25 Biggest Box Office Movie Bombs

Posted by , Updated on November 21, 2023

What movie do you absolutely hate? If you’re like most people, you probably have a few movies that you saw recently or in the past that you just couldn’t stand.

It could be the lack of chemistry between the actors, the absence of a plot, or the bad graphics.

Whatever the reason, there are some movies that not only do horribly according to critics. They also do pretty badly at the box office.

Maybe a poorly-made sequel just failed to make the cut, or a movie based on a book simply couldn’t compare. Did any of these 25 Biggest Box Office Movie Bombs make it to your “worst movies” list?

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25

Green Lantern

229940id1_GL_FistsUp_INTL_VerticalArt.inddhttps://www.denofgeek.com/movies/green-lantern/38842/green-lantern-what-went-wrong-with-the-movie

Long before he was everyone’s favorite red-spandex-wearing Marvel assassin, Ryan Reynolds played the title role of the Green Lantern.

There were a few things wrong with this movie. The CGI was terrible. It had been edited so many times that the end product was not realistic at all. Also, it seemed there was no enough explanation as to why certain things were happening until very shortly before the movie ended.

The movie ended up grossing $116,601,172.

24

Gods of Egypt

godsofegypyhttps://www.telegraph.co.uk/film/gods-of-egypt/flop-failure-gerard-butler/

Gods of Egypt had controversy from the beginning. Many critics believed the movie was doing a whitewashing of biblical figures who were supposed to be dark-skinned and middle eastern.

Maybe one thing that got people riled up was the fact that Gerard Butler, a white Scottish man, was playing an Egyptian.

Other people have criticized the movie as purposely being too gory and perverted in a vain attempt to make the movie watchable.

23

Spider-Man 3

spidey3pichttp://collider.com/spider-man-3-sam-raimi/

Ok, where do we begin with this one?

Sam Raimi, who directed Spider-Man 3, said he didn’t love the characters of the Spider-Man universe. Well, it showed in his film.

You have an average-sized actor playing the role of Venom. If you read the comics, you know that Venom is a massively built supervillain. He wasn’t even the main villain.

Thomas Haden Church played the main villain, Sandman. If you are going to put Venom in a Spider-Man movie, he needs to not only be played by an actor who’s got the build, but he also needs to be the main focus.

22

The Lone Ranger

lonerangepichttps://www.thewrap.com/johnny-depps-tonto-tanks-lone-ranger-one-flop-too-many-101731/

The biggest problem with this movie is that Westerns haven’t been popular for a while … probably since the movie Unforgiven.

There were also reports that The Lone Ranger was way over-budget. In the end, the movie only made $89 million.

21

Monster Trucks

monstertruckspichttps://www.latimes.com/business/hollywood/la-fi-ct-paramount-monster-trucks-20170111-story.html

You probably know this movie did win some recognition; it’s credited with being the first movie flop of 2017.

But really, how many times are they going to regurgitate the same movie plot?

  1. Boy has troubled home life.
  2. Boy finds an alien.
  3. They become best buddies.

Yeah, we all saw E.T.

20

Gigli

giglipichttps://www.thedailybeast.com/a-look-back-at-gigli-the-infamous-bennifer-starring-film-on-its-10th-anniversary

There isn’t one good review of this movie, not one … and for good reason.

Ben Affleck’s performance as a New York Italian loan shark is awful. Even though he was partnered with his then-girlfriend Jennifer Lopez (a.k.a. J-Lo), their on-screen chemistry was still not selling.

It earned an embarrassing 6% on the Rotten Tomatoes website.

19

Blade Runner 2049

bladerunnerpichttps://www.indiewire.com/2017/12/ridley-scott-blade-runner-2049-box-office-bomb-1201910964/

One might ask, “Why make a sequel so long after the original?” We really don’t know.

The first Blade Runner was great. Sadly, the sequel doesn’t hold a candle to it.

The movie was reported as being very long and too slow for a sci-fi/action movie.

18

Cold Pursuit

coldpursuitpichttps://ew.com/movies/2019/02/11/liam-neeson-cold-pursuit-box-office/

Liam Neeson is no stranger to revenge roles. He played the title character of Darkman, a scientist who is disfigured and left for dead by a group of thugs.

One also can’t forget his role as a father whose daughter is sold by human traffickers in Taken.

So, it’s hard to like a movie where the plot is basically the same … but with cold weather.

17

A Wrinkle in Time

wrinklepichttps://www.insider.com/wrinkle-in-time-reviews-bad-2018-3

A Wrinkle in Time is based on a classic children’s novel by author Madeleine L’Engle, which built a vast following over the past half a century.

When you make a movie out of the book, it’s probably best if the movie does the book justice.

Critics accused the director of being all over the place with the camera and observed the lack of dramatic effect during appropriate times

16

Dudley Do Right

duddorightpichttps://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1999-aug-27-ca-4031-story.html

In the late 90s, Brendan Fraser was known for playing wacky characters based on cartoons. One movie, in particular, was Dudley Do-Right.

Critics panned this movie because it was full of slapstick that had been seen numerous times before. The film’s boring dialogue also didn’t help.

In the end, Dudley Do-Right only made a little under 10 million dollars.

15

Ballistic: Ecks vs. Sever

ecksvseverpichttps://editorial.rottentomatoes.com/article/why-ballistic-ecks-vs-sever-is-the-most-rotten-movie-of-all-time/

You would think that an action movie starring Antonio Banderas and Lucy Liu would be somewhat decent.

That is not the case with Ballistic: Ecks vs. Sever. It has a plot that has been tirelessly repeated: spy versus spy.

Other than random shootouts and fights, the movie doesn’t go anywhere that the audience would care about.

14

Ben-Hur

benhurpichttps://www.forbes.com/sites/scottmendelson/2016/08/22/box-office-ben-hur-bombed-in-america-because-no-one-wanted-to-see-it/#2786d3b97074

Just to be clear, we are talking about the 2016 remake of the classic film.

With the exception of maybe a few movies (and we use the term “few” sparingly), remakes have never been a good idea. The remake of Ben-Hur is no exception.

Many moviegoers grew tired of the ancient Roman story plot, and faith-based groups were generally not interested because the true story doesn’t come from the Bible.

13

Tomorrowland

tomorrowlandpichttps://www.forbes.com/sites/scottmendelson/2015/05/26/disneys-tomorrowland-failure-is-not-an-indictment-of-hollywood-originality/#4e3ce7d65f95

Tomorrowland makes one wonder if original ideas are truly dead.

Who had the genius idea to turn a ride at Disney into a movie? What’s next: “It’s a Small World, After All”?

The movie had a budget of $190 million, grossed a little over $200 million, but due to inflation, it lost between $82-163 million.

12

From Justin to Kelly

fromjusttokellhttps://www.vice.com/en_us/article/7x988y/from-justin-to-kelly-is-a-horrible-movie-that-someone-needs-to-apologize-for

It shouldn’t be a surprise why this movie failed.

From Justin to Kelly was made during the early years of American Idol. It starred two of the earliest contestants and winners, Kelly Clarkson and Justin Guarini.

The only reason it was made was to appease the teeny-bopper generation and have their parents spend money on tickets.

It all takes place during spring break, minus the wild partying and nudity.

11

Timeline

timelinepichttps://www.tor.com/2017/06/28/medieval-matters-timeline-is-a-terrible-horrible-no-good-very-bad-film/

Timeline is based on a book by Michael Crichton. Unlike another book of his, Jurassic Park, this movie didn’t do well at the box office.

We mean no disrespect to the late Paul Walker, but this role was not meant for him. It wasn’t all his fault; none of the actors performed very well.

According to critics, there was a lot of incorrect information in terms of historical accuracy.

10

The Family Stone

famstonepichttps://www.stereogum.com/1777451/the_hunt_for_the_worst_movie_o_39/vg-loc/videogum/

There have been some mixed reviews about The Family Stone.

However, all the good cannot outweigh the mess that is this movie. The plot is simple enough: conservative uptight shrew goes with her boyfriend to meet his nontolerant parents.

What ensues is a tireless amount of hostility toward the woman, and a major subplot revealed out of nowhere toward the end of the movie.

Don’t waste your time on this one.

9

Cowboys & Aliens

cowboyaleinpichttps://truewestmagazine.com/why-did-cowboys-a-aliens-fail-or-did-it/

Even though this movie won some awards, it didn’t do well at the box office.

The main issue is that it blended two popular genres of movies: science fiction and western.

In spite of well-known actors Daniel Craig and Harrison Ford, the film earned only 45% on Rotten Tomatoes. The movie made a little over $174 million.

8

All Eyez on Me

alleyezmepichttps://www.rollingstone.com/movies/movie-reviews/all-eyez-on-me-review-tupac-shakur-does-not-get-the-biopic-he-deserves-194278/

Critics hailed the lead actor who played the late rapper Tupac Shakur (a.k.a. 2Pac). Unfortunately, it wasn’t enough to save the movie All Eyez on Me from tanking at the box office.

Many felt that the movie didn’t portray what the rapper stood for, or the power behind his music.

7

XXX State of the Union

xxxpic1https://www.radiotimes.com/film/fj5hxb/xxx-the-next-level/

Movie sequels are always a hit or miss. XXX: State of the Union misses the mark, big time.

It doesn’t have any of the same cast. Vin Diesel, the movie’s biggest star, was replaced by Ice Cube. Don’t get us wrong; we love us some Ice Cube, but Vin made that movie.

In the end, the movie only grossed a little over $70 million.

6

Evan Almighty

evanalmpichttps://www.latimes.com/entertainment/movies/la-et-evanvsbruce6jul6-story.html

Evan Almighty is the sequel to Bruce Almighty, which starred Jim Carrey.

When Evan Almighty was made, Steve Carrell was coming into his own as a star actor. It was this reason, and probably this reason only, that they made this movie.

The movie was described as boring, and not even half as funny as the first.

5

The Truth About Charlie

truthcharpichttps://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/the-truth-about-charlie-2002

Repeat after us: “Remakes are bad; remakes are bad” … unless you can do them right, and you choose actors who have chemistry with each other. That is not the case with the actors from The Truth About Charlie.

Reportedly, the two main actors, Thandie Newton and Mark Wahlberg, really didn’t like each other. Well, it showed … and it didn’t help the film any.

4

Jack Frost

jackfrostpichttps://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/jack-frost-1998

Try not to laugh too hard at the plot of this movie. (You may want to sit down.)

Michael Keaton plays a dad who is always too busy. He dies in a car wreck and comes back as a snowman.

We shouldn’t have to say more. We feel this explains plenty as to why Jack Frost bombed so badly.

3

Mortal Engines

mortalenginespichttps://www.looper.com/140701/why-mortal-engines-bombed-at-the-box-office/

Yet another movie based on a popular book series, Mortal Engines doesn’t do the books justice, according to critics.

There are people who say the effects are good, as well as the acting. However, a plot that involves cities on wheels trying to devour each other doesn’t sound too appealing.

2

John Carter

johncarterpichttps://www.latimes.com/entertainment/la-xpm-2012-mar-13-la-et-john-carter-flop-20120313-story.html

A few things made the film John Carter fail from the beginning. The director had never made an action movie before, and the executives who were in charge of marketing were new to the job.

The movie is based on the books John Carter of Mars, but for some reason the “of Mars” part was taken out.

The movie, according to critics, didn’t hold true to the books.

1

Ishtar

ishtarpichttps://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/ishtar-1987

Many people say that Ishtar is not just one of the worst movies ever made, but the actual worst movie ever made.

Even though it stars two great actors, Dustin Hoffman and Warren Beatty, movie critics and goers tore Ishtar apart. Many claim the movie had a ridiculous plot and was terrible overall.

The film did so poorly that the director Elaine May hasn’t been a feature director since.



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