Lionsgate’s “Robin Hood” is turning out to be this year’s biggest blockbuster bomb, with a $14 million five-day opening against a budget of just under $100 million.
This year’s Thanksgiving weekend has provided the most lucrative box office ever. But even with all the record-breaking success, there have been some failures in 2018. Most of those bombs, like Paramount’s “Annihilation” and Fox’s “The Darkest Minds,” have had low-to-mid-level budgets that have reduced how much of a financial hit their studios have taken.
With a global launch of just $22.8 million, “Robin Hood” has had the worst start for any film this year with a budget of $90 million or higher. It’s another flop on top of several for Lionsgate, including the sci-fi film “Kin” ($9.9 million grossed against a $30 million budget), and the Kate McKinnon/Mila Kunis spy comedy “The Spy Who Dumped Me” ($75 million/$40 million budget). So far this year, the studio has only grossed $358 million domestically, down 54 percent from this point last year.
Until now, there hasn’t been a bomb as big as ones seen in 2017, like “King Arthur: Legend of the Sword,” which failed to make back its $175 million budget.
This year’s flops were at least able to post global grosses that exceeded their budgets. Fox’s “The Predator,” made for a pricey $88 million, made $160 million worldwide. Disney’s “Solo,” while being the first “Star Wars” film to gross less than $400 million and raise questions about the future of the classic franchise, was at least able to make back all its production and marketing costs through ancillary revenue.
Even the most recent flop, the $120 million “Nutcracker and the Four Realms,” didn’t do as poorly as “Robin Hood” with a $20 million domestic opening. But this critically panned take on the hero of Sherwood Forest needed the extended holiday weekend just to post a start above $10 million, having just made an estimated $9.1 million from Friday through Sunday. Overseas, it has done even worse with $8.7 million from 33 countries. The U.K., home of Robin Hood, was the top country with a mere $1.7 million grossed.
Lionsgate will try to right the course next year with a 2019 lineup headlined by the final installment in Tyler Perry’s “Madea” series, “A Madea Family Funeral,” a reboot of “Hellboy” starring David Harbour, and the third chapter of Keanu Reeves’ “John Wick” saga.
2018's Biggest Box Office Bombs, From 'Gotti' to 'Solo' (Photos)
2018 was a great year for the box office, with plenty of record-breaking hits, but even a good year has its bombs. Here are ten of the most notable disappointments this year, including one from the biggest blockbuster franchise of all time.
"London Fields" -- Budget: $8 million, Global gross: $295,435
This critically panned noir film premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival in 2015 and has spent the past three years mired in lawsuits between the producers and lead star Amber Heard and director Matthew Cullen. After the Heard lawsuit was resolved, the film was released in October and suffered the second-worst wide release opening in box office history.
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"Nutcracker and the Four Realms" -- Budget: $120 million, Global gross: $151.9 million so far
Two days after Halloween, Disney released this dark fantasy loosely based on the famous Russian ballet synonymous with Christmas. But critics weren't impressed by much beyond the film's dance sequences, and families saved their money to go see "The Grinch" and another Disney film, "Ralph Breaks the Internet," later in the month. With a $20 million opening weekend, "Nutcracker" suffered Disney's worst start since "The BFG" in 2016.
Disney
"Early Man" -- Budget: $50 million, Global gross: $54 million
How far has stop-motion animation fallen? Nick Park and Aardman Studios, creators of "Wallace & Gromit," earned praise from critics for this prehistoric comedy. But Lionsgate released it in the U.S. the same weekend as "Black Panther" and it was ignored in the U.S. with only $8.2 million grossed. The only country where the film made more than $10 million is Aardman's homeland, the U.K., with $15 million.
Lionsgate
"Annihilation" -- Budget: $40 million, Global gross: $43 million
It was an intelligent sci-fi tale with profound existential themes. It had an all-star female cast led by Natalie Portman. It was made by the director of "Ex Machina." And it failed to make its budget back with $32 million domestic and $10 million from China, with Paramount selling distribution rights for the rest of the world to Netflix. Maybe it will achieve "cult classic" status someday...
Paramount
"The Darkest Minds" -- Budget: $34 million, Global gross: $41 million
YA novel adaptations continue to fall flat in this post-"Hunger Games" world, as this tale of superpowered teens on the run got little marketing support from Fox and fell flat after being released in August.
"The Hurricane Heist" -- Budget: $35 million, Global gross: $31 million
Some films are based on concepts the general public just has no interest in thanks to recent events. Take this disaster thriller from "The Fast and the Furious" director Rob Cohen about two brothers who are caught up in a heist to steal millions from a federal facility during a Category 5 hurricane. With hurricanes destroying entire towns in real life on an annual basis now thanks to climate change, this probably wasn't many moviegoers' idea of a fun time at the movies.
Entertainment Studios
"Death Wish" -- Budget: $30 million, Global gross: $48 million
Charles Bronson's 1974 revenge film may have become a cult classic, but an Eli Roth-directed, Bruce Willis-starring remake is probably not what Americans are looking for at a time when deadly shootings are an almost daily occurrence. MGM moved the release date from November 2017 to March 2018 not long after last year's Las Vegas shooting... only for it to come out three weeks after the Parkland High School massacre.
MGM
"Gotti" -- Budget: $10 million, Global gross: $4.1 million.
The ill-fated mafia biopic started development in 2010 and weathered problems such as the replacement of lead Joe Pesci with John Travolta (sparkign a lawsuit), having Lionsgate drop the film two weeks before release, and getting picked up by the struggling MoviePass. The film was finally released in June to a unanimous critical drubbing. It failed to make back its budget, and MoviePass, a subscription service that pays for its users tickets, accounted for 40 percent of tickets sold.
Vertical Entertainment
“The Happytime Murders” — Budget: $40 million, Global gross: $27 million
Melissa McCarthy’s 2018 will be best remembered for her Oscar-contending performance in “Can You Ever Forgive Me?”, which is good, because she also starred in this panned crime parody of the Muppets, which failed to make back its budget and was one of several films that struggled for distributor STX
"Solo: A Star Wars Story" -- Budget: $250 million, Global gross: $392 million
Disney broke box office records left and right this year, but it also had the most high-profile bomb of the year with this "Star Wars" anthology film that told the origins of Han Solo. Its release was preceded by a famously troubled production: original directors Phil Lord and Christopher Miller were fired over creative differences with just under a month left in filming; they were replaced by Ron Howard; the budget inflated as roles were recast and much of the film was entirely re-shot. Upon release, "Solo" became the first "Star Wars" film ever to fail to gross $400 million worldwide. With "Episode IX" still a year away, Disney execs have said that they're taking another look at how they handle future films in this hallowed series.
Lucasfilm
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It’s been a good year for the box office, but not for these movies
2018 was a great year for the box office, with plenty of record-breaking hits, but even a good year has its bombs. Here are ten of the most notable disappointments this year, including one from the biggest blockbuster franchise of all time.
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