2016 box office flops
The past year turned out to be more generous than ever with high-profile premieres. To the disappointment of the bosses of the leading Hollywood studios, many expensive tapes failed to cause much delight not only from picky critics, but also from ordinary viewers.It is generally accepted that in order to reach the level of self-sufficiency, a film must earn twice its budget in the worldwide distribution. In 2016, some blockbusters with a price tag of one hundred million dollars or more could not cope with this task. LostFilm.INFO brings you an overview of the biggest box office flops of 2016. " Ben Hur " The production budget is $ 100 million . Fees - $ 94 million .  Most film lovers were initially skeptical about the prospects for a Hollywood epic at the box office. The new adaptation of Lew Wallace's novel was doomed to be compared to the legendary film by William Wyler, which in 1960 won eleven gold statuettes at the 32nd Oscar awards. Nevertheless, the bosses of the Paramount Pictures and Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer studios decided that Timur Bekmambetov's film would be able to emerge from the shadow of its great predecessor. The launch of Ben Hur at the North American box office showed that the film companies clearly overestimated the potential of the project. The film began its journey only from the fifth line in the box office, giving way to the super villainous action movie "Suicide Squad", the comedy "Guys with Guns" and the animated films "Complete Ragged" and "Kubo. The Legend of the Samurai ". To the disappointment of moviegoers, attempts to revive the popularity of the Peplums have yet to be crowned with success: over the past few years, such high-budget films as Exodus: Kings and Gods and Hercules: The Beginning of the Legend have not been able to pay off in cinemas. " Gods of Egypt " The production budget is $ 140 million . Fees - $ 150 million .  The creators of “ Gods of Egypt ” had to make sure that the modern viewer is not too interested in films based on ancient myths and legends. The disastrous performance of Alex Proyas' tape at the box office put an end to the plans to create a new franchise. At the same time, the losses of the studio Lionsgate turned out to be far from being as great as it might seem at first glance. She managed to return almost half of the $ 140 million production budget thanks to the competent choice of filming location. The fact is that in gratitude for the creation of new jobs, the Australian government provides generous tax breaks to the Hollywood majors. A few more tens of millions of dollars Lionsgate earned from deals with distributors. Considering, that part of the production budget was recaptured even before the release of the action on the screens, the studio decided to invest in its advertising a modest $ 30 million for a project of this scale. Before the film company had time to publish the first posters, they were quick to accuse it that the heroes of the film did not even remotely resemble the Egyptians. As a result, a negative information background immediately formed around the blockbuster, which only exacerbated the hostility of critics reflected in the reviews. " Deep Sea Horizon " The production budget is $ 110 million . Fees - $ 118 million .  Unlike " Gods of Egypt ", " Deep Sea Horizon " earned high marks in the specialized press, but the support of the film journalism community did not help the film to escape from disaster at the box office. Initially, the production budget of the tape was estimated at $ 156 million , but then its creators decided to deduct from this amount the subsidy received from the Louisiana authorities. Even with a substantial tax break, the cost of creating the painting exceeded $ 100 million . “ Deep Sea Horizon ” was not positioned as an entertainment cinema attraction, which immediately deprived it of an impressive part of the audience. Peter Berg's film failed to capture the interest of young people, and many middle-aged people gave priority to another high-profile premiere last September - the biographical drama Miracle on the Hudson. " And the storm struck " The production budget is $ 80 million . Fees - $ 52 million .  Another unprofitable disaster film of 2016 was the adaptation of the novel "Selfless Watch ". The Disney company could not decide on the date of the premiere of the picture by Craig Gillespie. At first, the studio bosses wanted to release it on screens in April 2016, and then postponed the release to October 2015. In the end, they decided to send the action-packed tape to the rental in January 2016, and it was able to start only from the fourth place in the North American box office. As in the case of " Deep Sea Horizon ", the filmmakers simply could not find their audience. Young moviegoers preferred to go to the screenings of the cartoon "Kung Fu Panda 3", while the adults opted for the parody comedy "Fifty Shades of Black". " Big and kind giant " The production budget is $ 140 million . Fees - $ 178 million .  Few could have imagined that the collaboration between Steven Spielberg and the studio Disney could turn into such a grand fiasco. The adaptation of Roald Dahl's book earned a five-minute standing ovation at the Cannes Film Festival , but failed to resonate with the general public. The fate of the project of the ancestor of summer blockbusters was decided already in the starting weekend, when he lost the fight for leadership in the US box office to the tapes “Tarzan. Legend "and" Judgment Night 3 ". " Free Jones State " The production budget is $ 50 million . Fees - $ 25 million .  The historical drama " Free State of Jones " could not withstand the pressure of competitors. In order to start generating profit for STX Entertainment studios, the film had to hit $ 100 million in gross. Time has shown that the management of the film company in vain decided to release it in the midst of the summer blockbuster season. Gary Ross's picture was able to start only from the sixth position in the North American box office: in front were "Finding Dory", "Independence Day: Rebirth", "One and a half spy", "The Shallow" and "The Conjuring 2". " Snow White and the Huntsman 2 " The production budget is $ 115 million . Fees - $ 164 million .  If in 2015 the studio Universal received four representatives in the top ten highest-grossing films at once, then the past year brought her more disappointments than joy. The studio lost several tens of millions of dollars on the expensive fantasy film " Snow White and the Huntsman 2 ". In 2012, the first film in the franchise received mixed reviews from critics, but managed to gain a decent box office. Additional audience interest in the project was then provided by the affair of actress Kristen Stewart and director Rupert Sanders, which became known shortly after the film's premiere. The disastrous result of " Snow White and the Huntsman 2 " at the box office made it clear that the second part of the film series would also benefit from some loud scandal: in the opening weekend, the film by Cedric Nicolas-Troyan earned three times less, " Ghostbusters " The production budget is $ 144 million . Fees - $ 229 million .  The fact that the studio Sony is doing business in a rather peculiar way, it became known after the famous hacker attack on its servers. Since then, there have been a number of changes in the management of the Major, but Sony is unlikely to be able to restore its tarnished reputation if it spends hundreds of millions of dollars to create and market such controversial projects as “ Ghostbusters b>". The film by Paul Fig has gathered around itself many ill-wishers already at the moment when the studio announced that it would not be a sequel to the original dilogy, but its reboot. The first trailer for the blockbuster became the most hated movie in the history of YouTube , after which it became obvious to financial analysts that it would be extremely difficult for an expensive project to recoup its huge budget. " Alice Through the Looking Glass " The production budget is $ 170 million . Fees - $ 299 million .  The feeling that the audience was beginning to get tired of the wave of sequels left the performance at the box office of the tape by James Bobin. Last year, Disney studio set a number of box office records, but again failed to complete the calendar year without failing projects. The company "John Carter", "The Lone Ranger" and "Tomorrowland" in the list of its high-profile box office failures now include the films " And the storm burst ", " The big and kind giant " and " Alice Through the Looking Glass ". Although the latter stopped a step away from the mark of $ 300 million , this was not enough to reach the level of self-sufficiency. " Divergent Chapter 3: Behind the Wall " The production budget is $ 110 million . Fees - $ 179 million .  After the first film in the Divergent franchise earned $ 288 million with a budget of $ 85 million in 2014, Summit Entertainment and Lionsgate Films has decided to raise the price tag of the following parts to $ 110 million . If the sequel still managed to bring profit to companies, then by the time of the triquel the film series finally lost its attractiveness in the eyes of the audience. Last spring, Robert Schwentke's tape could not oppose anything at all in the struggle for leadership in the box office to the animated hit Zootopia, and now the franchise is at risk of ending its days on TV. The collapse of " Behind the Wall " looks even more horrifying when you consider the fact that Hollywood studios have spent at least $ 75 million on advertising the triquel. " Star Trek: Infinity " The production budget is $ 185 million . Fees - $ 343 million .  Another disappointment of the past year is the blockbuster " Star Trek: Infinity ", which in the year of the 50th anniversary of the popular franchise could not recoup its budget. It seemed that after its reboot, the film series was moving forward. In 2009, "Star Trek" earned $ 385 million , and in 2013 on the account of the tape "Star Trek: Retribution" was already $ 467 million . However, the triquel was a step backward for the franchise. Fantastic thriller Justin Lean, although it was warmly received by critics, failed to meet the expectations of its creators, who even before its release began to make plans for a quadriquel. It seems that now the studio Paramount Pictures will have to keep his budget in the area of $ 100-150 million . " Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 2 " The production budget is $ 135 million . Fees - $ 245 million .  In addition to " Star Trek ", the sequel to "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles" was below its capabilities last year. In 2014, the first part of the rebooted film series earned an impressive amount of $ 65.6 million over the opening weekend in the North American box office. The second part, although it debuted in the box office from the first place, was able to empty the pockets of viewers by only $ 35.3 million . Dave Green's action was helped by the Chinese audience, but he was not destined to pay off. Although the main cast of the franchise were signed to three films at once, producer Andrew Form announced in October that Paramount had no plans for a trick yet. In the price category "from $ 50 million to $ 100 million " in 2016, the films "Allies", "13 Hours: Secret Soldiers of Benghazi", "Kubo. The Legend of the Samurai ”,“ The Nice Guys ”and“ The Exemplary Male 2 ”. Tapes with smaller budgets have also suffered a series of crushing failures. The $ 30 million Hologram for the King finished with only $ 7.8 million in the box, making it the worst financially Tom Hanks film in 30 years. Brothers Weinstein had to make sure that in modern Hollywood no one is immune from mistakes. Bob and Harvey have always been famous for their ability to find real hits, but with the western "Jane Takes the Gun" they had a serious blunder. The film had a solid cast, but was able to earn at the box office only $ 3 million with a $ 25 million budget.  The fate of the film "Rules to the Side" was also sad. Oscar-winning Warren Beatty has been hatching the idea of creating a picture about Howard Hughes for forty years, but the audience did not appreciate his efforts at all: the world gross of the $ 25 million project was scanty $ 3.6 million . The technically revolutionary film Billy Lynn's Long Walk at Half-Time in a Football Match, which earned only $ 30 million with a budget of $ 40 million , also did not receive worthy support from moviegoers.  Despite positive press reviews, films such as Snowden, Midnight Special, The Reporter, Undercover Scam and Pop Star: Don't Stop, Don't Stop also fell short of their creators' financial expectations. But the opinion of critics and the general public coincided with respect to the action movie "Outlaw", the horror movie "Pride and Prejudice and Zombies", the comedies "Spies Next Door" and "The Brothers from Grimsby", the fantastic action "Max Steele" and the thriller with the self-explanatory name "Room of Disappointments. ". The Topic of Article: 2016 box office flops. |
