# Biggest movie failures in the past 20 years? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [January 30, 2004, 7:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/biggest-movie-failures-in-the-past-20-years/226813 "2004-01-30T19:41:24Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 17\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Knowed\_Out](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/knowed_out/32/7380_2.png) [@Knowed\_Out](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Knowed_Out)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2004, 7:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/biggest-movie-failures-in-the-past-20-years/226813/1 "2004-01-30T19:41:24Z")
The reason why I’m only wanting to go back 20 years is because I’m referencing [The Hollywood Hall of Shame: The Most Expensive Flops in Movie History](http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0399507140/qid=1075490611/sr=1-1/ref=sr_1_1/002-8428808-1199207?v=glance&s=books) by the brothers Medved, which was published in 1984. I pulled this out of a moving box I’ve just now got around to unpacking and got a kick out of reading about all the ridiculous excesses Hollywood studios went through thinking the movies they were making were going to be blockbusters. The book goes into detail about how movies like _Cleopatra, Heaven’s Gate_ and _Inchon_ bombed like mushroom clouds at the box office and sometimes bankrupted studios. It doesn’t look like they ever wrote a follow-up. Movies made since 1984, like _Ishtar_ and _Batman and Robin_ would certainly fit into this category. Do any of you Hollywood Insider types know the Straight Dope on which movies made in the last 20 years lost the most money and why? ---
**Author:** ![kasuo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/8c91f0/32.png) [@kasuo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kasuo)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2004, 7:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/biggest-movie-failures-in-the-past-20-years/226813/2 "2004-01-30T19:53:42Z")
According to the Trivia entry for [The Adventures of Pluto Nash (2002)](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0180052/maindetails), it had a budget of about $100 million and only grossed about $5 million in the U.S. ---
**Author:** ![Chastain86](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f9ae1b/32.png) [@Chastain86](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chastain86)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2004, 7:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/biggest-movie-failures-in-the-past-20-years/226813/3 "2004-01-30T19:56:09Z")
> [@Knowed Out](#): > > It doesn’t look like they ever wrote a follow-up. Movies made since 1984, like _Ishtar_ and _Batman and Robin_ would certainly fit into this category. Do any of you Hollywood Insider types know the Straight Dope on which movies made in the last 20 years lost the most money and why? Don’t be so sure about _Batman & Robin_. IIRC, that particular asspile made a small sum back after it had been released internationally, and on home video, as well as the amount from selling the rights to pay cable and network. Without getting too mired in current _en vogue_ Bennifer-bashing, certainly _Gigli_ is going to be on the list. At a stated budget of $55+ million, the studio has to date seen only $6 million in revenue. I imagine “The Adventures of Pluto Nash” falls into the same category, but I don’t have any hard numbers to back me up. Perhaps another Doper does. ---
**Author:** ![jk1245](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/49beb7/32.png) [@jk1245](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jk1245)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2004, 8:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/biggest-movie-failures-in-the-past-20-years/226813/4 "2004-01-30T20:11:41Z")
[Cutthroat Island](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0112760/business) is up there (down there?) with Pluto Nash. It made $11M with a $90M budget. [Town & Country](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0141907/business) is in that territory too ( $6.7M on a $90M budget). The worst I’ve seen on IMDB though is [It’s Pat](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0110169/business). It grossed $60,822. No, that’s not $600,822. Assuming the IMDB is accurate, I doubt you could possibly get much lower from a major studio release. ---
**Author:** ![Husker\_Dude](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/d6d6ee/32.png) [@Husker\_Dude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Husker_Dude)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2004, 8:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/biggest-movie-failures-in-the-past-20-years/226813/5 "2004-01-30T20:16:54Z")
I know **Cuttroath Island, Town And Country** and **The Postman** all crashed and burned. What about **Waterworld**? Was it really that big of a failure? I think I remember reading it eventually broke even. ---
**Author:** ![Knowed\_Out](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/knowed_out/32/7380_2.png) [@Knowed\_Out](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Knowed_Out)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2004, 8:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/biggest-movie-failures-in-the-past-20-years/226813/6 "2004-01-30T20:48:50Z")
> [@Hüsker Düde](#): > > What about **Waterworld**? Was it really that big of a failure? I think I remember reading it eventually broke even. [IMDB sez](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0114898/business) it flopped in the US, but got better business worldwide. But the costs don’t take into account marketing the film AFAIK. Plus, the movie costs may have ultimately gone over budget. ---
**Author:** ![tracer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tracer/32/20578_2.png) [@tracer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tracer)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2004, 12:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/biggest-movie-failures-in-the-past-20-years/226813/7 "2004-01-31T00:26:07Z")
Please tell me that _ **Battlefield Earth** _ made the list. ---
**Author:** ![ITR\_champion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/c67d28/32.png) [@ITR\_champion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ITR_champion)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2004, 3:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/biggest-movie-failures-in-the-past-20-years/226813/8 "2004-01-31T03:56:58Z")
_Wild Wild West_, the 1999 version with Will Smith, had an official buget of about $100 million, which it did make back at the box office. However, some people suspect that the actual budget was much more than that, and that Warner Brothers refused to admit the true cost to avoid embarrassment. ---
**Author:** ![Daylon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/45deac/32.png) [@Daylon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Daylon)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2004, 8:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/biggest-movie-failures-in-the-past-20-years/226813/9 "2004-01-31T08:32:36Z")
If I’m not mistaken… the anime flick “Final Fantasy” cost like $130 million to produce and made only 10 or 20 million… D. ---
**Author:** ![DMark](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@DMark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DMark)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2004, 8:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/biggest-movie-failures-in-the-past-20-years/226813/10 "2004-01-31T08:57:13Z")
How can you forget **Showgirls**? ---
**Author:** ![Wendell\_Wagner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/8491ac/32.png) [@Wendell\_Wagner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wendell_Wagner)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2004, 12:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/biggest-movie-failures-in-the-past-20-years/226813/11 "2004-01-31T12:12:42Z")
Here’s a reasonably up-to-date list of the biggest money-losers of all time. It’s ranked by the percentage of the investment that was lost: [http://www.crikey.com.au/business/2003/01/13-movielist.html](http://www.crikey.com.au/business/2003/01/13-movielist.html) Here’s what it lists: Heaven’s Gate (1980) - $44 million budget/$1.5 million US box office earnings = 97 % loss The Adventure of Pluto Nash (2002) - $100 million/$4.4 million = 96 % loss Town & Country (2001) - $90 million/$6.7 million = 93 % loss Monkeybone (2001) - $75 million/$5.4 million = 93 % loss Cutthroat Island (1995) - $92 million/$11 million = 88 % loss Raise the Titanic (1980) - $36 million/$7 million = 81 % loss 3000 Miles to Graceland (2001) - $62 million/$15.7 million = 75 % loss Treasure Planet (2002) - $140 million/$37 million = 74 % loss Hudson Hawk (1991) - $65 million/$17 million = 74% loss Battlefield Earth (2000) - $73 million /$21.5 million = 71 % loss The Postman (1997) - $80 million/$27 million = 66 % loss Ishtar (1987) - $40 million/$14 million = 65% loss ---
**Author:** ![twickster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ec9cab/32.png) [@twickster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/twickster)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2004, 1:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/biggest-movie-failures-in-the-past-20-years/226813/12 "2004-01-31T13:49:24Z")
> [@Wendell Wagner](#): > > Battlefield Earth (2000) - $73 million /$21.5 million = 71 % loss Heh. I guess all the Scientologists went more than once. ---
**Author:** ![Horatio\_Hellpop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e5b9ba/32.png) [@Horatio\_Hellpop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horatio_Hellpop)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2004, 2:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/biggest-movie-failures-in-the-past-20-years/226813/13 "2004-01-31T14:40:01Z")
Hollywood has different accounting practices than the rest of society, so it’s pretty hard to tell how much money a movie actually made or lost. Prior to Art Buchwald’s _Coming to America_ suit, there was a common practice of generating huge and unnecessary in-house studio expenses for any movie that looked like it was about to show a net profit. This was done explicitly to cut out anyone who was paid partially in points of the net (an arrangement actors and directors were always strongly encouraged to participate in, but few ever did so twice). _Fantasia_ took a bath in its initial release and didn’t show a profit until sometime in the 70s. ---
**Author:** ![Master\_Wang-Ka](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/master_wang-ka/32/3325_2.png) [@Master\_Wang-Ka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Master_Wang-Ka)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2004, 5:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/biggest-movie-failures-in-the-past-20-years/226813/14 "2004-01-31T17:36:43Z")
It’s also worth noting that sometimes the _studio_ doesn’t have a clear idea of how a movie has done until well after the fact. Case in point: Tim Burton’s _The Nightmare Before Christmas,_ a film which didn’t do anywhere near as well as was hoped in general release, and was originally characterized as a borderline flop… until someone realized how insanely well the film was doing on video and DVD… Basically, what a studio wants to hear is “X million first weekend, X-y million second weekend…” ---
**Author:** ![Reverse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e79b87/32.png) [@Reverse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Reverse)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2004, 5:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/biggest-movie-failures-in-the-past-20-years/226813/15 "2004-01-31T17:52:34Z")
> [@Daylon](#): > > If I’m not mistaken… the anime flick “Final Fantasy” cost like $130 million to produce and made only 10 or 20 million… > D. First of all, it’s not anime. Sure, it was a Japanese company that made it, but that alone doesn’t make it anime. It’s visual style was to be extremely realistic CGI, which, to a certain extent, the movie did pull off. Here’s [the numbers](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0173840/business) for the movie. It made more than 10 or 20 million, but looks like it bombed nonetheless. Though last I heard the movie would’ve pulled even, thanks to DVD sales and such. ---
**Author:** ![Wendell\_Wagner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/8491ac/32.png) [@Wendell\_Wagner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wendell_Wagner)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2004, 5:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/biggest-movie-failures-in-the-past-20-years/226813/16 "2004-01-31T17:56:18Z")
DMark writes: \> How can you forget Showgirls? _Showgirls_ wasn’t that big a money-loser: [http://us.imdb.com/title/tt0114436/business](http://us.imdb.com/title/tt0114436/business) ---
**Author:** ![vibrotronica](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/a9a28c/32.png) [@vibrotronica](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vibrotronica)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2004, 5:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/biggest-movie-failures-in-the-past-20-years/226813/17 "2004-01-31T17:56:32Z")
I agree that the issue of success and failure have been made more complex by the video market. Films _The Nightmare Before Christmas_ and _The Big Lebowski_ are going to be making money for the studios for years to come, despite the fact that they were only lukewarmly recieved in their inital release.