List of U.S. box office bombs
The following is a partial list of U.S. box office bombs; films with low box office revenue.
A film's financial success is often measured by its gross revenue. Ideally, studios want a film's "domestic" (which the American film industry defines as the United States and Canada) box office gross revenue to exceed production costs. Only rarely do films become profitable based on domestic revenue alone. Typically, the exhibiting theater keeps 45% of the gross and the remainder is paid to the studio as the rental fee. Nevertheless, if a film has a high domestic gross in relation to its production and marketing costs, it will almost certainly turn a profit once revenue from other sources is included. During the 1980s, the performance of a film on its opening weekend became crucial to the perception of its profitability. Films that had a poor opening weekend were often dropped quickly by cinemas.
Qualifications
A film that recoups production and marketing costs can be considered a success. If a film fails to recoup those costs by a significant margin, it is referred to as a box office bomb. However, international distribution, sales to broadcast syndication, and home video releases as well as revenue from other sources (such as toy merchandising) often mean some films considered domestic "box office bombs" in North America do make a profit for their studios, sometimes years after the film's release. For example, Head, a 1968 film featuring The Monkees, was a flop that became profitable for the studio years later when its cult film status led to its sale to Rhino Entertainment and its re-release in various video formats. The popularity (and profitability) of DVD sales has increased this trend significantly, leading many to doubt the significance of domestic grosses as a predictor of a film's overall success.
Foreign films like Perfume: The Story of a [...] often qualify as U.S. box office bombs although their international distribution makes it possible to recoups production and marketing costs. For the film Perfume, the US box office revenue of $2,208,939 only accounted for 3.7% of the costs while world wide revenues of $100 million accounted for nearly 170% of the costs.
Different genres of film are subject to different standards of success. For example, action films typically have higher production and promotion costs than love stories. Typically, the most notorious flops are summer blockbusters, which often entail huge costs to produce and face a highly competitive market. Advertising costs are not included in a movie's production costs, and can make a bomb's failure all the more crushing for the studio.
Films that pushed studios into financial RUiN
In the most dramatic cases, a film's poor performance can push a studio into financial ruin, as happened with United Artists (Heaven's Gate), Carolco Pictures (CutThroat Island), Franchise Pictures (Battlefield Earth), and Square Pictures (Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within).
Impact on the film's cast and crew
Most box office bombs are not career-ending for the film's main cast and crew. Ishtar was a notorious bomb but the careers of both its stars, Warren Beatty and Dustin Hoffman, continued with little noticeable effect.
The size of a bomb in terms of net loss sustained or by loss percentage
The size of a box office "bomb" can be determined by either the net loss sustained, or by a loss percentage (1 - gross revenue/production costs). By using these two measurements, the biggest U.S. box office bombs listed below are (respectively) Alexander (2004) with a net loss of $120,702,809, and Zyzzyx Road (2006) with a loss percentage of 99.9985% of production costs. Considering worldwide box office sales, the biggest loser was The Adventures of Pluto Nash (2002) with a net loss of $92,896,027.
Films with a USA gross less than 10% of budget are highlighted.
A
Title |
Year |
Budget |
Domestic Gross |
% of budget |
|---|---|---|---|---|
The Adventures of Baron Munchausen |
1988 |
$40,000,000 |
$8,083,123 |
20.2% |
The Adventures of Pluto Nash |
2002 |
$100,000,000 |
$4,411,102 |
4.4% |
The Alamo |
2004 |
$107,000,000 |
$22,414,961 |
20.9% |
An Alan Smithee Film: Burn Hollywood Burn |
1998 |
$10,000,000 |
$45,779 |
0.5% |
All the King's Men |
2006 |
$55,000,000 |
$7,221,458 |
13.1% |
Alexander |
2004 |
$155,000,000 |
$34,297,191 |
22.1% |
Alex Rider: Operation Stormbreaker |
2006 |
$40,000,000 |
$659,210 |
1.6% |
Almost Famous |
2000 |
$60,000,000 |
$32,534,850 |
54.2% |
Arabian Knight (Miramax version of The Thief and the Cobbler) |
1995 |
$28,000,000 |
$669,276 |
2.4% |
Alone in the Dark |
2005 |
$20,000,000 |
$5,178,169 |
28.9% |
Around the World in 80 Days |
2004 |
$110,000,000 |
$24,008,137 |
21.8% |
Arthur and the Invisibles |
2006 |
$86,000,000 |
$40,578,664 |
47.2% |
The Avengers |
1998 |
$60,000,000 |
$23,322,832 |
38.9% |
B
Title |
Year |
Budget |
Domestic Gross |
% of budget |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Ballistic: Ecks vs. Sever |
2002 |
$70,000,000 |
$14,294,842 |
20.4% |
Basic Instinct 2 |
2006 |
$70,000,000 |
$5,946,136 |
8.5% |
Battlefield Earth |
2000 |
$73,000,000 |
$21,471,685 |
29.4% |
Bee Season |
2005 |
$14,000,000 |
$1,180,560 |
8.4% |
Beloved |
1998 |
$80,000,000 |
$22,852,487 |
28.6% |
The Black Dahlia |
2006 |
$50,000,000 |
$22,545,080 |
45.1% |
Blood and Chocolate |
2007 |
$15,000,000 |
$3,526,588 |
23.5% |
Bloodrayne |
2006 |
$25,000,000 |
$2,405,420 |
9.6% |
The Bonfire of the Vanities |
1990 |
$47,000,000 |
$15,691,192 |
33.4% |
The Boondock Saints |
2000 |
$6,000,000 |
$683,000 |
11.4% |
The Bridge of San Luis Rey |
2005 |
$24,000,000 |
$49,981 |
0.21% |
C
Title |
Year |
Budget |
Domestic Gross |
% of budget |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Can't Stop the Music |
1980 |
$20,000,000 |
$2,000,000 |
10% |
Catwoman |
2004 |
$100,000,000 |
$40,202,379 |
40.2% |
The Caveman's Valentine |
2001 |
$13,500,000 |
$687,194 |
5.1% |
Chasing Liberty |
2004 |
$23,000,000 |
$12,195,626 |
53% |
Church Ball |
2006 |
$1,000,000 |
$464,991 |
46.5% |
Cleopatra |
1963 |
$44,000,000 |
$26,000,000 |
59% |
Code Name: The Cleaner |
2007 |
$20,000,000 |
$8,135,024 |
40.7% |
The Condemned |
2007 |
$23,000,000 |
$7,327,940 |
31.8% |
Connie and Carla |
2004 |
$27,000,000 |
$8,085,771 |
29.9% |
Cool as Ice |
1991 |
$6,000,000 |
$1,193,062 |
19.8% |
The Core |
2003 |
$74,000,000 |
$31,111,260 |
41.8% |
The Country Bears |
2002 |
$35,000,000 |
$16,990,825 |
48.5% |
Cradle Will Rock |
1999 |
$32,000,000 |
$2,899,970 |
8.7% |
Cutthroat Island |
1995 |
$92,000,000 |
$10,017,322 |
10.8% |
Crash |
1996 |
$10,000,000 |
$3,357,324 |
33.6% |
D
Title |
Year |
Budget |
Domestic Gross |
% of budget |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Daylight |
1996 |
$80,000,000 |
$32,885,565 |
40% |
Death to Smoochy |
2002 |
$50,000,000 |
$8,364,691 |
16.7% |
Dirty |
2006 |
$3,000,000 |
$274,245 |
9.1% |
Detroit Rock City |
1999 |
$15'000'000 |
$2,005,512 |
13.37% |
Doogal |
2006 |
$20,000,000 |
$19,886,042 |
28.2% |
Dragonfly |
2002 |
$75,000,000 |
$30,063,805 |
40% |
D-Tox |
2002 |
$55,000,000 |
$79,161 |
0.14% |
Driven |
2001 |
$72,000,000 |
$32,616,869 |
44% |
Dudley Do-Right |
1999 |
$70,000,000 |
$9,974,410 |
14.2% |
D-War |
2007 |
$75,000,000 |
$10,616,869 |
7.5 % |
E
Title |
Year |
Budget |
Domestic Gross |
% of budget |
|---|---|---|---|---|
EDtv |
1999 |
$80,000,000 |
$21,431,897 |
28.0% |
Extreme Ops |
2002 |
$40,000,000 1 |
$4,835,968 |
12.09% |
F
Title |
Year |
Budget |
Domestic Gross |
% of budget |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Femme Fatale |
2002 |
$35,000,000 |
$6,630,252 |
18.9% |
Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within |
2001 |
$137,000,000 |
$32,131,830 |
23.3% |
Flyboys |
2006 |
$60,000,000 |
$13,082,288 |
21.8% |
From Justin to Kelly |
2003 |
$12,000,000 |
$4,922,166 |
41.6% |
The Fountain |
2006 |
$35,000,000 |
$10,144,010 |
28.9% |
The Four Feathers |
2002 |
$80,000,000 |
$18,306,166 |
22.5% |
Freaked |
1993 |
$12,000,000 |
$29,296 |
0.2% |
G
Title |
Year |
Budget |
Domestic Gross |
% of budget |
|---|---|---|---|---|
The Game of Their Lives |
2005 |
$20,000,000 |
$375,750 |
1.9% |
Get Carter |
2000 |
$63,600,000 |
$14,967,182 |
23.5% |
Gigli |
2003 |
$54,000,000 |
$6,068,735 |
11.1% |
Glitter |
2001 |
$22,000,000 |
$4,273,372 |
18.1% |
Gods and Generals |
2003 |
$56,000,000 |
$12,882,034 |
23% |
A Good Year |
2006 |
$35,000,000 |
$7,459,300 |
21.3% |
Grindhouse |
2007 |
$67,000,000 |
$25,037,897 |
37.3% |
H
Title |
Year |
Budget |
Domestic Gross |
% of budget |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Hard Rain |
1998 |
$70,000,000 |
$19,819,000 |
27.7% |
Hart's War |
2002 |
$70,000,000 |
$19,076,815 |
27.1% |
Heaven's Gate |
1980 |
$44,000,000 |
$3,484,331 |
7.9% |
The Hoax |
2007 |
$25,000,000 |
$7,164,995 |
28.7% |
Hollywood Ending |
2002 |
$16,000,000 |
$4,839,383 |
31.5% |
Holy Man |
1998 |
$60,000,000 |
$12,069,719 |
20.1% |
Home On The Range |
2004 |
$110,000,000 |
$50,030,461 |
45.5% |
Hoot |
2006 |
$15,000,000 |
$4,889,754 |
32.5% |
The House of the Spirits |
1994 |
$40,000,000 |
$6,265,311 |
15.6% |
Howard the Duck |
1986 |
$30,000,000 |
$16,295,136 |
53.3% |
Hudson Hawk |
1991 |
$65,000,000 |
$17,218,080 |
26.1% |
Hurlyburly |
1998 |
$15,000,000 |
$1,798,862 |
12.0% |
I
Title |
Year |
Budget |
Domestic Gross |
% of budget |
|---|---|---|---|---|
I Know Who Killed Me |
2007 |
$12,000,000 |
$2,800,000 |
23.3% |
Inchon |
1981 |
$46,000,000 |
$5,200,986 |
11.3% |
Intolerable Cruelty |
2003 |
$60,000,000 |
$35,096,190 |
58.3% |
The Invasion |
2007 |
$80,000,000 |
$15,055,795 |
18.8% |
Ishtar |
1987 |
$55,000,000 |
$14,375,181 |
35.9% |
The Island |
1980 |
$22,000,000 |
$10,000,000 |
45.5% |
The Island |
2005 |
$122,200,000 |
$35,799,026 |
29.2% |
It's All Gone Pete Tong |
2005 |
$2,000,000 |
$120,620 |
6.0% |
J
Title |
Year |
Budget |
Domestic Gross |
% of budget |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Jade |
1995 |
$50,000,000 |
$9,795,017 |
19.6% |
Jakob the Liar |
1999 |
$15,000,000 |
$4,956,401 |
33.0% |
Judge Dredd |
1995 |
$90,000,000 |
$34,694,000 |
38.5% |
K
Title |
Year |
Budget |
Domestic Gross |
% of budget |
|---|---|---|---|---|
K-19: The Widowmaker |
2002 |
$100,000,000 |
$35,168,677 |
35.1% |
King Arthur |
2004 |
$90,000,000 |
$51,882,244 |
57.6% |
Kingdom of Heaven |
2005 |
$130,000,000 |
$47,396,698 |
36.5% |
L
Title |
Year |
Budget |
Domestic Gross |
% of budget |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Last Action Hero |
1993 |
$85,000,000 |
$50,016,394 |
58.8% |
The Last Castle |
2001 |
$72,000,000 |
$18,208,078 |
25.3% |
Laws of Attraction |
2004 |
$32,000,000 |
$17,871,255 |
55.9% |
Lolita |
1997 |
$58,000,000 |
$1,060,056 |
1.8% |
Looney Tunes: Back in Action |
2003 |
$80,000,000 |
$21,600,585 |
27.0% |
Lords of Dogtown |
2005 |
$25,000,000 |
$11,273,517 |
45.1% |
The Lost City |
2005 |
$9,600,000 |
$2,484,186 |
25.9% |
Love's Labour's Lost |
2000 |
$13,000,000 |
$299,792 |
2.3% |
Lucky Numbers |
2000 |
$65,000,000 |
$10,014,234 |
15.4% |
Lucky You |
2007 |
$50,000,000 |
$7,355,993 |
15% |
M
Title |
Year |
Budget |
Domestic Gross |
% of budget |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Mad City |
1997 |
$50,000,000 |
$10,541,523 |
21.1% |
The Majestic |
2001 |
$72,000,000 |
$27,796,042 |
38.6% |
Manderlay |
2006 |
$14,200,000 |
$78,378 |
0.55% |
Maximum Overdrive |
1986 |
$10,000,000 |
$7,000,000 |
70% |
Meet Joe Black |
1998 |
$90,000,000 |
$44,606,335 |
49.6% |
Meet the Deedles |
1998 |
$24,000,000 |
$4,308,981 |
18.0% |
Memoirs of an Invisible Man |
1992 |
$40,000,000 |
$14,358,033 |
35.9% |
Mighty Joe Young |
1998 |
$90,000,000 |
$50,632,037 |
56.3% |
Mini's First Time |
2006 |
$6,000,000 |
$49,034 |
0.8% |
The Molly Maguires |
1970 |
$11,000,000 |
$1,100,000 |
10.0% |
Monument Ave. |
1998 |
$11,000,000 |
$333,760 |
3.0% |
Moonlight Mile |
2002 |
$21,000,000 |
$6,835,856 |
32.6% |
My Big Fat Independent Movie |
2005 |
$3,000,000 |
$4,655 |
0.16% |
N
Title |
Year |
Budget |
Domestic Gross |
% of budget |
|---|---|---|---|---|
New York Minute |
2004 |
$30,000,000 |
$14,045,006 |
46.8% |
No Good Deed |
2003 |
$12,000,000 |
$181,600 |
1.5% |
Nomad |
2007 |
$40,000,000 |
$79,123 |
0.2% |
North |
1994 |
$40,000,000 |
$7,138,449 |
17.8% |
Nothing But Trouble |
1991 |
$40,000,000 |
$8,479,793 |
21.2% |
O
Title |
Year |
Budget |
Domestic Gross |
% of budget |
|---|---|---|---|---|
The Oh in Ohio |
2006 |
$5,000,000 |
$418,689 |
8.3% |
Once Upon a Time in America |
1984 |
$30,000,000 |
$5,321,508 |
17.7% |
One Night Stand |
1997 |
$24,000,000 |
$2,618,335 |
10.9% |
Osmosis Jones |
2001 |
$75,000,000 |
$25,120,662 |
18.1% |
P
Title |
Year |
Budget |
Domestic Gross |
% of budget |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Pathfinder: Legend of the Ghost Warrior |
2007 |
$45,000,000 |
$10,232,081 |
22.7% |
Perfume: The Story of a [...] † |
2006 |
$60,000,000 |
$2,208,939 † |
3.7% |
Pirates |
1986 |
$40,000,000 |
$1,641,825 |
4.1% |
The Postman |
1997 |
$80,000,000 |
$17,593,391 |
22% |
† Perfume: The Story of a [...] was a German production that grossed more than $100 million internationally making it a box office success.
R
Title |
Year |
Budget |
Domestic Gross |
% of budget |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Raise the Titanic! |
1980 |
$36,000,000 |
$7,000,000 |
19.4% |
Redline |
2007 |
$26,000,000 |
$6,881,022 |
26.5% |
Red Planet |
2000 |
$75,000,000 |
$17,473,245 |
23.3% |
Ride with the Devil |
1999 |
$35,000,000 |
$630,779 |
1.8% |
Rollerball |
2002 |
$70,000,000 |
$18,990,542 |
27.1% |
S
Title |
Year |
Budget |
Domestic Gross |
% of budget |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Sahara |
2005 |
$130,000,000 |
$68,671,925 |
52.8% |
The Scarlet Letter |
1995 |
$50,000,000 |
$10,382,407 |
20.8% |
Scorched |
2003 |
$7,000,000 |
$8,000 |
0.11% |
Screamers |
1995 |
$20,000,000 |
$5,711,695 |
28.6% |
September Dawn |
2007 |
$11,000,000 |
$1,066,555 |
9.7% |
Serenity |
2005 |
$40,000,000 |
$25,514,517 |
62.5% |
Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band |
1978 |
$18,000,000 |
$13,000,000 |
65% |
Shade |
2004 |
$10,000,000 |
$25,032 |
0.25% |
Shanghai Surprise |
1986 |
$17,000,000 |
$2,315,683 |
13.6% |
The 6th Day |
2000 |
$82,000,000 |
$34,543,700 |
42.1% |
Showgirls |
1995 |
$45,000,000 |
$20,302,961 |
45.1% |
Slither |
2006 |
$29,500,000 |
$7,802,450 |
52.0% |
Slow Burn |
2007 |
$15,500,000 |
$1,237,615 |
7.9% |
Solaris |
2002 |
$47,000,000 |
$14,970,038 |
31.9% |
Soldier |
1998 |
$75,000,000 |
$14,623,082 |
19.5% |
Sorcerer |
1977 |
$22,000,000 |
$10,000,000 |
45.5% |
A Sound of Thunder |
2005 |
$80,000,000 |
$1,900,451 |
2.4% |
Stardust |
2007 |
$65,000,000 |
$38,345,403 |
63% |
Speed 2: Cruise Control |
1997 |
$160,000,000 |
$48,068,396 |
30.0% |
The Statement |
2003 |
$27,000,000 |
$765,637 |
2.8% |
Stay |
2005 |
$50,000,000 |
$3,626,883 |
7.3 % |
Stealth |
2005 |
$138,000,000 |
$31,704,416 |
23.0% |
Steel |
1997 |
$16,000,000 |
$1,710,972 |
10.7% |
The Stupids |
1996 |
$25,000,000 |
$2,415,593 |
9.7% |
Swept Away |
2002 |
$10,000,000 |
$598,645 |
6.0% |
T
Title |
Year |
Budget |
Domestic Gross |
% of budget |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Terminal Velocity |
1994 |
$50,000,000 |
$16,478,900 |
32.9% |
Thirteen Days |
2000 |
$80,000,000 |
$34,566,746 |
43.2% |
3000 Miles to Graceland |
2001 |
$62,000,000 |
$15,738,632 |
25.4% |
The 13th Warrior |
1999 |
$85,000,000 |
$32,694,788 |
38.5% |
The Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada |
2005 |
$15,000,000 |
$5,027,684 |
33.5% |
Thunderbirds |
2004 |
$57,000,000 |
$6,880,917 |
12.1% |
Town & Country |
2001 |
$90,000,000 |
$6,810,050 |
7.6% |
U
Title |
Year |
Budget |
Domestic Gross |
% of budget |
|---|---|---|---|---|
U Turn |
1997 |
$19,000,000 |
$6,633,400 |
34.9% |
Undiscovered |
2005 |
$9,000,000 |
$1,069,318 |
11.9% |
Unidentified |
2006 |
$400,000 |
$224,099 |
56.0% |
Until the End of the World |
1991 |
$23,000,000 |
$829,625 |
3.6% |
W
Title |
Year |
Budget |
Domestic Gross |
% of budget |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Waterworld |
1995 |
$175,000,000 |
$88,246,220 |
50.4% |
Waterloo |
1970 |
$25,000,000 |
$1,400,000 |
5.6% |
Welcome to Mooseport |
2004 |
$26,000,000 |
$14,470,947 |
55.7% |
The Whole Ten Yards |
2004 |
$40,000,000 |
$16,323,969 |
40.8% |
Windtalkers |
2001 |
$115,000,000 |
$40,911,830 |
35.6% |
Wing Commander |
1999 |
$30,000,000 |
$11,576,087 |
38.6% |
The Wiz |
1978 |
$24,000,000 |
$13,000,000 |
54.2% |
The World's Fastest Indian |
2005 |
$25,000,000 |
$5,128,124 |
20.5% |
Wyatt Earp |
1994 |
$63,000,000 |
$25,052,000 |
39.8% |
Z
Title |
Year |
Budget |
Domestic Gross |
% of budget |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Zabriskie Point |
1970 |
$7,000,000 |
$900,000 |
12.9% |
Zathura |
2005 |
$65,000,000 |
$28,045,540 |
43.1% |
Zodiac |
2007 |
$65,000,000 |
$33,080,083 |
50.9% |
Zyzzyx Road |
2006 |
$1,200,000 |
$30 |
0.001% |
See also
- Box office bomb
- Blockbuster motion picture
- Films considered the worst ever
External links
- The Numbers - Movie Budgets, movie budgets page from The Numbers. Contains charts of biggest money-making and money-losing movies.
- Movies that were box office bombs - Boston.com