Worst Film Week – Biggest Box Office Bombs: 2012 Edition
Every time we kick into Worst Film Week, we usually pull out the latest list of the biggest box office bombs of all time – thanks to Wikipedia. So, here in the 2012 edition of the current Top 20 Box Office Bombs of All Time.
Of course, everyone’s favorite punching bag, Cutthroat Island remains the King of the Bombs, with adjusted losses of nearly $150m in today’s money, or some 84% of money spent was never recouped. Ouch. Recent entries may surprise – 2011′s Mars Need’s Moms makes the list in at 5, losing some $137m at the box office. Also from last year, Green Lantern, a film I felt was judged a little harshly by audiences, makes a landing in at 11. Poor Martin Campbell. You relaunch James Bond (twice) successfully and you still make a list like this. That’s gotta hurt.
Old faithful, Battlefield Earth, which remains high on the “all time shittiest” list of every critic alive today, has been shunted down a few places since we last looked at this list, but it’s nice to see it’s still here. And I don’t know about you, but I actually liked Treasure Planet – just not enough to keep it from being considered a financial disaster. ….Still, just think – Eddie Murphy will go to his grave knowing he was at least partially responsible for Pluto Nash – the highest percentage loser of the lot.
***
All Time Box Office Disasters
| Film | Year | Total cost (production + marketing) (USD) | Worldwide theater gross (USD) | Net losses (USD) | Net loss as a percentage of total cost | Net losses inflation adjusted (2012 USD) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cutthroat Island | 1995 | 115,000,000[1] | 18,517,322[2] | 96,482,678 | 83.90 | 147,157,681 |
| The Alamo | 2004 | 145,000,000[3][1] | 25,820,000[3] | 119,180,000 | 82.19 | 146,644,313 |
| The Adventures of Pluto Nash | 2002 | 120,000,000[1] | 7,103,973[1] | 112,896,027 | 94.08 | 145,877,124 |
| Sahara | 2005 | 241,000,000[4][1] | 119,269,486 | 121,730,514 | 50.51 | 144,857,030 |
| Mars Needs Moms | 2011 | 175,000,000[5][6] | 38,992,758 | 136,007,242 | 77.72 | 140,513,991 |
| The 13th Warrior | 1999 | 160,000,000[1] | 61,698,899 | 98,301,101 | 61.44 | 137,142,407 |
| Town & Country | 2001 | 105,000,000[7][1] | 10,372,291 | 94,627,709 | 90.12 | 124,202,203 |
| Speed Racer | 2008 | 200,000,000[8][1] | 93,945,766 | 106,054,254 | 53.03 | 114,479,584 |
| Heaven’s Gate | 1980 | 44,000,000*[1] | 3,484,331 | 40,515,669 | 92.08 | 114,281,677 |
| Stealth | 2005 | 170,800,000[9] | 76,932,872 | 93,867,128 | 54.96 | 111,700,123 |
| Green Lantern | 2011 | 325,000,000[10][6] | 219,851,172 | 105,148,828 | 32.35 | 108,633,050 |
| Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within | 2001 | 167,000,000[1] | 85,131,830 | 81,868,170 | 49.02 | 107,454,858 |
| The Fall of the Roman Empire | 1964 | 19,000,000* | 4,750,000[11] | 14,250,000 | 75.00 | 106,783,262 |
| Supernova | 2000 | 90,000,000* | 14,828,081 | 75,171,919 | 83.52 | 101,449,407 |
| Battlefield Earth | 2000 | 103,000,000 | 29,725,663 | 73,274,337 | 71.14 | 98,888,497 |
| Inchon | 1982 | 46,000,000*[12][1] | 5,200,000[12] | 40,800,000 | 88.70 | 98,257,655 |
| Treasure Planet | 2002 | 180,000,000[1] | 109,578,115 | 70,421,885 | 39.12 | 90,994,717 |
| Ballistic: Ecks vs. Sever | 2002 | 90,000,000 | 19,924,033 | 70,075,967 | 77.86 | 90,547,743 |
| The Postman | 1997 | 80,000,000*[1] | 17,626,234 | 62,373,766 | 77.97 | 90,302,318 |
| Red Planet | 2000 | 100,000,000[1] | 33,463,969 | 66,536,031 | 66.54 | 89,794,713 |
Editor In Chief of www.fernbyfilms.com, Rodney has been watching films since he was at least old enough to remember having nightmares after watching King Kong one New Years Eve…. Rodney is married with 2 kids, a substantial DVD and BluRay collection, and lives happily with his wife Lisa in a sleepy suburb of inner-city Adelaide, South Australia.
Facebook
Google+
Panoramio
YouTube
Ah, the box office bomb. The classic case of "wrong place, wrong time", or "bad idea, even worse timing".
Sahara at Number 4? Wow. I actually enjoyed that film. Wonder where the money went… possibly on suntan lotion for Mr McConaughey.
Greg Bowden — September 18, 2012 @ 10:27 am
Surprisingly, I enjoyed Sahara too, so I was at a loss to explain its inclusion here. I do rememeber that it was pretty highly hyped when it came out, but nobody went, although I was unaware of just how much they spent on making it. Still, it's a pretty impressive feat to climb in at number four considering the other Hall Of Fame-ers, as it were.
Rodney Twelftree — September 18, 2012 @ 1:16 pm
Of the people who made The Green Lantern had shown some restraint they would have made a little money. 219 million at the box isn't bad but why spend a whopping 325 million on the film's production!
My recent post Top 10 Super Girls for Supergirl Reboot
Dan — September 18, 2012 @ 4:53 pm
I think you'll find a lot of the films budget was used to "enhance" Ryan Reynold's CGI genital region.
Sorry, I've been over at The Bar None too much. xD
Rodney — September 18, 2012 @ 7:57 pm
Now, about that tab you've run up…
My recent post Booze Revooze: THE AVENGERS
Al K Hall — September 19, 2012 @ 7:26 am
He he…. you know I'm good for it…. !!! B)
Rodney Twelftree — September 19, 2012 @ 11:01 am
I think Mars need Moms is a great film.
Binding Machines — October 1, 2012 @ 2:34 pm
Glad you think so – I never saw it myself. Thanks for commenting….
Rodney — October 1, 2012 @ 7:16 pm