Tag Archives: summer

Biggest Summer Box Office Flops Ever

Since 2020 will have an (at best) abridged summer movie season, and blockbusters typically go hand-in-hand with this time of year, I thought it would be fun to do a list of the biggest bombs in the history of Hollywood’s biggest season. For this list, I will be exposing the biggest money losers released between May and August (the typically-accepted “summer movie season”), and ranking them by how big of a financial bath they took after inflation is taken into account (although the original losses will be noted). There are even some films that lost over a hundred million dollars that weren’t even bad enough to make this list, such as: “Ben-Hur” ($121 million in 2016; $128 million after inflation), “Windtalkers” ($81 million in 2002; $115 million), “Evan Almighty” ($88 million in 2007; $109 million), “Battlefield Earth” ($73 million in 2000; $109 million), and “Fantastic Four” ($100 million in 2015; $108 million).

As with most box office bombs, these films failed because they were over-budgeted and just poor quality, but if you happen to like anything you see here then don’t get offended; I liked “Solo: A Star Wars Story” and that thing sunk like a stone to the tune of $76 million in losses. Each figure listed is the finances from its year of release, with the (inflation figure) also given. Let’s get into it.

10. Stealth (July 2005)

Budget: $135 million ($177 million)

Gross: $79 million ($103 million)

Losses: $96 million ($126 million)

9. Dark Phoenix (June 2019)

Budget: $200 million

Gross: $252 million

Losses: $133 million (N/A)

8. Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within (July 2001)

Budget: $137 million ($198 million)

Gross: $85 million ($123 million)

Losses: $94 million ($136 million)

7. The Adventures of Pluto Nash (August 2002)

Budget: $100 million ($142 million)

Gross: $7 million ($10 million)

Losses: $96 million ($136 million)

6. Titan A.E. (June 2000)

Budget: $75 million ($111 million)

Gross: $36 million ($53 million)

Losses: $100 million ($148 million)

5. King Arthur: Legend of the Sword (May 2017)

Budget: $175 million ($183 million)

Gross: $148 million ($154 million)

Losses: $153 million ($160 million)

4. Tomorrowland (May 2015)

Budget: $190 million ($205 million)

Gross: $209 million ($226 million)

Losses: $150 million ($162 million)

3. Sinbad: Legend of the Seven Seas (July 2003)

Budget: $60 million ($83 million)

Gross: $87 million ($121 million)

Losses: $125 million ($174 million)

2. The 13th Warrior (August 1999)

Budget: $160 million ($246 million)

Gross: $61 million ($93 million)

Losses: $129 million ($198 million)

1. The Lone Ranger (July 2013)

Budget: $250 million ($275 million)

Gross: $260 million ($286 million)

Losses: $190 million ($209 million)

Thanks for giving this a glance! I don’t know about you, but I miss sitting around in the sun reading about the summer box office, much less actually going to the theater. Hopefully “Tenet” and “Mulan” are here soon. Stay safe out there!

*all box office figures provided by Box Office Mojo

Top 5 Worst Films of Summer 2015

With the good, comes that bad. Summer 2015 gave us some solid films, but it also gave us a lot (and I mean, *a lot*) of trash. So I try my best to narrow them down to five films here. Thank God I get to list out 10 films at the end of the year…

Dishonorable Mention: Mad Max: Fury Road

This isn’t a good movie, it’s just a well-made one. People seem unable to separate the two. I don’t get how when Michael Bay throws explosions on the screen in sacrifice of plot or character development he is crucified, but when George Miller does it he is praised as a genius.

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5.) Entourage

On top of being the biggest disappointment of 2015 so far, this was also just a miss on all cylinders. I love “Entourage” the show, I love Los Angeles and I love to laugh, and this film really doesn’t pay much honor to any of these things. It is an unfunny, skin-deep movie that was only not a total bomb because of the familiar faces in the best city on earth. That’s it.

Variety

Variety

4.) Tomorrowland

Quick: what is this movie about? That’s OK, I’ll wait. Give up? Cool, because I have no idea, either. Something about George Clooney and his love affair with a 10-year-old robot (it is slightly less creepy within the context of the film), and I think there was something else about the end of the world and Dr. House was there. I really hated this movie. I walked out not liking it, but in the three months that have passed, I’ve grown to loathe it. Just not as much as these remaining three films.

TOMORROWLAND

3.) Terminator Genisys

Just like “Tomorrowland,” I didn’t mind this film while watching (I realized it wasn’t good, but in-the-moment I was tricked to thinking it wasn’t awful). But the ending draws on for 15 minutes, and it has some of the worst CGI I have ever seen in a film in the 21st century. It just isn’t good, and hopefully this franchise is…terminated. [clears throat] OK, what’s next?

Variety

Variety

2.) Pixels

Like most people, I was tricked by the trailer for “Pixels” into thinking this wouldn’t be a normal Adam Sandler comedy; but much to my dismay, this is just a normal Adam Sandler comedy, it just happens to have video games in it. It is bottom-of-the-barrell, lowest effort humor, and its best attribute is Josh Gad, which is never a good sign.

Variety

Variety

1.) Fantastic Four

HAHAHAHAHAHA oh my God, this thing is awful. Like I’ve forgetten like 95% of it but holy heck is this bad. Nothing happens until a rushed and horribly standard final fight sequence, and it wastes a fantastic young cast. All the behind the scenes drama is much, MUCH more interesting than the actual film, so go give those stories a read. It’s films like this that make it hard for people like me to trust the month of August…

Variety

Variety

Top 5 Films of Summer 2015

The temperature is starting to cool down, the leaves are turning brown and the children are back at school, which means one thing: we’re entering awards season. So that also means that summer movie season, my favorite time of the year at the theaters, is again over. There was some good, some bad, but a lot of meh. So here are the five best films from Summer 2015 (May-August), with the five worst stinkers in a subsequent post!

Honorable Mention/Surprised It Didn’t Suck: The Gift

I saw the trailer, the cast, and the August release date and I honestly thought this thing was destined for disaster. But to my pleasant surprise, Jason Bateman turns in a fantastic performance, and even if the film doesn’t pull as many twists as it wants, it was still a wonderfully uncomfortable viewing experience that I would gladly take again.

the-gift_new

5.) Avengers: Age of Ultron

Some people didn’t like this movie, which I have to believe was their own fault for overhyping it. “Ultron” is fun and exciting, with yet another fantastically charismatic performance from Robert Downey Jr., as well as an interesting villain portrayed by James Spader. It may have been a little bit similar to the first “Avengers” film, but this one kicked off the summer movie season with a bang.

Variety

Variety

4.) Trainwreck

It’s a funny movie with charming performances from Amy Schumer and Bill Hader, with a surprising amount of dramatic heft. It is definitely Judd Apatow’s most mature film to date, and it is arguably his most hilarious.

Variety

Variety

3.) Spy

One of the first comedies of the year remains its funniest. Melissa McCarthy continues her streak of only being funny when in Paul Feig-directed films, but what really makes this movie so great is the surprise comedy work from Jason Statham. I really hope he does more action-comedies, because that dude is surprisingly hilarious.

Variety

Variety

2.) Straight Outta Compton

It isn’t too often (or ever?) that one of the year’s best films comes out in the month of August, but that is the case here (the month also has one of the year’s worst films, but that’s for another article). The first half of “Compton” is so energetic and has such a powerful and engaging vibe to it, not to mention fantastically underrated cinematography by Matthew Libatique, that even when the film starts to slow down near the end, you’re on such a high you don’t care.

Variety

Variety

1.) Jurassic World

Some people hated this movie. And to that I say, everyone is entitled to their opinion, even when it’s wrong. I saw this movie twice in the same week, and it blew me away both times. Chris Pratt is Hollywood’s next big star, and the film is the definition of a summer popcorn flick (even if it is so much more than that). If somehow you are one of the seven people who still hasn’t seen this movie (it currently sits 3rd all-time at the box office), you are doing yourself an immense injustice. See “Jurassic World” now; it’ll make you feel like a kid again.

Variety

Variety

Best Movies of Summer 2014

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Now that it is September and football is back, it means the summer movie season is over. This summer was a relatively weak one, at the box office as well as just quality of film, but there were a few gems. Here are my top five films from the hot days of 20-14.

Let's_Be_Cops_poster5)      Let’s Be Cops

Jake Johnson and Damon Wayans, Jr. are funny. This film is funny. [sigh] Whatever…

 

 

 

GOTG-poster4)      Guardians of the Galaxy

A nice late-summer surprise, this film follows every other Marvel film before it and kicked major butt (you know, except Thor 2). It was funny and exciting, but more importantly, it was almost relatable; the heroes swear and get drunk. Best line of the film by far: “If I had a blacklight… this place would look like a Jackson Pollock painting.”

 

22_Jump_Street_Poster3)      22 Jump Street

A very funny film with some powerful messages about loyalty, brotherhood and underage alcohol consumption. I am one of the few who can say they watched 21 Jump Street while in high school and the sequel while attending college, and let’s just say this: they look at lot more fun in the movies.

 

Boyhood_film2)      Boyhood

A pretty cliché choice, seeing as it has a 99% on Rotten Tomatoes and 100 Metacritic, but this thing is great. A full-blown nostalgic bomb, it had me reliving my childhood. From things such as the Oregon Trail computer game to NSYNC to waiting in line for a Harry Potter midnight release, this film, shot with the same cast over 12 years, is unique and amazing in its scope. A must see for anyone between the ages of 17 and 25. Or if you have a soul.

X-Men_Days_of_Future_Past_poster1)      X-Men: Days of Future Past

One of the first films of summer was also the best. I was shocked by how much I loved this film. It was smart, entertaining and above all else not The Last Stand. It proved that the X-Men are back, and also confirmed that Jennifer Lawrence is one hot—err, talented actress (as if it needed to be).