $95 Million
Even before it came out, it would be a stretch to call the military action movie Stealth a hotly anticipated release. And that became abundantly clear after the movie entered and left theaters in 2005, as Box Office Mojo described it as grossing about $79 million globally once the dust settled.
Assuming that the studio's revenues from Stealth amount to half that number, there was likely little hope of the movie making its $135 million production budget back once it was clear how indifferent audiences were to it. All told, the movie lost $95 million, which amounts to $149 million when adjusted for inflation.
Heaven's Gate - Lost $42 Million
Although a significant number of cinephiles consider Heaven's Gate an underrated masterpiece nowadays, its box office failure was infamous enough that it's often blamed both for destroying the United Artists studio and director Michael Cimino's career. And based on Box Office Mojo's data, it's not hard to see how this infamy was attained.
That's because the movie grossed about $3.4 million dollars, which didn't leave United Artists with much, considering that they weren't the only ones expecting a return on the movie's $44 million budget. Although the resulting $42 million loss may seem low compared to other infamous flops in the decades since its release, it's worth noting that this loss in 1980 is the equivalent of $156 million today.
Supernova - Lost $82.5 Million
The 2000 film Supernova was stylized as a sci-fi horror film, but it seems that the only people it scared were those who expected to make money from it. That's because Box Office Mojo's report of the movie grossing $14.8 million comes as a dark omen even before Supernova's budget is taken into account.
However, it is certainly worth noting that the movie reportedly cost $90 million, which makes its poor box office performance an outright disaster. Considering how little of the film's paltry revenues even went to the studio responsible, it's not exactly surprising to learn that Supernova lost $82.5 million. For reference, that's about $147 million in today's money.
John Carter - Lost As Much As $200 Million
Considered potentially the most infamous movie flop of all time, John Carter's performance was reportedly so disappointing that Disney projected $200 million losses after the film spent just ten days in theaters. According to Deadline, this was based on the box office returns at the time, which showed the movie had made $184 million worldwide.
Considering that Box Office Mojo reported a $250 million production budget for the movie, it's clear that the movie's marketing budget must have been significant for that number to make sense. Since the site credited the movie for making an additional $100 million after that, it's unknown how much that mitigated their losses. Considering how much less studios make from a movie the longer it runs, that $200 million loss ($267 million when adjusted for inflation) still seems like a real possibility.
How Do You Know - Lost $75 Million
Much like with James L. Brooks's previous dramedy Spanglish, the prevailing hope in Hollywood was that the love triangle film How Do You Know, would pull in a couple of hundred million just like As Good As It Gets did. According to The Hollywood Reporter, that hope led Sony to spend $120 million on the movie, which was brought down to $100 million thanks to tax rebates from their shooting locations.
However, the box office returns that followed showed that this hope wasn't so well-founded. According to Box Office Mojo, the film ended up grossing just $48 million, which would amount to only slightly more than the rebates once Sony got its share. As a result, How Do You Know lost about $75 million, or $105 million, when adjusted for inflation.
The Oogieloves In The Big Balloon Adventure - Lost $19.5 Million
According to Box Office Mojo, the bizarre and infamously irritating children's film The Oogieloves In The Big Balloon Adventure cost 20 million to make, and the movie grossed just over a million dollars. And given the usual arrangement that studios have, they likely only ended up with half a million for producing this flop.
That's a pretty embarrassing showing, but the only reason this movie wasn't an even bigger disaster is that its budget was fairly small by Hollywood standards. That's because Entertainment Weekly reported that it set the record for the worst opening weekend in box office history by earning $448,131 from 2,160 theaters. When adjusted for inflation, its $19.5 million loss is closer to $26 million.
Town & Country - Lost $85 Million
According to the NME, Town & Country was originally supposed to be a simple romantic comedy with a $14 million budget. However, due to the cost of its central talent (especially star Warren Beatty) and troubled production that saw on-set fistfights and burglary, the movie ended up with a total production budget of $90 million.
And as Box Office Mojo reported, that big budget would turn out to be bad news when Town & Country finally saw its release. The movie grossed just over $10 million, five of which likely went back to the studio behind it. All in all, the movie lost about $85 million, which amounts to $147 million when adjusted for inflation.
The Matrix: Resurrections - Lost At Least $71 Million
Given Keanu Reeves's modern popularity and how deep nostalgia for The Matrix series runs, Warner Bros. appeared confident that a new movie would sell like hotcakes, judging by the $150 million budget Forbes reported for the film. However, it would soon become abundantly clear that this wasn't what the fans wanted.
According to Box Office Mojo, the movie grossed about $157 million, which would only cover its production budget if the studio received 100% of it. In a more realistic world, the studio's best-case scenario involved losing about $71 million. But if the production budget was bigger than Forbes thought and the marketing budget was just as hefty, that $71 million is just the tip of the iceberg.
Treasure Planet - Lost $85 Million
Owing to the ambition of the filmmaking techniques and ideas behind Treasure Planet, Disney granted the long-teased project a $140 million budget. But while the movie commands respect from some Disney fans, especially in retrospect, its prestige didn't translate to as much interest upon release as the company hoped.
According to Box Office Mojo, that's because it grossed about $110 million by the time it left theaters. Considering how much of that money was likely to go back to Disney, it's probably not far off the mark to estimate that Treasure Planet lost the entertainment giant at least $85 million. When adjusted for inflation, that number grows to $145 million.
Cats - Lost $167 Million
Shortly before 2020, Deadline reported that the maligned musical Cats was likely to lose $71 million. However, that estimate was based on the assumption that the movie would gross $100 million by the time it ended its theatrical run. Since the movie had a production budget of $90 million and an estimated marketing budget of $115 million, it was clear that Cats had no hope of making its money back.
However, even this lackluster prediction turned out to be overly optimistic, as Box Office Mojo reported that Cats only ended up grossing about $75 million. Given the likely studio return on that, it's not outside the realm of possibility that the movie lost as much as $167 million. Adjusted for inflation, that number is closer to $200 million.
Moonfall - Lost $116 Million
According to Business Insider, the widely derided sci-fi adventure Moonfall cost about $150 million to make. But while director Roland Emmerich has a long history of turning questionable concepts into major box office hits, Moonfall was a major sign of his luck running out.
According to Box Office Mojo, that's because the movie only grossed about $67 million, which the studios behind the project likely only saw about half of. As a result, Moonfall put them in a $116 million hole that likely got even deeper once the marketing budget was considered.
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