Big-budget movies with famous actors don’t always mean that the movie will be a big hit. In fact, many films produced by big names turned out to be massive disappointments that we would rather forget. These epic box office bombs lost millions of dollars and received none of the love from the audience.
So let’s see which movies look like they can be big hits but actually are massive flops. Do you think they have any redeeming qualities, or are they all trash?
1. Mulan
Source: Disney
There were so many things wrong with this movie. It’s not a big surprise that the movie was a flop. Still, it was produced by
Disney and featured big names from China. With an extremely grand budget and such an amazing cast, things could have been great, but no. Nothing could save the movie from horrible screenwriting. It’s lost $141 million and only recovered about 30% of its budget from box office earnings.
2. Morbius
Source: Sony Pictures
Morbius might earn just over double its production budget, but it was still a laughingstock of the superhero era. The movie hit theaters twice, and the audience hated it both times. The only memorable about it is the “It's Morbin's time!” meme. Morbius intended to start a new franchise in Sony's Spider-Verse, but considering that not many people were fans of it, Sony should put those plans into serious question.
3. 47 Ronin
Source: Universal Pictures
Not even
Keanu Reeves and Sanada Hiroyuki could save this movie. Giving a grand budget to a first-time feature-film director is a risky move. Universal Studios did just that, and they failed miserably with 47 Ronin. They turned one of Japan's most classic tales of Japanese honor and made it about a magical white man who saves the day. It’s no wonder why the movie lost $112 million.
4. King Arthur: Legend of the Sword
Source: Warner Bros. Pictures
Everybody knew about this movie through the brief cameo of former footballer David Beckham, and that’s it. Warner Bros planned for this movie to be the start of a new franchise based on the Arthurian legend, but they should cancel their plan after King Arthur: Legend of the Sword lost $150 million at the box office. Their production budget was $175 million, and they only earned back $15 million in the US and a badly rated score of 28% on Rotten Tomatoes.
5. R.I.P.D.
Source: Universal Pictures
R.I.P.D. had a $130 million budget but only earned $78 million back. It’s safe to say that the film wasn’t a hit. Kyle Smith of the New York Post said, “For a movie that so strenuously rips off Ghostbusters and Men in Black, R.I.P.D. manages to come up with fresh new ways of being absolutely terrible.”
6. The Lone Ranger
Source: Walt Disney Studios
The Lone Ranger is one of the biggest box-office bombs of all time. It cost Disney $225–250 million to produce, along with $150 million for marketing, yet it only grossed $260.5 million worldwide. That means this messy movie lost over $160–190 million.
7. John Carter
Source: Walt Disney Pictures
Another greatest box office bomb of all time is John Carter. It looked like it could have been a cool science-fiction epic based on a classic novel, but not even a strong cast and talented director could save it. The budget for this movie was estimated to be about $250 million with about $100 million more spent on marketing, yet it only grossed about $184 million during the time it hit theaters.
8. Battleship
Source: Universal Pictures
How come a movie based on the famous tabletop board game has a $209 million budget? We will never know, but we do know that Battleship was incredibly costly. Even though it did earn back $303 million worldwide, its reputation was tattered with negative reviews when it was released. Nobody even remembered it nowadays.