70 Biggest Movie Flops of All Time

These movies were huge box-office bombs and lost a combined $5 billion.

70 Biggest Movie Flops of All Time

Some movies take off and soar at the box office. Others flop like a fish out of water and are dragged into the sea of infamy. This list is all about the latter — the films which have drowned in their own ridiculous budgets and were hammered by critics and audiences.

It’s worth noting that Hollywood studios are notoriously protective of their budgets, and the production budget alone is just one factor. Huge marketing campaigns can sometimes rival the production budget. Additionally, studios only take roughly half of what is earned in theaters domestically, and even less in international markets. And contract stipulations may protect theaters against bombs, which leads to a larger theater cut for movies that underperform at the box office. So a movie needs to make back twice its production cost to break even.

These numbers, from Filmsite and other sources, may be estimates, but there’s no doubt that these movies were huge box-office bombs.

Transformers: The Last Knight

Year: 2017

Budget: $217 million

Domestic gross: $130.1 million

Worldwide gross: $605.4 million

Loss (inflation-adjusted): $100 million

Bottom Line: Transformers: The Last Knight

The live-action "Transformers" franchise had a run of success that stretched back a decade and almost 10 movies, but all that came to a screeching halt with "Transformers: The Last Knight" in 2017.

Aside from just being a bad movie — "Last Knight" garnered 10 nominations at the Golden Raspberry Awards — it's also a fascinating look into how bloated movie budgets, marketing and otherwise, have become.

"Last Knight" made $605 million worldwide and still lost a reported $100 million.

CHiPs

Year: 2017

Budget: $25 million

Domestic gross: $18.6 million

Worldwide gross: $26.8 million

Loss (inflation-adjusted): N/A

Bottom Line: CHiPs

If you want to point to the low point of classic television shows rebooted as films, you can't go wrong starting with "CHiPs," the failed reboot of the classically cheesy cop show from the disco era.

This movie had great trailers and looked like it should have been able to turn a profit thanks to its fun premise and two likable stars, Dax Shepard and Michael Pena.

So what happened? It wasn't funny. And it lost money.

The Mummy (2017)

Year: 2017

Budget: $125 million

Domestic gross: $80.2 million

Worldwide gross: $409.2 million

Loss (inflation-adjusted): $95 million

Bottom Line: The Mummy (2017)

This movie was supposed to kick off an MCU-style film series for Universal. These "Dark Universe" films would use old monster characters, including The Mummy, Wolfman, Frankenstein and Dracula.

It was a big surprise for the execs at Universal when this movie came out and audiences were blown away — by how bad it was. The idea behind these movies seemed foolproof, especially with Tom Cruise leading the way in another franchise-friendly series a la "Mission Impossible" films. Instead, "The Mummy" lost almost $100 million.

Somehow, the "Dark Universe" still lives on in some forms at Universal. "The Invisible Man" starring Elisabeth Moss was a hit, and Ryan Gosling is set to star in the "Wolfman" in the near future.

After Earth

Year: 2013

Budget: $130 million

Domestic gross: $60.5 million

Worldwide gross: $243.6 million

Loss (inflation-adjusted): $30 million

Bottom Line: After Earth

"After Earth" star Will Smith said the movie's failure was the hardest thing he's ever had to deal with in his career — which seemed like an even trade-off because the bizarre accents he and his costar and son Jaden Smith used in the movie made watching the movie incredibly difficult.

Seriously, though. Those accents are brutal. The movie's concept and plot and everything else are actually really good. And for all of Will Smith's talk about how the movie failed, it only lost $30 million, although the critical reception was brutal.

It's sitting at an extra-rotten 11 percent audience score on Rotten Tomatoes.

Cats

Year: 2019

Budget: $95 million

Domestic gross: $27.1 million

Worldwide gross: $73.8 million

Loss (inflation-adjusted): $70 million-$100 million

Bottom Line: Cats

There has been no more critically derided movie in the last several years than "Cats" — a disturbing, CGI-filled mess that turned movie theatres into its own personal litter box at the end of 2019.

Obviously based on the Tony Award-winning musical that debuted in 1981, the failure of the film version of "Cats" was made all the more damaging because of its all-star cast and crew, led by Academy Award-winning director Tom Hooper ("The King's Speech) and two Academy Award winners in Jennifer Hudson and Judi Dench.

First Man

Year: 2018

Budget: $59 million

Domestic gross: $44.9 million

Worldwide gross: $105.6 million

Loss (inflation-adjusted): Unknown

Bottom Line: First Man

"First Man" got hit upside its head with a barrage of bad press from right-wing news outlets and politicians when a few quotes from star Ryan Gosling were taken as anti-American. We can say now, for positive, that it ultimately had a big impact on the film's bottom line.

Which is too bad. Because the film from Oscar-winning director Damian Chazelle ("La La Land") is quite brilliant, as is Gosling as astronaut Neil Armstrong and Claire Foy as his wife.

And it has a final scene that is just breathtaking.

Waterworld

Year: 1995

Budget: $175 million

Domestic gross: $88.2 million

Worldwide gross: $264.2 milliion

Loss (inflation-adjusted): Even

Bottom Line: Waterworld

Few movies in cinema history have been as scrutinized from start to finish as the 1995 sci-fi epic "Waterworld" starring Kevin Costner, which believe it or not actually didn't lose money.

"Waterworld" cost an estimated $175 million in 1995, making it the most expensive movie of all time — about $305 million in 2021. Dubbed "Fishtar" and "Kevin's Gate" during filming, "Waterworld" was made at a time when Costner was the biggest movie star in the world.

The film's original director, Kevin Reynolds, had teamed with Costner a few years earlier for a box-office hit with "Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves." Costner allegedly fired Reynolds halfway through filming "Waterworld" and took over.

Black Widow

Year: 2021

Budget: $221 million

Domestic gross:$179 million

Worldwide gross: $368.6 million

Loss (inflation-adjusted): N/A

Bottom Line: Black Widow

If you're not in the loop, let us fill you in. There's already a legal war brewing between Disney and "Black Widow" star/producer Scarlett Johansson over the film's box-office receipts.

This nasty, public battle between one of the most bankable stars in the world and the studio that helped make her a fortune boils down to the film's 45-day theater window and the way it was sold to at-home viewers on Disney+ — with Johansson's backend deal in the wind.

The movie itself was actually pretty good, even if we hate what they did to Taskmaster.

Dolittle

Year: 2020

Budget: $175 million

Domestic gross: $77 million

Worldwide gross: $245.4 million

Loss (inflation-adjusted): $100 million

Bottom Line: Dolittle

We're all used to movies being delayed in the pandemic. It's kind of a sign of the times. But before the pandemic, there was no greater sign that a movie was going to bomb than a big budget plus a lengthy delay.

That is what happened to "Dolittle," which was filmed in 2018 but wasn't released until 2020. We weren't totally sure what Robert Downey Jr. was thinking when he agreed to make this film until we found out he was paid between $20 million-$25 million.

The Dark Tower

Year: 2017

Budget: $60 million

Domestic gross: $50.7 million

Worldwide gross: $113.2 million

Loss (inflation-adjusted): $40 million-50 million

Bottom Line: The Dark Tower

For some movies, we don't have to use our imagination too much to figure out why they flopped. "The Dark Tower" is just terrible.

The sad part about the failure of the Idris Elba-Matthew McConaughey headliner is that it didn't have to happen this way. The studio decided to take a horror novel and turn it into a "boy's journey" tale, and Stephen King's raw, graphic novel, even in a loosely faithful adaption, is still an R-rated movie.

Somehow, this ended up PG-13.

Steel

Year: 1997

Budget: $16 million

Domestic gross: $1.7 million

Worldwide gross: N/A

Loss (inflation-adjusted): $23 million-$46 million

Bottom Line: Steel

Casting Shaquille O’Neal in the superhero movie "Steel" was a terrible idea. As entertaining a Shaq’s personal life might be, the 7-foot-1 rebound king’s acting chops are infinitely worse than his free-throwing skills.

Warner Bros. execs thought the movie would be brilliant with Shaq, but it was such a blunder that people got fired. Kenneth Johnson told Vice that he kept trying to get a bigger name in the role, but studio executives were convinced that Shaq would sell more toys than someone like Wesley Snipes.

"The head of the marketing department at Warner Bros. and many of his colleagues ended up getting fired immediately after this movie," Johnson said. "One of the two co-presidents at Warner Bros., Bill Gerber was also fired [in 1998]."

That $22.3 million inflation-adjusted loss is a conservative estimate as marketing numbers aren’t available. But if the studio went all-in on this film — which seems plausible, given all the firings — the movie probably cost twice that amount and made practically nothing back after theaters took their share of the gross.

Hellboy (2019)

Year: 2019

Budget: $50 million

Domestic gross: $21.9 million

Worldwide gross: $44.66 million

Loss: $40 million

Bottom Line: Hellboy (2019)

A soulless reboot made only to cash in on the superhero craze, "Hellboy" was a well-deserved failure.

Despite Ron Pearlman and Guillermo del Toro both willing to make another "Hellboy" movie, Lionsgate executives decided to make a reboot of the franchise without the pair who made the original "Hellboy" films so damned enjoyable.

Production was said to be fraught with studio interference and internal spats, while critics and fans panned the film when it was released. Bomb Report says the marketing budget was around $35 million, bringing the final tally for the infernal picture to at least $85 million.

Sorcerer

Year: 1977

Budget: $22 million

Domestic gross: N/A

Worldwide gross: $9 million-$12 million

Loss (inflation-adjusted): $42 million-$55 million

Bottom Line: Sorcerer

William Friedkin made "The French Connection" in 1971 and "The Exorcist" in 1973, two films that were instant classics. Each raked in cash from theaters.

In 1977, he released his next movie, "Sorcerer," a big-budget thriller revolving around four criminals transporting unstable dynamite through South America. But the movie’s biggest bomb was at the box office, netting between $9 million and $12 million worldwide. So what happened?

Ultimately, the film’s fate was sealed due to bad luck and bad casting choices. "Star Wars: A New Hope" had released one month before "Sorcerer," eclipsing whatever thunder Friedkin’s film may have had. And "Sorcerer" had barely any star power.

The film’s leading role was written for Steve McQueen, but McQueen wanted Friedkin to cast his new wife, Ali McGraw, in the film or make her an associate producer. Friedkin said no, and McQueen declined. The leading role went to Roy Scheider, while the other stars were international names unknown to domestic audiences.

"I probably shouldn’t have done 'Sorcerer' 'cause it was written to be a star-driven vehicle, and there were no stars in it. I made a big mistake with McQueen," Friedkin said in "Easy Riders, Raging Bulls: How the Sex-Drugs-and-Rock 'N' Roll Generation Saved Hollywood."

Reviews at the time of release were lackluster, too, although the movie is now considered a forgotten masterpiece that was rather tough to make. During filming, Friedkin contracted malaria, and around 50 people had to be replaced "because they got gangrene and various other diseases during the making of it," he told Esquire.

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows

Year: 2016

Budget: $135 million

Domestic gross: $82 million

Worldwide gross: $245.6 million

Loss (inflation-adjusted): $80 million

Bottom Line: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows

The sequel to 2014’s "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles" was expected to be a blockbuster hit like the original reboot, which grossed $493 million worldwide. Paramount Pictures and two Chinese companies bankrolled "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows" to a robust $135 million budget, plus an expensive summertime marketing campaign.

To their credit, the movie’s producers legitimately sound like they made something that they were proud of and were confused with the film’s lackluster theatrical showing.

"We loved the movie. We loved making the movie. From our first Super Bowl teaser to everything we launched, we felt so good about our material, and for some reason it did not find the audience that the first movie found," said Andrew Form. "Even before the movie came out, we were feeling great. And you wake up two days before the movie opens and you go, 'Wow, I don’t know if this movie is tracking as well as it should.' …. [A]nd then sure enough your weekend comes and it’s nowhere near what anyone thought, and it’s nowhere near [the first film], and, before you know it, it’s over."

Even with $245.6 million in ticket sales, The Hollywood Reporter estimates the TMNT sequel lost $75 million after accounting for worldwide marketing.

Gemini Man

Year: 2019

Budget: $139 million

Domestic gross: $38 million

Worldwide gross: $121.5 million

Loss: $75 million

Bottom Line: Gemini Man

It turns out that audiences did not want to see Will Smith act alongside a de-aged Will Smith. And it didn’t help that the vast majority of theaters couldn’t show Ang Lee’s action movie as intended.

The film was shot on a hyper-realistic and strange-looking 120fps in 4K 3D, but there are no theaters in America that can handle that type of technology. Fourteen theaters showed it in 120fps 3D but in 2K, while the vast majority of theaters would show it in 3D and 60 fps.

That might not have mattered if the movie was any good, but critical reception was mostly negative. The film holds a 25 percent critical rating on Rotten Tomatoes, but it also has an 84 percent audience score.

However, not enough people turned out to see it. "Gemini Man" only made $120 million worldwide in two weeks, and the $139 million movie cost an additional $100 million to market. It’s estimated "Gemini Man" will lose $75 million by the time the movie ages out of theaters.

Seventh Son

Year: 2014

Budget: $95 million

Domestic gross: $17.22 million

Worldwide gross: $114 million

Loss (inflation-adjusted): $92 million

Bottom Line: Seventh Son

"Seventh Son," a fantasy movie about witches, dragons and the seventh son of a seventh son, was predicted to be such a dud that Legendary Entertainment took an $85 million write-down on "Seventh Son" the year before it released.

Studio production troubles delayed the film for two years in the United States. It was originally set to release in February 2013, but made it to U.S. theaters in February 2015, although it released in France in late 2014.

The film was considered a terrible movie by the majority of people who saw it. "Seventh So" has an 11 percent critical score and a 34 percent audience score on Rotten Tomatoes.

Red Planet

Year: 2000

Budget: $80 million

Domestic gross: $17.48 million

Worldwide gross: $33.46 million

Loss (inflation-adjusted): $93 million

Bottom Line: Red Planet

"Red Planet" was a futuristic sci-fi movie about astronauts stranded on Mars with a killer robot starring Val Kilmer. Not only did the movie bomb, but it broke up a friendship.

Kilmer and co-star Tom Sizemore reportedly got into a fight. Apparently, Kilmer was angry that production had shipped Sizemore’s elliptical machine to Australia, where the movie was being filmed.

The Wolfman

Year: 2010

Budget: $150 million

Domestic gross: $62 million

Worldwide gross: $139.8 million

Loss (inflation-adjusted): $93.3 million

Bottom Line: The Wolfman

"The Wolfman" is a remake of the classic 1941 film. This one stars Benecio del Toro, Anthony Hopkins and Hugo Weaving, and had a huge budget and spectacular practical effects.

But the movie’s production was troubled, with the original director quitting the film three weeks before shooting, several release delays and extensive reshoots that engorged the original $85 million production budget up to $150 million.

DVD and Blu-ray sales reached about $27 million, but that isn’t enough to be the silver bullet to save this film.

K-19: The Widowmaker

Year: 2002

Budget: $100 million

Domestic gross: $35.2 million

Worldwide gross: $65.7 million

Loss (inflation-adjusted): $94.67 million

Bottom Line: K-19: The Widowmaker

Based on a historical event, this Cold War-era submarine drama starring Harrison Ford and Liam Neeson received a cold reception from audiences when it released in 2002, grossing just $12.8 million during its opening weekend.

Reviews leaned negative at the time and still remain mixed. Reviewers criticized the film’s questionable historical accuracy, as did the K-19 submarine’s actual crew (the movie recounts the deadly incident of a Soviet nuclear submarine’s reactor malfunction, which the Russian government covered up for almost 30 years).

Also, it’s just plain weird to see Harrison Ford play act as a Russian. See for yourself in the trailer.

The Nutcracker in 3D

Year: 2009 (released in theaters in 2010)

Budget: $90 million

Domestic gross: $195,459

Worldwide gross: $16.18 million

Loss (inflation-adjusted): $95.6 million

Bottom Line: The Nutcracker in 3D

"The Nutcracker in 3D" is a bewildering take on the classic "Nutcracker" ballet, and something truly went wrong in the film’s direction and story.

"From what dark night of the soul emerged the wretched idea for 'The Nutcracker in 3D'?" wrote Roger Ebert in his review. "Who considered it even remotely a plausible idea for a movie?"

Apparently, "The Nutcracker in 3D" is more about the Nutcracker battling humanoid Nazi rats (some even have futuristic jetpacks) than it is a heartwarming holiday tale for the whole family, or a movie that anyone actually wanted to see.

The film, which was financed by a state-owned Russian bank, made the majority of its money in Russia.

A Sound of Thunder

Year: 2005

Budget: $52 million-$80 million

Domestic gross: $1.9 million

Worldwide gross: $11.66 million

Loss (inflation-adjusted): $96.3 million

Bottom Line: A Sound of Thunder

"A Sound of Thunder" is based on a Ray Bradbury story of the same name but didn’t do the late sci-fi master a bit of justice.

According to Bomb Report, the studio financing for the film went bust, leaving a diminished budget and a very noticeable lack of money left over for visual effects, many of which remained unfinished. Which was a huge problem.

"A Sound of Thunder" is about a group of time-traveling tourists who pay to go back in time and hunt dinosaurs. As such, the film needed a lot of quality CGI. It doesn’t have any.

Check out the trailer, which showcases awesomely terrible-looking dinosaurs and Ben Kingsley’s bizarre hairpiece.

Peter Pan (2003)

Year: 2003

Budget: $130 million

Domestic gross: $48.5 million

Worldwide gross: $122 million

Loss (inflation-adjusted): $96.7 million

Bottom Line: Peter Pan

2003’s "Peter Pan" reboot was actually a well-received film (76 percent critical and 74 percent audience score at Rotten Tomatoes), but the movie completely bombed at the box office.

It placed seventh on its opening weekend, with "The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King" still holding the No. 1 spot.

The movie also was beaten by several other movies released at the same time, like "Cheaper by the Dozen" and "Cold Mountain."

Blackhat

Year: 2015

Budget: $70 million

Domestic gross: $8 million

Worldwide gross: $19.65 million

Loss (inflation-adjusted): $97.5 million

Bottom Line: Blackhat

What seemed like an audience-wooing pairing of Chris Hemsworth and director Michael Mann (director of "Heat" and 2006’s "Miami Vice") turned out to be a massive box-office failure.

"Blackhat" debuted against "American Sniper," which became a massive but unexpected hit, and suffered from poor and expensive marketing. After 13 days, the movie had only made $7.7 million, and its distributor, Universal Pictures, yanked it from over 2,300 theaters.

According to Bomb Report, domestic marketing cost over $35 million and cost Legendary Entertainment a loss of $90 million.

The Great Raid

Year: 2005

Budget: $80 million

Domestic gross: $10.17 million

Worldwide gross: $10.77 million

Loss (inflation-adjusted): $97.6 million

Bottom Line: The Great Raid

"The Great Raid" is a World War II epic based on the true story of the Raid at Cabanatuan, where allied soldiers and Filipino guerrillas attacked a POW camp and liberated over 500 POWs.

The movie seemed to have been cursed during post-production. According to Bomb Report, filming commenced in 2002, but the theatrical release was delayed until 2005 due to studio problems.

"The Great Raid" received mixed reviews from critics but garnered a decent initial response from audiences, although it ultimately went overlooked in favor of other movies released at the time.

The film currently holds a 70 percent audience score on Rotten Tomatoes. Maybe it’s worth a look for fans of WWII movies.

Dudley Do-Right

Year: 1999

Budget: $70 million

Domestic gross: $9.97 million

Worldwide gross: $9.97 million

Loss (inflation-adjusted): $99.2 million

Bottom Line: Dudley Do-Right

A live-action slapstick comedy based on the Canadian Mountie from the "Rocky and Bullwinkle Show," "Dudley Do-Right" features Brendan Fraser stepping on planks and getting hit in the groin with rocks. At least, that’s what it looks like according to the trailer.

"Dudley Do-Right" hit the wrong notes with critics and audiences, amassing a pathetic $9.97 million at the box office off an insanely high $70 million budget.

Ballistic: Ecks Vs. Sever

Year: 2002

Budget: $70 million

Domestic gross: $14.31 million

Worldwide gross: $19.93 million

Loss (inflation-adjusted): $99 million

Bottom Line: Ballistic: Ecks Vs. Sever

A movie with zero redeeming qualities, "Ballistic: Ecks Vs. Sever" is an explosion-and-gunshot-filled fever dream about two dueling agents who try to kill each other for 90 minutes.

The movie has a 0 percent critical rating on Rotten Tomatoes. The film’s director goes by the nickname Kaos. It should have lost more money.

Gigli

Year: 2003

Budget: $75.6 million

Domestic gross: $6.1 million

Worldwide gross: $7.27 million

Loss (inflation-adjusted: $99.47 million

Bottom Line: Gigli

Fun fact: Martin Brest, the man who made the box-office atrocity that is "Gigli," also directed "Midnight Run," "Scent of a Woman" and the wildly successful "Beverly Hills Cop."

Slightly depressing fact: After Gigli, Brest never directed another movie again or worked in Hollywood. He has seemingly disappeared.

"Gigli" is a notorious movie from 2003 starring then-real-life couple Ben Affleck and Jennifer Lopez in what was one of the most universally panned films ever.

For audiences, perhaps the best thing that came out of "Gigli" is the schadenfreude of watching it get ruthlessly mocked for years.

Monkeybone

Year: 2001

Budget: $75 million

Domestic gross: $5.4 million

Worldwide gross: $7.6 million

Loss (inflation-adjusted): $102 million

Bottom Line: Monkeybone

"Monkeybone" is a dark comedy starring Brendon Fraser and directed by Henry Selick of "The Nightmare Before Christmas" fame.

Like that cult hit, "Monkeybone" also had stop motion animation and fantastic set design, but it couldn’t find an audience.

Some of those involved with the movie blamed Fox for giving it minimal advertising and a review embargo, while some critics just thought the movie stunk.

Ben-Hur

Year: 2016

Budget: $100 million

Domestic gross: $26.4 million

Worldwide gross: $94 million

Loss (inflation-adjusted): $81.5 million-$131 million

Bottom Line: Ben-Hur

Paramount attempted to recreate the blockbuster bankroll from 1959’s "Ben Hur," but the 2016 "Ben-Hur" remake was an all-around chariot crash.

The flick received negative reviews across the board. MGM, which financed over 80 percent of the budget, took a $47.8 million hit on the investment.

The film had no star power, save for Morgan Freeman, and didn’t drum up enough interest outside of its religious target audience.

Tomorrowland

Year: 2015

Budget: $190 million

Domestic gross: $93.4 million

Worldwide gross: $209.2 million

Loss (inflation-adjusted): $82.6 million-$163 million

Bottom Line: Tomorrowland

Disney’s sci-fi fantasy "Tomorrowland" had a huge marketing budget (The New York Times estimated it cost at least $280 million total) that stretched over two years, which included a Super Bowl commercial and theme park rides.

But the film was met with average reviews and never managed to reach its family-friendly audience, who were confused by the movie’s vague marketing.

Deepwater Horizon

Year: 2016

Budget: $110 million

Domestic gross: $61.4 million

Worldwide gross: $121.8 million

Loss (inflation-adjusted): $64 million-$120 million

Bottom Line: Deepwater Horizon

"Deepwater Horizon" was a disaster movie about the eponymous oil rig which exploded in 2010, killing 11 crewmen and causing the largest oil spill in U.S. waters ever (although a slowly leaking rig off the Gulf of Mexico may be spilling more).

It wasn’t a bad movie, either. Most critics praised the film, and viewers liked it. It’s also worth noting that the director (Peter Berg) had to battle BP during filming.

The problem with this movie was the overlarge budget and competition from "Sully." And many people just aren’t too interested in ecological disaster films, even when they are based on real life.

Hart’s War

Year: 2002

Budget: $70 million

Domestic gross: $19 million

Worldwide gross: $32.3 million

Loss (inflation-adjusted): $88.6 million-$182 million

Bottom Line: Hart's War

An action-packed World War II movie starring Bruce Willis and Colin Farrell about soldiers trying to escape a Nazi prisoner-of-war camp? Sign me up! Wait, what’s this movie about?

That’s the likely thought process of viewers watching the "Hart’s War" trailer to actually seeing it in the theaters. "Hart’s War" is loosely based on a true story about a POW and is a courtroom drama, but it was marketed as a Willis action movie by MGM.

According to the Los Angeles Times, the director called it a "'disservice' to the real POWs." Because of the deceptive marketing, the movie flopped hard, and $21 million of that unrecovered budget went to Willis’ salary, according to Bomb Report.

How Do You Know

Year: 2010

Budget: $120 million

Domestic gross: $30.2 million

Worldwide gross: $48.7 million

Loss (inflation-adjusted): $88.6 million-$122.4 million

Bottom Line: How Do You Know

How could a comedy by James L. Brooks starring Jack Nicholson, Reese Witherspoon, Paul Rudd and Owen Wilson be a bomb?

For starters, the movie’s budget was huge. The salaries for the aforementioned talent totaled $50 million. Additionally, Brooks took a long time to create the movie, reshooting both the beginning and end.

And it also just sort of sucked. Time Out critic David Jenkins described the flick as, "Contrived, mawkish and mirthless, this feels like it was made by people who haven't had any meaningful human contact for years."

Pan

Year: 2015

Budget: $150 million

Domestic gross: $35 million

Worldwide gross: $128 million

Loss (inflation-adjusted): $93.5 million-$163 million

Bottom Line: Pan

"Pan," the 2015 "Peter Pan" reboot by Warner Bros., made a paltry $35 million domestically and $93 million internationally.

The CGI-heavy snore-fest couldn’t hold a candle to "Hook" and received negative reviews.

Variety estimated that a big-budget picture like "Pan" needed to make $400 million just to break even.

The Astronaut’s Wife

Year: 1999

Budget: $75 million

Domestic gross: $10.67 million

Worldwide gross: $19.6 million

Loss (inflation-adjusted): $114.4 million

Bottom Line: The Astronaut's Wife

A sci-fi horror thriller starring Johnny Depp and Charlize Theron, "The Astronaut’s Wife" is a snore-fest that bombed spectacularly at the box office.

The movie was criticized for being derivative, melodramatic and downright boring.

It has a 15 percent critical rating and a 33 percent audience score on Rotten Tomatoes.

Jupiter Ascending

Year: 2015

Budget: $176 million

Domestic gross: $47.4 million

Worldwide gross: $184 million

Loss (inflation adjusted): $95 million-$130.5 million

Bottom Line: Jupiter Ascending

On paper, a sci-fi film directed by the Wachowskis with robust star power (Mila Kunis, Channing Tatum and Sean Bean) should be a hit. It wasn’t.

"Jupiter Ascending" turned out to be a confusing, special-effects heavy movie that tested so poorly, studios decided to throw more money at the sci-fi film. According to Deadline, "Jupiter Ascending" had an initial budget of $130 million, but reshoots cost "over 50 percent" of that initial sum.

Deadline believes the movie’s budget to be over $200 million with a $100 million marketing cost.

The Fall of the Roman Empire

Year: 1964

Budget: $18.4 million-$20 million

Domestic gross: $4.75 million

Worldwide gross: Unavailable

Loss (inflation-adjusted): $98.4 million-$117.3 million

Bottom Line: The Fall of the Roman Empire

A three-hour-long swords and sandals epic about the death of Marcus Aurelius and the rise of Commodus released to an audience that was already jaded from 1963’s stinker "Cleopatra."

As such, the movie was a dismal failure and resulted in producer Samuel Bronston and his production company declaring bankruptcy.

Around the World in 80 Days

Year: 2004

Budget: $110 million

Domestic gross: $24 million

Worldwide gross: $72.2 million

Loss (inflation-adjusted): $99.6 million

Bottom Line: Around the World in 80 Days

"Around the World in 80 Days" is based on Jules Verne’s novel of the same name and stars Jackie Chan and Steve Coogan.

According to a critic for the Las Vegas Weekly, the movie "consists almost entirely of people falling down and/or being hit on the head."

It made a disappointing showing at the box office and was nominated for two Razzie awards.

Dark Phoenix

Year: 2019

Budget: $200 million

Domestic gross: $65.84 million

Worldwide gross: $252.44 million

Loss: $100 million

Bottom Line: Dark Phoenix

"Dark Phoenix" was always meant to be the end of Fox’s "X-Men" franchise, but studio executives weren’t expecting it to be the final nail in the coffin. The film cost $200 million to make, not including marketing costs, and drew a pitiful $65.84 million domestically.

The film’s poor performance was a blow to 21st Century Fox, now a Disney-owned studio, which reported a $170 million loss for its third-quarter earnings.

A press release from Disney reported that the studio’s losses were "driven by the performance of 'Dark Phoenix.'" Disney executives on an earnings call said they were going to "consolidate and to cut back on the number of releases so as to focus on the kind of release that we hope would come out of that studio," according to The Hollywood Reporter.

Which basically means, "We need to make sure 21st Century Fox doesn’t pump out any more crap."

R.I.P.D.

Year: 2013

Budget: $130 Million

Domestic gross: $33.6 million

Worldwide gross: $78.3 million

Loss (inflation-adjusted): $100 million-$127 million

Bottom Line: R.I.P.D.

"R.I.P.D." (short for "Rest in Peace Department") is a movie based on the comic book of the same name. But not a lot of people knew about that comic book, and not many people enjoyed the movie.

Starring Jeff Bridges and Ryan Reynolds, "R.I.P.D." is about a pair of ghost lawmen who are tasked with hunting down spirits who refuse to move on (they’ll become monsters if they stick around too long).

If Netflix were making movies in 2013 like it does now, this definitely would have been one of them.

Green Lantern

Year: 2011

Budget: $200 million

Domestic gross: $166.6 million

Worldwide gross: $220 million

Loss (inflation-adjusted): $101.7 million

Bottom Line: Green Lantern

"Green Lantern" was an overproduced, fumbling, idiotic movie that could have made money had the budget not been so overblown. It’s surprising that the movie made as much as it did.

Even Ryan Reynolds, who played the Green Lantern, knew the movie was going to stink up theaters worldwide, saying that the film "fell victim to the process in Hollywood which is like poster first, release date second, script last."

Studio execs tried to make up for the lackluster movie with a $100 million marketing blitz.

Sahara

Year: 2005

Budget: $160 million

Domestic gross: $68.7 million

Worldwide gross: $119.3 million

Loss (inflation-adjusted): $104 million-$133 million

Bottom Line: Sahara

There is a 46-second scene in "Sahara" of an airplane crash that cost over $2 million. Not a big deal for a big-budget flick, except this scene was left on the cutting room floor.

The Los Angeles Times obtained some fascinating behind-the-scenes documents on "Sahara" detailing its exorbitant expense, including bribes to foreign governments and actors' salaries. It’s a rare look at how much movies actually cost to be made (more on that here).

Oh, and the film itself kind of sucked.

The BFG

Year: 2016

Budget: $140 million

Domestic gross: $55.5 million

Worldwide gross: $183.3 million

Loss (inflation-adjusted): $106 million

Bottom Line: The BFG

This movie adaptation of Roald Dahl’s beloved children’s novel was just too costly to turn a profit, even though it was well-received by critics.

It also faced stiff competition at the box office from family-friendly films like "Finding Dory" and "The Legend of Tarzan," which stole some of this gentle, expensive giant’s thunder.

Fathers' Day

Year: 1997

Budget: $85 million

Domestic gross: $28.6 million

Worldwide gross: Unavailable

Loss (inflation-adjusted): $106 million

Bottom Line: Fathers' Day

"Kindergarten Cop" and "Ghostbusters" director Ivan Reitman paired with Robin Williams, Billy Crystal and Julia Louis-Dreyfus for this big-budget comedy about two men trying to find their ex-lover’s runaway son.

The movie was rejected by audiences and bashed by critics, which is a shame.

This film seems like it should have worked.

Beloved

Year: 1998

Budget: $80 million

Domestic gross: $22.8 million

Worldwide gross: Unavailable

Loss (inflation-adjusted): $106.8 million

Bottom Line: Beloved

"Beloved" is a 1998 film starring Oprah Winfrey and Danny Glover about slavery, spirituality and ghosts.

Depending on who you ask, "Beloved" is either a brilliant, gut-wrenching movie about slavery, or a weird three-hour slog. Either way, the movie failed to connect with audiences and tanked at the box office.

Winfrey even bought up blocks of tickets to try and pad ticket figures, according to Fortune.

Windtalkers

Year: 2002

Budget: $115 million

Domestic gross: $41 million

Worldwide gross: $77.6 million

Loss (inflation-adjusted): $107.4 million-$114.5 million

Bottom Line: Windtalkers

John Woo’s "Windtalkers" suffered from a number of setbacks, including a one-year release delay and the Department of Defense meddling with the script to change certain scenes for what they deemed "un-Marine activity."

But in kowtowing to the almighty war machine, Woo gained access to millions of dollars' worth of official military equipment for his explosion-happy, violent and weirdly stylistic World War II movie starring Nicholas Cage.

But it didn’t matter. "Windtalkers" received tepid reviews, and few theater-goers shelled out money for the $115 million production.

Inchon

Year: 1982

Budget: $46 million

Domestic gross: $5.2 million

Worldwide gross: $5.2 million

Loss (inflation-adjusted): $107.5 million

Bottom Line: Inchon

"Inchon" was financed by the Unification Church, otherwise known as the cult of Moonies. It failed spectacularly at the box office, earning only $5.2 million at theaters, and it deserved to do so. The movie is ranked as one of the worst movies of all time.

The war film, which is about the Korean War’s Battle of Inchon, was meddled with from Moonie cult leader Sun Myung Moon. It required extensive reshoots that were expensive and looked cheap. According to the Telegraph, one scene included "cardboard cut-outs of U.S. fighter planes visibly held up with string."

Evan Almighty

Year: 2007

Budget: $175 million

Domestic gross: $100.5 million

Worldwide gross: $173 million

Loss (inflation-adjusted): $107.9 million

Bottom Line: Evan Almighty

This tired, unfunny sequel to 2003’s "Bruce Almighty" stars the normally hilarious Steve Carell as Noah, who suddenly has the compulsion to build an ark and finds himself a friend to all animals, big and small.

Studios spent $250 million to make and market this sinking ship.

Battlefield Earth

Year: 2000

Budget: $73 million

Domestic gross: $21.5 million

Worldwide gross: $29.9

Loss (inflation-adjusted): $108 million

Bottom Line: Battlefield Earth

Largely considered to be one of the best bad movies of all time, John Travolta’s "Battlefield Earth" is an unintentionally hilarious big-budget production about giant space invaders with dreads feeding rats to an enslaved human race.

Everything about the movie is terrible, from the bizarre 45-degree-angle camera shots to the omnipresent bluish tint to John Travolta’s overacting from the atrocious script.

It absolutely deserves a spot in your movie collection, right next to "The Room."

The Postman

Year: 1997

Budget: $80 million

Domestic gross: $17.6 million

Worldwide gross: $20.8 million

Loss (inflation-adjusted): $111 million

Bottom Line: The Postman

Kevin Costner dresses as a United States postal worker to inspire hope in the post-apocalyptic landscape of 2013.

His best friend is a mule named Bill, who also helps the Postman (Costner) earn money by joining him in renditions of Shakespeare’s "Macbeth" (they’re some kind of post-apocalyptic touring theater).

The Postman is conscripted into an army. He escapes. He dramatically snatches a letter from a young, hopeful child. Nobody went to see it. Here’s the trailer.

Monster Trucks

Year: 2017

Budget: $125 million

Domestic gross: $33.4 million

Worldwide gross: $64.5 million

Loss (inflation-adjusted): $113 million-$119.2 million

Bottom Line: Monster Trucks

Watching the "Monster Trucks" trailer on YouTube and reading the comments sums up why this movie was such a financial disaster. It’s genuinely terrible.

"Monster Trucks" is about monsters in trucks that make the trucks go fast and climb stuff. It was a shot by Paramount to create a whole new franchise — including a line of (presumably abandoned) "Monster Trucks toys.

Jack the Giant Slayer

Year: 2013

Budget: $195 million

Domestic gross: $65.2 million

Worldwide gross: $197 million

Loss (inflation-adjusted): $120 million

Bottom Line: Jack the Giant Slayer

"Jack the Giant Slayer" may have made nearly $200 million worldwide, but it was still a giant failure for Warner Bros.

The film had a bloated budget of $195 million, and Warner Bros. spent over $100 million to market the film.

Additionally, script rewrites, delays, a March release, mixed reviews and a poor title slayed the chances of this movie ever being successful.

King Arthur: Legend of the Sword

Year: 2017

Budget: $175 million

Domestic gross: $39.2 million

Worldwide gross: $148.7 million

Loss (inflation adjusted): $120 million-$157 million

Bottom Line: King Arthur: Legend of the Sword

"I couldn't be in the center of that thing and not be aware it was going horribly wrong," Charlie Hunnam, a "King Arthur" star, told USA Today after the film released.

And things did go horribly wrong. The movie went through numerous reshoots and two years' worth of post-production woes after several script iterations stretching back to 2011.

Treasure Planet

Year: 2002

Budget: $140 million

Domestic gross: $38.2 million

Worldwide gross: $109.6 million

Loss (inflation-adjusted): $120 million

Bottom Line: Treasure Planet

Disney’s 43rd animated feature film was well received by critics, but couldn’t find any riches at the box office. "Treasure Planet" is a futuristic sci-fi take on Robert Louis Stevenson’s "Treasure Island," with Jim Hawkins embarking on a spaceship to explore alien worlds.

Disney went all-in on this feature, marketing tie-ins with McDonald's, Pepsi, Dreyer’s and Kellogg Company. They even made a video game for it. It’s safe to say that the marketing was costly and didn’t work.

However, while the film lost an $85 million (unadjusted for inflation), it gained back some of that loss in DVD sales, making $38 million just one year after its release.

Town and Country

Year: 2001

Budget: $90 million

Domestic gross: $6.7 million

Worldwide gross: $10.4 million

Loss (inflation adjusted): $122 million

Bottom Line: Town and Country

For a movie stuffed with stars (including Warren Beatty, Diane Keaton, Goldie Hawn, Garry Shandling and a notable appearance by Charlton Heston), "Town and Country" was a spectacular disappointment.

The rom-com about wealthy New York couples spent three years in production, with Beatty and director Peter Chelsom at heated odds (it’s rumored they even came to blows).

New Line Cinema took Beatty’s side, and let him take over as director, which resulted in more delays. The film was savaged by critics and pulled from theaters after one month.

The Alamo

Year: 2004

Budget: $107 million

Domestic gross: $22.4 million

Worldwide gross: $25.8 million

Loss (inflation-adjusted): $126 million

Bottom Line: The Alamo

"The Alamo" is rumored to have a total budget, including production costs, of $125 million to $145 million, and it spectacularly bombed at the box office.

The movie is considered to be pretty solid as far as its historical accuracy is concerned, but failed to entertain audiences.

It also didn’t help that the film released at the same time as Mel Gibson’s "The Passion of the Christ," which greatly overshadowed "The Alamo."

Supernova

Year: 2000

Budget: $90 million

Domestic gross: $14.2 million

Worldwide gross: $14.8 million

Loss (inflation-adjusted): $133.6 million

Bottom Line: Supernova

"Supernova" was a disaster. It went through five directors, none of which were credited (the director is credited as the pseudonym Thomas Lee because no one wanted their names attached).

Numerous script alterations occurred, and in the middle of production, MGM cut the special effects budget by half.

Even Francis Ford Coppola couldn’t save the sci-fi flick in post-production edits.

The Adventures of Pluto Nash

Year: 2002

Budget: $100 million

Domestic gross: $4.4 million

Worldwide gross: $7.1 million

Loss (inflation-adjusted): $138 million

Bottom Line: The Adventures of Pluto Nash

A kid-friendly sci-fi comedy starring Eddie Murphy, "Pluto Nash" was a miserable failure all around. Audiences hated it, critics despised it, and it lost big at the box office.

This flick — which involves human cloning, androids, a holographic chauffeur and an ex-convict out to get his Moon-based nightclub back — is Murphy’s second-worst rated movie with a 4 percent Rotten Tomatoes rating ("A Thousand Words" has a 0 percent rating).

"Pluto Nash" is no stranger to those "Worst Movies of All Time" lists, and it certainly deserves a spot on this one.

Stealth

Year: 2005

Budget: $135 million

Domestic gross: $32 million

Worldwide gross: $45 million

Loss (inflation-adjusted): $128 million

Bottom Line: Stealth

"Stealth" is a sci-fi action movie about fighter pilots developing an artificially intelligent stealth fighter jet.

Here’s how Roger Ebert described it: "'Stealth' is an offense against taste, intelligence and the noise pollution code — a dumbed-down 'Top Gun' crossed with the HAL 9000 plot from '2001.' It might be of interest to you if you want to see lots of jet airplanes going real fast and making a lot of noise, and if you don't care that the story doesn't merely defy logic, but strips logic bare, cremates it and scatters its ashes."

Ouch.

Mars Needs Moms

Year: 2011

Budget: $150 million

Domestic gross: $21.4 million

Worldwide gross: $39 million

Loss (inflation-adjusted): $115 million-$166 million

Bottom Line: Mars Needs Moms

Another Disney flop, the terribly titled "Mars Needs Moms," is an animated 3-D sci-fi adventure movie about a child’s mom being abducted by Martians.

It’s estimated that Disney spent over $200 million in marketing and making the movie, which bombed hard enough to close Disney’s joint animation company, ImageMovers Digital, which produced the film.

"Mars Need Moms" wasn’t just any CGI movie. It was rooted in motion capture, which produced a weird, uncanny valley animation effect that may have put off would-be ticket buyers.

One studio exec joked, "The title shouldn’t have been 'Mars Needs Moms,' but 'Boys Need Not Come,'" referencing the possibility that young boys wouldn’t want to see the film due to its title.

The 13th Warrior

Year: 1999

Budget: $160 million

Domestic gross: $32.7 million

Worldwide gross: $61.7 million

Loss (inflation-adjusted): $107 million-$200 million

Bottom Line: The 13th Warrior

"The 13th Warrior" was the worst movie of John McTiernan’s career, which ended in a downward spiral, as the director of "Die Hard" and "Predator" later served 10 months in prison in 2013 for lying to the FBI, then declared bankruptcy.

"The 13th Warrior” was based on Michael Crichton’s book, "The Eaters of the Dead," and is loosely based on the epic "Beowulf." The film had terrible production troubles, and after negative test audience screenings, Crichton, who was a producer, took directorial control.

According to the cast, McTiernan and Crichton "acted like children" during filming. Ultimately, the two visions clashed and produced a box-office bomb that didn’t even get a premiere.

The Lone Ranger

Year: 2013

Budget: $215 million

Domestic gross: $89.3 million

Worldwide gross: $260.5 million

Loss (inflation-adjusted): $105 million-$210 million

Bottom Line: The Lone Ranger

"The Lone Ranger" seemed doomed from the start.

It had a stop-and-go production schedule, was canceled in 2011 (then resurrected) due to rising budget concerns, had script issues and was generally being mauled by the press even before it was released — something which the cast and crew blamed for its massive box-office losses.

But ultimately, "The Lone Ranger" was a bland and boring movie that should never have had $215 million allocated to its budget, and at least another $100 million to $175 million for its marketing costs.

47 Ronin

Year: 2013

Budget: $175 million

Domestic gross: $38.4 million

Worldwide gross: $151.8 million

Loss (inflation-adjusted): $107 million-$165.5 million

Bottom Line: 47 Ronin

For whatever reason, Universal Pictures tapped an unknown director, Carl Rinsch — whose directorial credits included three video shorts in 2013 — to helm this massive, $175 million action fantasy movie starring Keanu Reeves.

The film, which was set in a mystical medieval Japan, failed to captivate Japanese audiences (where it made a mere $2.8 million), and then failed to captivate audiences anywhere else.

Universal fired Rinsch during the post-production process, and the movie garnered negative reviews among critics.

Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within

Year: 2001

Budget: $137 million-$145 million

Domestic gross: $32.1 million

Worldwide gross: $85.1 million

Loss (inflation-adjusted): $135 million

Bottom Line: Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within

“Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within" was a technical masterpiece with an atrocious script that disappointed both die-hard "Final Fantasy" video game fans and general audiences alike.

The fully CGI movie took a tremendous effort to produce. According to Vice, 200 people rendered 1,327 shots with 141,964 frames, and every frame took about 90 minutes to complete. In total, it took 120 years of man-hours and four years of real-time production to complete the film.

Square Pictures, the production studio, shuttered after the flop. But 18 years later, "Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within" still looks pretty good.

Titan A.E.

Year: 2000

Budget: $75 million

Domestic gross: $22.8 million

Worldwide gross: $36.8 million

Loss (inflation-adjusted): $151 million

Bottom Line: Titan A.E.

"Titan A.E." is a big-budget animated post-apocalyptic sci-fi movie with an accomplished director (Don Bluth of "The Land Before Time" fame) and big-name stars (including Matt Damon, Ron Pearlman and Drew Barrymore), but the movie couldn’t find an audience.

Its biggest offender was being a PG-rated flick, with subject matter that was rather gritty for kids and not gritty enough for teens or adults.

"Titan A.E." was the second and final theatrical release from Fox Animation Studios, which closed its doors shortly after the movie bombed at the box office.

Sinbad: Legend of the Seven Seas

Year: 2003

Budget: $60 million

Domestic gross: $26.5 million

Worldwide gross: $80.8 million

Loss (inflation-adjusted): $175 million

Bottom Line: Sinbad: Legend of the Seven Seas

"Sinbad: Legend of the High Seas" was a titanic flop for DreamWorks Pictures. It was so bad that it turned the animation industry away from 2-D films toward computer-generated movies.

"Sinbad" wasn’t a terrible film, but audiences had fallen in love with DreamWorks' other 3-D animated movies, like "Shrek," and were less interested in traditional animation.

The loss from "Sinbad" nearly bankrupted DreamWorks.

Mortal Engines

Year: 2018

Budget: $100 million-$110 million

Domestic gross: $16 million

Worldwide gross: $83.6 million

Loss (inflation-adjusted): $179 million

Bottom Line: Mortal Engines

"Mortal Engines," produced and written by Peter Jackson, is the curious fantasy tale about mobile cities that prey on smaller cities for their resources.

Based on the young adult novels by Philip Reeves, the movie was unable to capture its target audience and flopped hard at the box office. According to Deadline, the worldwide advertising budget for "Mortal Engines" stretched to $120 million, yet it only grossed $67.6 million internationally.

The film holds a 27 percent critics’ score and a 53 percent audience score on Rotten Tomatoes and was criticized for being a messy, generic flick.

Heaven’s Gate

Year: 1980

Budget $44 million

Gross: $3.5 million

Loss (inflation-adjusted): $135 million

Bottom Line: Heaven's Gate

After directing "The Deer Hunter," Michael Cimino could do no wrong. That is, until his next movie. "Heaven’s Gate," an epic western with a big-name cast and big troubles behind the scenes.

Its initial budget of $12 million ballooned into $44 million, and the movie was released a year behind schedule. Ridiculous reasons for this include the staff taking six weeks to learn roller skating for one scene and Cimino setting up an entire irrigation system to grow fresh grass on a battlefield. And it was 219 minutes long.

The movie was brutally panned by critics and earned just $3.5 million at the box office. The production studio wrote off the entire loss two days after the film release. However, some modern movie buffs and critics have revisited "Heaven’s Gate" and now consider it a masterpiece ahead of its time.

Cutthroat Island

Year: 1995

Budget: $98 million-$121 million

Domestic gross: $10 million

Worldwide gross: $18.5 million

Loss (inflation-adjusted): $148.5 million-$200 million

Bottom Line: Cutthroat Island

"Cutthroat Island" was supposed to be Carloco Pictures’ saving grace. The production studio had produced smash hits like "Terminator 2: Judgement Day" and "Rocky," but its cash flow had trickled during the mid-1990s. They had to make the movie. If they didn’t, bankruptcy was inevitable. If "Cutthroat Island" was a hit, they would be solvent again.

"Cutthroat Island" is a rather terrible pirate movie (check out the trailer for a taste) plagued with production and budget problems. The director, Renny Harlin, went insane with the budget.

According to the Independent, Harlin had sets built and taken down, flew in horses from Austria, recreated two full-sized ships at over $1 million each (one caught fire), and apparently spent a lot of time "just finding new ways to blow things up," said co-star Matthew Modine.

At the end of the day, "the cost of producing, financing, marketing and distributing 'Cutthroat Island' totaled $121 million," while The New York Times estimated the final tally at a mere $115 million. Carloco Pictures folded shortly thereafter.

John Carter

Year: 2012

Budget: $250 million

Domestic gross: $73 million

Worldwide gross: $284 million

Loss (inflation-adjusted): $137 million-$224 million

Bottom Line: John Carter

"John Carter" was a gigantic Disney movie that was, ideally, supposed to spawn sequels derived from Edward Rice Burroughs' "John Carter of Mars" book series.

Instead, "John Carter" ended up being the biggest movie flop of all time. Disney reportedly spent $100 million on marketing the movie, but was thwarted by director Andrew Stanton who directed Pixar smash hits like "Finding Nemo" and "WALL-E."

According to Vulture, Stanton had enough power to steer the marketing campaign to his liking, and blocked Disney when they tried to take him in a different direction. A former studio marketing chief told the publication, "This is one of the worst marketing campaigns in the history of movies. It’s almost as if they went out of their way to not make us care."

Seven years later, we do care about "John Carter." Just not in the way that Disney would have liked.