Biggest Film Flops Ever
Submitted by lukeprog on Thu, 09/02/2004 - 02:13
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- These are the biggest movie flops that I'm aware of:
- Pirates (1986) - on a budget of roughly $32 million, it made back less than 4% of that.
- Inchon (1981) - on a budget of $46 million (in 1981, mind you), it made back less than 5% of that.
- Cleopatra (1963) - The most expensive film ever made. Adjusting for inflation, it cost about $280 million to make ($44 million in 1963). Of course, it didn't make anywhere near that amount of money, and almost single-handedly bankrupted 20th Century Fox. The studio stopped product on EVERY film except for a musical. At one point, there were only EIGHT people in the employ of 20th Century Fox. Thankfully, the film being made was The Sound of Music, which turned out to be the highest grossing film of its time, and single-handedly saved Fox! And, through the rest of the 60s, Cleopatra did continue to make money and made back a significant portion of its cost.
- Treasure Planet (2002) - Not a bad movie at all, but it only made $40 million. That might not sound bad until you hear it's budget was $140 million, which means it's the only film to have lost $100 million!
- Town and Country (2000) - To date, 8% of its cost has been recouped.
- Cutthroat Island (1995) - About 9% of its budget recouped.
- Gigli (2003) - About 11% of its budget recouped.
- Intolerance (1916) - The most expensive film of its time and a huge flop.
- Heaven's Gate (1980) - A pretty big flop, money-wise, but more importantly, it single-handedly destroyed director Michael Cimino's career and sent United Artists into bankruptcy.
- Gone with the Wind (1939) - Also the most expensive movie of its time, it took several re-releases in the 40s and 50s and a long run on television to recoup its production costs.
- The Adventures Of Baron Munchausen (1988) - made back a tenth of its $80 million budget, despite being one of the better films of the year.
- Psychedelic Cop (2002) - A Chinese flick with a moderate budget. How is it one of the biggest flops ever? Fewer than 10 people saw the film during its theatrical run.
Author Comments:
Several other films, including Hudson's Hawk, Battlefield Earth, Showgirls, The Alamo, Shanghai Surprise, and others, made back only a quarter or so of their budgets. Ishtar, The Cotton Club (1984), and others made back about half of their budget.
If you're aware of others that should make the list, let me know!
I was always taught that Heaven's Gate (1980) and Ishtar (1987) were the iconic flops of all time. But I'd rather think of Howard the Duck (1986) , The Bonfire of the Vanities (1990) and Hudson Hawk (1991) as flops (how Bruce Willis ever pulled out of that nosedive I'll never know) and NOT my beloved The Adventures of Baron Munchausen .
Yes, this isn't a list of 'iconic' flops. Also, it's about financial flopping, so The Adventures of Baron Munchausen surely fits.
Howard the Duck made more than half its budget, and Bonfire of the Vanities about 1/3 (pretty bad, but not quite fitting the list).