# Which superhero flick will bomb the worst this year?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-superhero-flick-will-bomb-the-worst-this-year/576931>\
**Category:** Cafe Society\
**Created:** [April 2, 2011, 11:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-superhero-flick-will-bomb-the-worst-this-year/576931 "2011-04-02T11:22:16Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 3\
**Page:** 9

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\
**Post date:** [August 30, 2011, 7:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-superhero-flick-will-bomb-the-worst-this-year/576931/161 "2011-08-30T07:39:29Z")

</div>

Just read something interesting on Box Office Mojo. For all that it’s a box office flop, _Cowboys & Aliens_ is ranked as the seventh highest grossing Western of all time.

1. Dances with Wolves - $184,208,848
2. True Grit - $171,050,328
3. Rango - $123,257,581
4. Wild Wild West - $113,804,681
5. Maverick - $101,631,272
6. Unforgiven - $101,157,447
7. Cowboys & Aliens - $93,523,950

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_waldo_pepper/32/12370_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)\
**Post date:** [August 30, 2011, 3:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-superhero-flick-will-bomb-the-worst-this-year/576931/162 "2011-08-30T15:28:22Z")

</div>

> [@Little\_Nemo](#):
>
> Just read something interesting on Box Office Mojo. For all that it’s a box office flop, _Cowboys & Aliens_ is ranked as the seventh highest grossing Western of all time.

Domestically, anyway; everything from _Brokeback Mountain_ to _Back To The Future III_ surpasses it if you add in worldwide gross.

That said, it’s not just that _True Grit_ grossed a hundred million more than C&A has; it’s also that _True Grit_ cost a hundred million less to make, and so raked in six times its budget by promptly crossing the quarter-billion mark. _Open Range_ grossed triple its small budget, _Young Guns_ did quadruple; _Unforgiven_ grossed ten times its budget; _Dances With Wolves_, almost twenty. So long as it’s just gunslingers riding around on horses, you can avoid a flop by hiring stuntmen and shooting it cheap – but if you build it around sci-fi special effects, box-office results that would’ve been great fall short of breaking even.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![BlackKnight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/eb8c5e/32.png) [@BlackKnight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BlackKnight)\
**Post date:** [September 30, 2011, 8:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-superhero-flick-will-bomb-the-worst-this-year/576931/163 "2011-09-30T20:41:59Z")

</div>

> [@ArchiveGuy](#):
>
> 1. Bet is for $20. You say Green Lantern will do the worst of the three films. I say it won’t.
> 2. “Worst” shall be defined as domestic box office receipts. Budget, “break even” metrics, etc. won’t play a part since those figures are far too easily fudged. Is this acceptable to you?
> 3. Bet will be honored by September 2011 or at such a time where the result is obvious, whichever comes first.

Bumping this thread to claim the bet.

From [Boxofficemojo.com](http://Boxofficemojo.com):

Domestic Box Office

**Thor**  
$181,030,624

**Captain America**  
$174,867,409

**Green Lantern**  
$116,599,253  
(Lucky for me, my prediction that “X-men: First Class” would do worse than “Green Lantern” was not part of the bet.)

[Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-superhero-flick-will-bomb-the-worst-this-year/576931.md?page=8)