The 15 Biggest Box Office Bombs of All Time

Movie studios don’t like to spend a lot of money on an untested idea. They usually reserve the biggest budgets for proven winners. However, in these fifteen cases, studios took a huge swing on a project only to get burned and lose a ton of money. These are the fifteen biggest box office bombs of all time. The values in this article are adjusted for inflation and include the cost of marketing as well as production.

15. Dark Phoenix

The X-Men franchise had some whiplash ups and downs throughout its run. Its final outing, Dark Phoenix, was exceptionally bad. It was so bad, in fact, that it managed to lose Fox some $155 million. The studio has since been acquired by Disney.

14. Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within

Some people joked after Final Fantasy VII and VIII featured gorgeous CG cutscenes that developer Square Enix should just make movies. They tried in 2000 with the lavish and expensive The Spirits Within, but the film was panned by critics and lost some $155 million for the studio.

13. The Adventures of Pluto Nash

Have you ever heard of The Adventures of Pluto Nash? If not, you’re not alone. This absolute dud only made $7.1 million globally in 2002, losing Warner Bros some $156 million. Interestingly, this was the start of a long period of inactivity for the once-unbeatable star Eddie Murphy.

12. Turning Red

Turning Red was the rare Pixar dud. This movie was at the center of a firestorm of bizarrely politicized discourse due to its setting and depiction of puberty, which some people perceived as “limiting.” In any case, it was a huge flop for Disney, perhaps because it was simultaneously released on Disney+. It lost the studio $167 million.

11. Titan A.E.

Animated movie Titan A.E. looks great and sounds awesome in theory, but in practice it’s a bit underwhelming. It has an awesome voice vast, including Matt Damon, but fails to work on a small-scale level. It was also a tremendous flop, losing the studio some $170 million.

10. King Arthur: The Legend of the Sword

Who wouldn’t want to watch a Guy Ritchie movie about King Arthur? Well, everyone, apparently. This extremely ambitious fantasy film failed to garner enough viewers to make any money, with industry analysts noting it was wild that Warner Bros authorized the $175 million budget for a brand-new IP. All told, it lost the studio $183 million.

9. Tomorrowland

Pirates of the Caribbean was based on just a Disneyland ride, so the same thing should work for Tomorrowland, right? Disney really wanted this George Clooney-led flick to kick off a huge sci-fi franchise, but it instead lost them $185 million. It was a fine movie, but too mediocre to justify its mammoth budget.

8. Pan

The 2015 film Pan failed to capture the kind of attention it would have needed to become a box office success. The movie had an outlandish budget of $150 million and was based on a story that’s retold so often that it was simply uninteresting to moviegoers. It lost Warner Bros some $185 million, all in.

7. Strange World

Strange World was supposed to be a big deal, featuring Disney’s first openly LGBT character and drawing on fun old pulp serials from the 20s and 30s. However, it was also a tremendously expensive movie to make, and ended up losing Disney about $197 million. This was partially because it had to be pulled in some regions due to outcry about its LGBT representation.

6. Sinbad: Legend of the Seven Seas

This 2003 animated film from DreamWorks used a similar animation style to the beloved El Dorado, but it failed to capture enough audience attention to offset its titanic budget. The film had huge expectations but didn’t resonate with filmgoers, losing DreamWorks some $199 million.

5. Cutthroat Island

We’re getting into the genuinely embarrassing ones now. Cutthroat Island (1995) had an absurd production, with rewrites and behind-the-scenes drama ballooning its budget way over its initial projections. It lost MGM $202 million and convinced Hollywood to stay away from pirate movies until Pirates of the Caribbean came out in 2003.

4. Mortal Engines

The post-apocalyptic Mortal Engines had some genuinely impressive ambition but was held back by a bland script, uninspiring visuals, and some wooden performances. It also differed from the book it was based on substantially, angering fans of the original novel. It lost Universal $204 million, all said.

3. The 13^th Warrior

In the 90s, adapting Michael Crichton books was a surefire way to make money. It worked for Jurassic Park! However, The 13^th Warrior, based on Eaters of the Dead, didn’t follow suit. In fact, it was so poorly received that it would go on to lose Beuna Vista Pictures $227 million.

2. The Lone Ranger

Johnny Depp was box office gold for a while there, with his work on Pirates of the Caribbean convincing Disney they could put him in whatever and make a fortune. It turns out, casting him as a Native American (he’s white, guys) in a really bland and disgustingly expensive adaptation of The Lone Ranger, of all things, is a great way to lose $240 million.

1. John Carter

Someone at Disney was really convinced that 2012 was the year a $350 million adaptation of the 100-year-old book A Princess of Mars could come out and really make some money. It turns out, no one cares about pulp characters from the 1910s and no one bought a ticket to see this mess. It’s the biggest box office bomb in history, losing Disney an eye-watering $255 million. Needless to say, no one’s going to try to make another John Carter movie.