Worst Film Week – Box Office Bombs
In keeping with this weeks theme of our picks for the Worst films of all time, we thought it would be appropriate to print the official list of the least successful films of all time, based on budget. Essentially, take what you earn on a film away from the original budget, and you have some of the most financially abhorrent films ever made. Whether the film is actually a bad one or not is not the question, it’s just the return on the outlay makes these films the worst performing cinematic turkeys of all time:
| Release Date | Movie | Distributor | Budget | Worldwide Gross | Loss | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 4/27/2001 | Town & Country | New Line | $105,000,000 | $10,364,769 | -$99,817,616 | |
| 2 | 7/29/2005 | Stealth | Sony | $138,000,000 | $76,416,746 | -$99,791,627 | |
| 3 | 8/16/2002 | The Adventures of Pluto Nash | Warner Bros. | $100,000,000 | $7,094,995 | -$96,452,503 | |
| 4 | 7/11/2001 | Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within | Sony | $137,000,000 | $85,131,830 | -$94,434,085 | |
| 5 | 8/27/1999 | The 13th Warrior | Buena Vista | $125,000,000 | $61,698,899 | -$94,150,551 | |
| 6 | 6/22/2007 | Evan Almighty | Universal | $175,000,000 | $173,219,280 | -$88,390,360 | |
| 7 | 4/8/2005 | Sahara | Paramount Pictures | $145,000,000 | $121,671,925 | -$84,164,038 | |
| 8 | 4/9/2004 | The Alamo | Buena Vista | $92,000,000 | $23,911,362 | -$80,044,319 | |
| 9 | 9/2/2005 | A Sound of Thunder | Warner Bros. | $80,000,000 | $6,300,451 | -$76,849,775 | |
| 10 | 6/14/2002 | Windtalkers | MGM/UA | $115,000,000 | $77,628,265 | -$76,185,868 | |
| 11 | 6/16/2004 | Around the World in 80 Days | Buena Vista | $110,000,000 | $72,004,159 | -$73,997,921 | |
| 12 | 5/9/2008 | Speed Racer | Warner Bros. | $120,000,000 | $92,387,402 | -$73,806,299 | |
| 13 | 4/2/2004 | Home on the Range | Buena Vista | $110,000,000 | $76,482,461 | -$71,758,770 | |
| 14 | 11/24/2004 | Alexander | Warner Bros. | $155,000,000 | $167,297,191 | -$71,351,405 | |
| 15 | 2/18/2005 | Son of the Mask | New Line | $100,000,000 | $59,918,422 | -$70,040,789 | |
| 16 | 5/12/2006 | Poseidon | $160,000,000 | $181,674,817 | -$69,162,592 | ||
| 17 | 5/9/1997 | Father’s Day | Warner Bros. | $85,000,000 | $35,681,080 | -$67,159,460 | |
| 18 | 7/19/2002 | K-19: The Widowmaker | Paramount Pictures | $100,000,000 | $65,716,126 | -$67,141,937 | |
| 19 | 8/8/2007 | Daddy Day Camp | Sony | $76,000,000 | $18,197,398 | -$66,901,301 | |
| 20 | 11/26/2003 | Timeline | Paramount Pictures | $80,000,000 | $26,703,184 | -$66,648,408 | |
But, in order to balance the ledger, we will, just to be fair, present the highest box office earners. These are the films that represent the biggest earners compared to budget. If this is an indication of quality, then why are the Star Wars prequels in here?
| Release Date | Movie | Distributor | Budget | Worldwide Gross | Profit | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 12/19/1997 | Titanic | 20th Century Fox | $200,000,000 | $1,848,813,795 | $724,406,898 | |
| 2 | 12/17/2003 | The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King | New Line | $94,000,000 | $1,133,027,325 | $472,513,663 | |
| 3 | 6/11/1993 | Jurassic Park | Universal | $63,000,000 | $920,100,000 | $397,050,000 | |
| 4 | 5/25/1977 | Star Wars Ep. IV: A New Hope | 20th Century Fox | $11,000,000 | $797,900,000 | $387,950,000 | |
| 5 | 5/19/2004 | Shrek 2 | DreamWorks SKG | $70,000,000 | $915,278,586 | $387,639,293 | |
| 6 | 6/11/1982 | ET: The Extra-Terrestrial | Universal | $10,500,000 | $792,910,554 | $385,955,277 | |
| 7 | 7/7/2006 | Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest | Buena Vista | $150,000,000 | $1,065,659,812 | $382,829,906 | |
| 8 | 12/18/2002 | The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers | New Line | $94,000,000 | $926,284,377 | $369,142,189 | |
| 9 | 11/16/2001 | Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone | Warner Bros. | $125,000,000 | $976,457,891 | $363,228,946 | |
| 10 | 5/19/1999 | Star Wars Ep. I: The Phantom Menace | 20th Century Fox | $115,000,000 | $924,288,297 | $347,144,149 | |
| 11 | 11/15/2002 | Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets | Warner Bros. | $100,000,000 | $878,987,880 | $339,493,940 | |
| 12 | 5/30/2003 | Finding Nemo | Buena Vista | $94,000,000 | $866,592,978 | $339,296,489 | |
| 13 | 7/3/1996 | Independence Day | 20th Century Fox | $75,000,000 | $817,400,878 | $333,700,439 | |
| 14 | 5/25/2007 | Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End | Buena Vista | $150,000,000 | $952,420,425 | $326,210,213 | |
| 15 | 12/19/2001 | The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring | New Line | $109,000,000 | $868,621,686 | $325,310,843 | |
| 16 | 7/11/2007 | Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix | Warner Bros. | $150,000,000 | $938,468,864 | $319,234,432 | |
| 17 | 5/23/1997 | The Lost World: Jurassic Park | Universal | $75,000,000 | $786,686,679 | $318,343,340 | |
| 18 | 6/15/1994 | The Lion King | Buena Vista | $79,300,000 | $783,839,505 | $312,619,753 | |
| 19 | 5/19/2005 | Star Wars Ep. III: Revenge of the Sith | 20th Century Fox | $115,000,000 | $848,998,815 | $309,499,408 | |
| 20 | 7/18/2008 | The Dark Knight | Warner Bros. | $185,000,000 | $966,692,764 | $298,346,382 | |
The above information is taken from www.the-numbers.com.
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