The 11 Biggest Box-Office Bombs of 2008
January 1st 2009 12:20
ANOTHER LIST
For every bat there is a turkey ... and so while 2008 provided us with the record-breaking Dark Knight, which simply lit up the big screen, it also offered up the likes of family fantasy flop Speed Racer, which crashed and burned.
Christopher Nolan's latest Caped Crusader installment raked in a whopping $530,917,814 at the US box-office alone to sit second on the all-time money-earners' list in that country behind Titanic ($600,788,188). It has earned $996,910,887 worldwide to be ranked fourth globally.
The $185million (according to Box Office Mojo) that was spent to make the epic blockbuster seems a pretty good investment. On the other hand, the $120million that was used to make Speed Racer may as well have been torched by The Joker.
The film couldn't even crack the $100million mark in ticket sales internationally, making it one of the box-office bombs of the year.
Taking a look at speculative but I'd presume reasonably accurate figures provided by the experts Box Office Mojo, it shows the year just gone has produced its fair share of failures.
Going on those stats I've come up with a rough list of the worst performers, loosely based on total money lost (and not percentage-based). It's not gospel, but gives a fair indication of how badly their faired.
While I admit I haven't seen all of them (and to be honest, I don't want to), I've provided comments about each entry from Rotten Tomatoes (RT Consensus).
Some of the titles may make up some ground later on via DVD sales, others may not make it to the shelves but thrown into a big pile and burnt ...
11. SWING VOTE
Genre: Comedy.
Director: Joshua Michael Stern (Neverwas).
Starring: Kevin Costner, Kelsey Grammer, Paula Patton and Stanley Tucci
Production Budget: $21 million.
RT Consensus: Despite Kevin Costner providing his most charismatic performance in years, Swing Vote fails to find the right mix of political satire and heartfelt drama.
BOX OFFICE NUMBERS
US domestic: $16,289,867
Foreign: $1,115,052
Worldwide: $17,404,919
Movie Catcher's Final Word: It's been 16 years since Costner had a big hit (The Bodyguard) and Swing Vote was certainly not going to break the drought.
10. BANGKOK DANGEROUS
Genre: Action.
Director: Oxide Pang Chun and Danny Pang (Hollywood debut).
Starring: Nicolas Cage, Chakrit Yamnarm and Charlie Yeung.
Production Budget: $45 million.
RT Consensus: With murky cinematography, a meandering pace, a dull storyline, and rather wooden performances, The Pang Brothers' Hollywood remake of Bangkok Dangerous is unsuccessful.
BOX OFFICE NUMBERS
US Domestic: $15,298,133
Foreign: $24,094,543
Worldwide: $39,392,676
Movie Catcher's Final Word: While he has found success with Ghost Rider (2007) and National Treasure: Book of Secrets (2008), Cage is enduring at least one massive flop a year, with Bangkok Dangerous following Next (2007) and The Wicker Man (2006).
9. PRIDE AND GLORY
Genre: Action.
Director: Gavin O'Connor (Tumbleweeds, Miracle).
Starring: Edward Norton, Colin Farrell and Jon Voight.
Production Budget: $30 million.
RT Consensus: Formulaic in its plotting and cliched in its dialogue, Pride and Glory does little to distinguish itself from other police procedurals.
BOX OFFICE NUMBERS
US Domestic: $15,740,721
Foreign: $8,086,872
Worldwide: $23,827,593
Movie Catcher's Final Word: Norton has never had a lot of joy at the box-office, with The Incredible Hulk (125million in the US), also released in 2008, easily his most successful even though it wasn't considered an out-and-out success. Next best is The Italian Job (105million).
8. MEET DAVE
Genre: Comedy.
Director: Brian Robbins (The Shaggy Dog, Norbit).
Starring: Eddie Murphy, Elizabeth Banks and Gabrielle Union.
Production Budget: $60 million.
RT Consensus: Easy gags and slack direction drag this occasionally clever alien-out-of-planet comedy down to unimaginative lows.
BOX OFFICE NUMBERS
US Domestic: $11,803,254
Foreign: $38,729,685
Worldwide: $50,532,939
Movie Catcher's Final Word: The teaming of fading star Murphy and unproven director Robbins scored a surprise hit with Norbit (70million at the US box-office), but finally got what they deserved with Meet Dave.
7. STOP LOSS
Genre: War Drama
Director: Kimberly Peirce (Boys Don't Cry).
Starring: Ryan Phillippe, Channing Tatum and Abbie Cornish.
Production Budget: $25 million.
RT Consensus: Stop-Loss is sincere and complex, and features strong performances, even if it tries to cover too much ground.
BOX OFFICE NUMBERS
US domestic: $10,915,744
Foreign: $290,978
Worldwide: $11,206,722
Movie Catcher's Final Word: Pretty well received movie, but just didn't get bums on seats. Oh well, if Abbie Cornish had never met - and then run off with - cast member Ryan Phillipe, her ex, Stuart Dew, may not have returned to the AFL and helped Hawthorn win the premiership.
6. THE LOVE GURU
Genre: Comedy.
Director: Marco Schnabel (debut).
Starring: Mike Myers, Jessica Alba and Justin Timberlake.
Production Budget: $62 million.
RT Consensus: The Love Guru features far too many gross-out gags, and too few earned laughs, ranking as one of Mike Myers' poorest outings.
BOX OFFICE NUMBERS
US Domestic: $32,200,122
Foreign: $8,618,942
Worldwide: $40,819,064
Movie Catcher's Final Word: First major let-down of Myers' career since So I Married An Axe Murderer (1995), well before mega series hits Shrek and Austin Powers.
5. PUNISHER: WAR ZONE
Genre: Action.
Director: Lexi Alexander (Fool Proof, Johnny Flynton, Hooligans).
Starring: Ray Stevenson, Dominic West and Julie Benz.
Production Budget: $35 million
RT Consensus: Punisher: War Zone recalls the excessively violent, dialogue-challenged actioners of the 1980s, and coincidentally feels two decades out of date.
BOX OFFICE NUMBERS
US Domestic: $8,050,977
Foreign: $765,811
Worldwide: $8,816,788
Movie Catcher's Final Word: While he may not have been perfect, maybe they should've stuck with Thomas Jane, who starred in the 2004 version of The Punisher. It made $54million worldwide. Though the original from 1989, with Dolph Lundgren, barely made half a million.
4. SPEED RACER
Genre: Family/Action.
Director: The Wachowski Brothers (The Matrix series).
Starring: Emile Hirsch, Christina Ricci, Susan Sarandon, John Goodman and Matthew Fox.
Production Budget: $120 million
RT Consensus: The Wachowski Brothers have overloaded Speed Racer with headache-inducing special effects, and neglected to develop a coherent storyline.
BOX OFFICE NUMBERS
US Domestic: $43,945,766
Foreign: $49,448,889
Worldwide: $93,394,655
Movie Catcher's Final Word: The Brothers Wachowski maybe should get back to doing what they do best - creating thrills and spills for an older audience and leave the family-friendly stuff to Disney.
3. MIRACLE AT ST ANNA
Genre: Drama.
Director: Spike Lee (Do The Right Thing, Malcolm X, Inside Man)
Starring: James Gandolfini, Derek Luke, D.B. Sweeney and John Turturro.
Production Budget: $45 million
RT Consensus: Miracle at St. Anna is a well-intentioned but overlong, disjointed affair that hits few of the right notes.
BOX OFFICE NUMBERS
US Domestic: $7,919,117
Foreign: $1,363,754
Worldwide: $9,282,871
Movie Catcher's Final Word: Spike Lee had enjoyed the most successful (at the box-office) movie of his career with Inside Man (2007), which made $184,376,254 worldwide, but then suddenly sunk to new depths with the badly under-performing Miracle at St. Anna.
2. CITY OF EMBER
Genre: Family/Adventure.
Director: Gil Kenan (Monster House).
Starring: Bill Murray, Tim Robbins and Martin Landau.
Production Budget: $55 million.
RT Consensus: City of Ember is visually arresting, and boasts a superb cast, but is sadly lacking in both action and adventure.
BOX OFFICE NUMBERS
US Domestic: $7,823,153
Foreign: $5,421,561
Worldwide: $13,244,714
Movie Catcher's Final Word: Kenan probably needed to take a couple more steps before making the big jump from his debut, the animated kids movie Monster House (2006), to such a lavish production like City of Ember.
1. AUSTRALIA
Genre: Family/Adventure.
Director:
Bazz Luhrmann (Moulin Rouge, Romeo and Juliet).
Christopher Nolan's latest Caped Crusader installment raked in a whopping $530,917,814 at the US box-office alone to sit second on the all-time money-earners' list in that country behind Titanic ($600,788,188). It has earned $996,910,887 worldwide to be ranked fourth globally.
The $185million (according to Box Office Mojo) that was spent to make the epic blockbuster seems a pretty good investment. On the other hand, the $120million that was used to make Speed Racer may as well have been torched by The Joker.
The film couldn't even crack the $100million mark in ticket sales internationally, making it one of the box-office bombs of the year.
Taking a look at speculative but I'd presume reasonably accurate figures provided by the experts Box Office Mojo, it shows the year just gone has produced its fair share of failures.
Going on those stats I've come up with a rough list of the worst performers, loosely based on total money lost (and not percentage-based). It's not gospel, but gives a fair indication of how badly their faired.
While I admit I haven't seen all of them (and to be honest, I don't want to), I've provided comments about each entry from Rotten Tomatoes (RT Consensus).
Some of the titles may make up some ground later on via DVD sales, others may not make it to the shelves but thrown into a big pile and burnt ...
Genre: Comedy.
Director: Joshua Michael Stern (Neverwas).
Starring: Kevin Costner, Kelsey Grammer, Paula Patton and Stanley Tucci
Production Budget: $21 million.
RT Consensus: Despite Kevin Costner providing his most charismatic performance in years, Swing Vote fails to find the right mix of political satire and heartfelt drama.
BOX OFFICE NUMBERS
US domestic: $16,289,867
Foreign: $1,115,052
Worldwide: $17,404,919
Movie Catcher's Final Word: It's been 16 years since Costner had a big hit (The Bodyguard) and Swing Vote was certainly not going to break the drought.
Genre: Action.
Director: Oxide Pang Chun and Danny Pang (Hollywood debut).
Starring: Nicolas Cage, Chakrit Yamnarm and Charlie Yeung.
Production Budget: $45 million.
RT Consensus: With murky cinematography, a meandering pace, a dull storyline, and rather wooden performances, The Pang Brothers' Hollywood remake of Bangkok Dangerous is unsuccessful.
BOX OFFICE NUMBERS
US Domestic: $15,298,133
Foreign: $24,094,543
Worldwide: $39,392,676
Movie Catcher's Final Word: While he has found success with Ghost Rider (2007) and National Treasure: Book of Secrets (2008), Cage is enduring at least one massive flop a year, with Bangkok Dangerous following Next (2007) and The Wicker Man (2006).
Genre: Action.
Director: Gavin O'Connor (Tumbleweeds, Miracle).
Starring: Edward Norton, Colin Farrell and Jon Voight.
Production Budget: $30 million.
RT Consensus: Formulaic in its plotting and cliched in its dialogue, Pride and Glory does little to distinguish itself from other police procedurals.
BOX OFFICE NUMBERS
US Domestic: $15,740,721
Foreign: $8,086,872
Worldwide: $23,827,593
Movie Catcher's Final Word: Norton has never had a lot of joy at the box-office, with The Incredible Hulk (125million in the US), also released in 2008, easily his most successful even though it wasn't considered an out-and-out success. Next best is The Italian Job (105million).
Genre: Comedy.
Director: Brian Robbins (The Shaggy Dog, Norbit).
Starring: Eddie Murphy, Elizabeth Banks and Gabrielle Union.
Production Budget: $60 million.
RT Consensus: Easy gags and slack direction drag this occasionally clever alien-out-of-planet comedy down to unimaginative lows.
BOX OFFICE NUMBERS
US Domestic: $11,803,254
Foreign: $38,729,685
Worldwide: $50,532,939
Movie Catcher's Final Word: The teaming of fading star Murphy and unproven director Robbins scored a surprise hit with Norbit (70million at the US box-office), but finally got what they deserved with Meet Dave.
Genre: War Drama
Director: Kimberly Peirce (Boys Don't Cry).
Starring: Ryan Phillippe, Channing Tatum and Abbie Cornish.
Production Budget: $25 million.
RT Consensus: Stop-Loss is sincere and complex, and features strong performances, even if it tries to cover too much ground.
BOX OFFICE NUMBERS
US domestic: $10,915,744
Foreign: $290,978
Worldwide: $11,206,722
Movie Catcher's Final Word: Pretty well received movie, but just didn't get bums on seats. Oh well, if Abbie Cornish had never met - and then run off with - cast member Ryan Phillipe, her ex, Stuart Dew, may not have returned to the AFL and helped Hawthorn win the premiership.
Genre: Comedy.
Director: Marco Schnabel (debut).
Starring: Mike Myers, Jessica Alba and Justin Timberlake.
Production Budget: $62 million.
RT Consensus: The Love Guru features far too many gross-out gags, and too few earned laughs, ranking as one of Mike Myers' poorest outings.
BOX OFFICE NUMBERS
US Domestic: $32,200,122
Foreign: $8,618,942
Worldwide: $40,819,064
Movie Catcher's Final Word: First major let-down of Myers' career since So I Married An Axe Murderer (1995), well before mega series hits Shrek and Austin Powers.
Genre: Action.
Director: Lexi Alexander (Fool Proof, Johnny Flynton, Hooligans).
Starring: Ray Stevenson, Dominic West and Julie Benz.
Production Budget: $35 million
RT Consensus: Punisher: War Zone recalls the excessively violent, dialogue-challenged actioners of the 1980s, and coincidentally feels two decades out of date.
BOX OFFICE NUMBERS
US Domestic: $8,050,977
Foreign: $765,811
Worldwide: $8,816,788
Movie Catcher's Final Word: While he may not have been perfect, maybe they should've stuck with Thomas Jane, who starred in the 2004 version of The Punisher. It made $54million worldwide. Though the original from 1989, with Dolph Lundgren, barely made half a million.
Genre: Family/Action.
Director: The Wachowski Brothers (The Matrix series).
Starring: Emile Hirsch, Christina Ricci, Susan Sarandon, John Goodman and Matthew Fox.
Production Budget: $120 million
RT Consensus: The Wachowski Brothers have overloaded Speed Racer with headache-inducing special effects, and neglected to develop a coherent storyline.
BOX OFFICE NUMBERS
US Domestic: $43,945,766
Foreign: $49,448,889
Worldwide: $93,394,655
Movie Catcher's Final Word: The Brothers Wachowski maybe should get back to doing what they do best - creating thrills and spills for an older audience and leave the family-friendly stuff to Disney.
Genre: Drama.
Director:
Starring: James Gandolfini, Derek Luke, D.B. Sweeney and John Turturro.
Production Budget: $45 million
RT Consensus: Miracle at St. Anna is a well-intentioned but overlong, disjointed affair that hits few of the right notes.
BOX OFFICE NUMBERS
US Domestic: $7,919,117
Foreign: $1,363,754
Worldwide: $9,282,871
Movie Catcher's Final Word: Spike Lee had enjoyed the most successful (at the box-office) movie of his career with Inside Man (2007), which made $184,376,254 worldwide, but then suddenly sunk to new depths with the badly under-performing Miracle at St. Anna.
Genre: Family/Adventure.
Director: Gil Kenan (Monster House).
Starring: Bill Murray, Tim Robbins and Martin Landau.
Production Budget: $55 million.
RT Consensus: City of Ember is visually arresting, and boasts a superb cast, but is sadly lacking in both action and adventure.
BOX OFFICE NUMBERS
US Domestic: $7,823,153
Foreign: $5,421,561
Worldwide: $13,244,714
Movie Catcher's Final Word: Kenan probably needed to take a couple more steps before making the big jump from his debut, the animated kids movie Monster House (2006), to such a lavish production like City of Ember.
Genre: Family/Adventure.
Director:
Starring: Nicole Kidman, Hugh Jackman, David Wenham, Jack Thompson and Bryan Brown
Production Budget: $130 million
RT Consensus: Built on lavish vistas and impeccable production, Australia is unfortunately burdened with thinly drawn characters and a lack of originality.
BOX OFFICE NUMBERS
US Domestic: $44,351,000
Foreign: $19,274,401
Worldwide: $63,625,401
Movie Catcher's Final Word: Don't take offence Australians, it has more to do with Nicole Kidman, when it comes to keeping away the audience in their droves.
Of course, money isn't everything ...
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Comment by James Rickard
unlucky_ fishermen.com
Angling Fish
Check this out...
Comment by Tracy
Movies and Life
Comment by Lilla
From The Home Front
Enviro Warrior
Dream Herald
Esoteric Bookshop
Some interesting movies featured here and furthering one of my friends theories, that these big actors make flops for tax purposes, too ~ with carefully chosen directors and everything ~ all who need tax relief? An interesting theory because at face value it appears that there is no way good actors can be so good in one film and so bad in another and yet I know they probably can because of a number of contributing factors, including the fickleness of audiences themselves .. not to mention failing mental health as to what constitutes good humour (as in Eddie Murphy) .. no surprise there, huh?
I thought Costner made a success out of The Guardian and Cage a good go of NEXT? Both lower budget films which quietly pulled their weight?
A most intersting movie post to start the new year. Thanks for the Information, thoroughly enjoyed.
Hope your new year is filled with opportunity, abundance and blissful box office takings!
Lilla ...
Comment by Damo
I still want see some of them.
Comment by Movie Mall
Movie Catcher
The Invisible Sky
I have changed the banner - thanks for noticing mate. Batman is so 2008 hehe ... Night Owl (from Watchmen) is the future.
Anyway, with Stop Loss, it's one of those pics I haven't actually seen. To be honest, I try to steer clear of anything with Ryan Phillippe.
MM
Comment by Movie Mall
Movie Catcher
The Invisible Sky
Australia might make a little bit more yet before it finishes its run in cinemas - but I certainly won't be forking out anything to watch it.
I may have a look out of interest when it gets its secone run on TV in a few years time.
I just can't stand Nicole Kidman, and the whole movie appears so cliched, so done, but just with the 'Aussie Outback' as the backdrop.
I like Hugh but that line in particular 'Welcome to Austraya' I can't stand.
MM
Comment by Movie Mall
Movie Catcher
The Invisible Sky
Good to hear from you.
Your friend's theory is an interesting one that certainly has merit.
Then again, it is a risky move, alienating an audience, career never recovering.
It also only takes one bad decision to send a career spiralling forever downwards.
Thanks for reading
MM
Comment by Movie Mall
Movie Catcher
The Invisible Sky
Thanks for reading mate.
Yeah, I still want to check a few of them out too, namely to see what went wrong, especially with the Spike Lee piece and City of Ember.
MM
Comment by Jason King
Sydney Table
Salty Popcorn
Total Randomness
4 of the films are yet to be released in Australia so foreign figures are off by some. I think half the flops are the fault of marketing - why spend $200- million on marketing a film that will market itself when unheard of films like Swing Vote or Pride and Glory could take in more money if people actually were aware of them.
Cool article.
Comment by Cheryl J
Rhythmatism
Budget Centsability
Comment by Linh
Celluloid Fun
The ones I have seen were entertaining and enjoyable, not really the best they can be, but reasonable.
I liked Speed Racer, City of Ember and Australia.
I thought Meet Dave and The Love Guru were so disappointing. Eddie Murphy and Mike Myers were once the comedy kings of film - now their crowns are slipping, so are the standards of their films.
Cheers!
Comment by Michelle Sweeney
Competition Queen
I did manage to sit through Love Guru, Bangkok Dangerous and Swing Vote and didn't think much of any of those.
Comment by Wilson Pon
Health 2 Know
Adventure Toes
Techno Stuffs
boxing sound
Business Rope
Comment by Jason King
Sydney Table
Salty Popcorn
Total Randomness