Sometimes Hollywood gambles don’t just sink movies; they pull entire studios under with them. Over the decades, numerous ambitious projects have incurred such heavy costs and delivered such devastating results that even companies with big names and long legacies couldn’t recover.
Here’s a list of movies that turned into box office failures that blew up their own makers.
10. Raise The Titanic
‘Raise the Titanic’ was a colossal box office failure that nearly sank an entire studio. Adapted from Clive Cussler’s novel, the film cost around $40 million but was largely spent on building massive sets. Unfortunately, the payoff never came. The film grossed only about $7 million worldwide and left a major financial hole.
Related: Top 15 Cult Classic Films That Were Box-Office Disasters
9. Heaven’s Gate
After the Oscar-winning ‘The Deer Hunter,’ United Artists handed Michael Cimino total creative control and a massive budget for his Western epic ‘Heaven’s Gate.’ Not only did the movie fail Cimono’s expectations, but it also went nearly a year behind schedule, and costs ballooned to four times the original budget. Even Cimino delivered a five-and-a-half-hour cut. And the whole film seemed like a series of disjointed parts. The movie grossed only $3.5 million against a staggering $44 million budget. The fallout bankrupted United Artists, which was sold to MGM in 1981.
8. Superman IV: The Quest for Peace
The Cannon Group was already bleeding money before production began on ‘Superman IV.’ Losses forced them to slash the budget from $30 million to $17 million, which only made the effects look cheap. Director Sidney J. Furie was ordered to cut the runtime from 134 minutes to 90, which only resulted in plot holes and incoherence. And as expected, critics and audience rejected it. The movie grossed just $30 million worldwide and killed all the plans of a sequel then and there.
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7. Looney Tunes: Back in Action
Warner Bros. tried to extend the magic after ‘Space Jam‘ and attempted six feature films. Unfortunately, only Space Jam succeeded. In 2004, the studio released ‘Looney Tunes: Back in Action,‘ where Brendan Fraser joined Bugs Bunny and friends in a meta-adventure. The film cost $80 million but earned just $68 million worldwide. And the big dream fizzled out sooner.
6. The Adventures of Pluto Nash
Eddie Murphy’s 2002 sci-fi comedy ‘The Adventures of Pluto Nash’ tried to focus on his star power in a futuristic setting. But it became one of the biggest box office bombs in history. With a budget of $100 million, the film managed to scrape together only $7 million worldwide. At the end of the day, these movies prove that even the biggest stars, boldest visions, and heaviest budgets can’t guarantee success.
5. Titan A.E.
In the late ’90s, 20th Century Fox tried to challenge Disney in animation. After ‘Anastasia‘ found some success, Fox Animation released ‘Titan A.E.’ in 2000, and boasted a cast of stars like Matt Damon, Bill Pullman, and Drew Barrymore. Despite blending hand-drawn animation with CGI, audiences didn’t turn up. The movie even lost almost $100 million.
4. Cutthroat Island
The 1995 ‘Cutthroat Island‘ is remembered less for its adventure and more for its disastrous finances. Starring Geena Davis and Matthew Modine, the pirate tale faced constant production chaos and endless rewrites before limping into theatres. Costs even soared close to $100 million, yet the film brought in only $10 million domestically and $16 million worldwide.
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3. Mars Needs Moms
Disney’s 2011 animated film ‘Mars Needs Moms‘ seemed like a safer bet, given its family-friendly edge and technology side. But audiences weren’t interested. The movie cost $150 million to produce, and after weak reviews, it earned just $39 million worldwide. The result was quite unexpected for Disney, but how much can you even make of an uninvented tech?
2. The Golden Compass
New Line Cinema built its reputation on hits like Nightmare on Elm Street and ‘The Lord of the Rings.’ But in 2007, their adaptation of ‘The Golden Compass‘ changed things. The $200 million fantasy only brought in outrage from the Catholic League and disappointment from book fans. Fans thought it only dulled Philip Pullman’s themes. And on top of that, New Line made matters worse by selling off international rights to cover costs. With just $70 million earned domestically, the failure left New Line with nothing.
1. It’s A Wonderful Life
We can’t really imagine our Christmas without ‘It’s a Wonderful Life,’ can we? But, you’ll be surprised to know that in 1946, audiences weren’t keen on a holiday story about a suicidal protagonist. Despite earning five Academy Award nominations, it struggled to connect at the box office. The company poured $2 million into It’s a Wonderful Life, but production snags and rewrites drained the funds quickly. The movie made only $3.3 million against a $3.7 million budget.
