The Biggest Box Office Bombs of the Past Decade
What do “Avengers: Endgame” and the movies in this gallery have in common?
Absolutely nothing.
To date, “Endgame” holds the record for highest-grossing movie worldwide at $2.8 billion. This astronomical figure triumphs over the biggest box office bombs of the past decade, some of which lost over $100 million.
Read: 19 Movie Sequels That Made Much More Than the First Film
GOBankingRates analyzed hundreds of widely-released films — meaning at least 2,000 theaters showed the film in its lifetime — to determine the biggest movie losses of the past decade. Using data from Box Office Mojo, researchers then evaluated losses in terms of domestic gross and worldwide gross to the production budget. Films had to lose money both domestically and worldwide to be included. The total loss figure comes from subtracting the film’s worldwide gross from its budget.
Here are some of our findings:
Biggest total loss: “Mars Needs Moms” (2011) is the biggest box office failure on this list, with a net loss of $111,007,242.
Biggest domestic loss: However, according to our researchers, “47 Ronin” suffered the biggest domestic loss in comparison to its production budget, totaling more than $136 million. On the other hand, its total loss when taking into account foreign box office numbers was only around $23 million.
Biggest budgets: “King Arthur: Legend of the Sword” and “47 Ronin” are tied for the biggest-budget films on this list at $175 million.
Lowest budget: The lowest production budget on this list belongs to “Rules Don’t Apply” at $25 million. If you don’t know what that movie is, perhaps that’s why it couldn’t clear such a low bar.
Remake pitfalls: Several movies on this list attempted to reimagine or revitalize popular media of the past, including “Robin Hood,” “Conan the Barbarian” and “The Legend of Hercules.” A pitfall to avoid when you’re pitching your own script?
Most bombs in a studio: Universal Pictures has the dubious honor of distributing the most films on this list: six. The next lucky striker is Warner Brothers at five.
Check out more of the biggest bombs of the past decade.
Last updated: March 26, 2021
How Do You Know (2010)
Production budget: $120,000,000
Domestic gross: $30,212,620
Foreign gross: $18,456,287
Total loss: $71,331,093
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The Wolfman (2010)
Production budget: $150,000,000
Domestic gross: $61,979,680
Foreign gross: $77,810,085
Total loss: $10,210,235
Check Out: Critically Acclaimed Movies That Bombed at the Box Office
Green Zone (2010)
Production budget: $100,000,000
Domestic gross: $35,053,660
Foreign gross: $59,828,889
Total loss: $5,117,451
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Mars Needs Moms (2011)
Production budget: $150,000,000
Domestic gross: $21,392,758
Foreign gross: $17,600,000
Total loss: $111,007,242
Conan the Barbarian (2011)
Production budget: $90,000,000
Domestic gross: $21,295,021
Foreign gross: $27,500,000
Total loss: $41,204,979
Killer Elite (2011)
Production budget: $70,000,000
Domestic gross: $25,124,966
Foreign gross: $31,258,790
Total loss: $13,616,244
Rock of Ages (2012)
Production budget: $75,000,000
Domestic gross: $38,518,613
Foreign gross: $20,900,000
Total loss: $15,581,387
Dredd (2012)
Production budget: $50,000,000
Domestic gross: $13,414,714
Foreign gross: $22,211,811
Total loss: $14,373,475
That's My Boy (2012)
Production budget: $70,000,000
Domestic gross: $36,931,089
Foreign gross: $20,788,004
Total loss: $12,280,907
R.I.P.D. (2013)
Production budget: $130,000,000
Domestic gross: $33,618,855
Foreign gross: $44,705,365
Total loss: $51,675,780
47 Ronin (2013)
Production budget: $175,000,000
Domestic gross: $38,362,475
Foreign gross: $113,421,364
Total loss: $23,216,161
Paranoia (2013)
Production budget: $35,000,000
Domestic gross: $7,385,015
Foreign gross: $6,400,000
Total loss: $21,214,985
Legends of Oz: Dorothy's Return (2014)
Production budget: $70,000,000
Domestic gross: $8,462,027
Foreign gross: $10,200,000
Total loss: $51,337,973
Winter's Tale (2014)
Production budget: $60,000,000
Domestic gross: $12,600,231
Foreign gross: $18,525,000
Total loss: $28,874,769
The Legend of Hercules (2014)
Production budget: $70,000,000
Domestic gross: $18,848,538
Foreign gross: $42,430,914
Total loss: $8,720,548
Pan (2015)
Production budget: $150,000,000
Domestic gross: $35,088,320
Foreign gross: $93,300,000
Total loss: $21,611,680
Blackhat (2015)
Production budget: $70,000,000
Domestic gross: $8,005,980
Foreign gross: $11,646,077
Total loss: $50,347,943
In the Heart of the Sea (2015)
Production budget: $100,000,000
Domestic gross: $25,020,758
Foreign gross: $68,900,000
Total loss: $6,079,242
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Free State of Jones (2016)
Production budget: $50,000,000
Domestic gross: $20,810,036
Foreign gross: $4,225,914
Total loss: $24,964,050
Rules Don't Apply (2016)
Production budget: $25,000,000
Domestic gross: $3,652,206
Foreign gross: $233,136
Total loss: $21,114,658
Ben-Hur (2016)
Production budget: $100,000,000
Domestic gross: $26,410,477
Foreign gross: $67,650,834
Total loss: $5,938,689
The Promise (2017)
Production budget: $90,000,000
Domestic gross: $8,224,288
Foreign gross: $4,224,388
Total loss: $77,551,324
King Arthur: Legend of the Sword (2017)
Production budget: $175,000,000
Domestic gross: $39,175,066
Foreign gross: $109,500,000
Total loss: $26,324,934
Downsizing (2017)
Production budget: $68,000,000
Domestic gross: $24,449,754
Foreign gross: $30,554,136
Total loss: $12,996,110
Mortal Engines (2018)
Production budget: $100,000,000
Domestic gross: $15,951,040
Foreign gross: $67,706,100
Total loss: $16,342,860
Robin Hood (2018)
Production budget: $100,000,000
Domestic gross: $30,824,628
Foreign gross: $53,955,918
Total loss: $15,219,454
The Hurricane Heist (2018)
Production budget: $35,000,000
Domestic gross: $6,115,825
Foreign gross: $0
Total loss: $28,884,175
Missing Link (2019)
Production budget: $100,000,000
Domestic gross: $16,649,539
Foreign gross: $9,916,171
Total loss: $73,434,290
Playmobil: The Movie (2019)
Production budget: $75,000,000
Domestic gross: $1,115,008
Foreign gross: $15,234,295
Total loss: $58,650,697)
Cats (2019)
Production budget:$95,000,000
Domestic gross: $27,166,770
Foreign gross:$46,668,668
Total loss: $21,164,562
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Methodology: GOBankingRates determined the biggest box office bombs of the past decade by analyzing films released widely, meaning they have at least 2,000 theaters showing the film in its lifetime, and evaluating the film’s losses in terms of (1) domestic gross to production budget and (2) worldwide gross (domestic plus foreign) to production budget. These two factors were scored and then ranked; movies that lost money domestically, but managed a profit worldwide were excluded; films had to lose money both domestically and worldwide. Marketing budgets were not factored in due to their more limited availability. All box office and production budget data for years 2010 – 2018 was sourced from Box Office Mojo on Aug. 9, 2019 and for 2019 on March 15, 2021. Since the year 2021 is not over yet, no movies were included from this year and since 2020 was so greatly impacted by the COVID pandemic that year is excluded as well.
Last updated: Mar. 19, 2021
This article originally appeared on GOBankingRates.com: The Biggest Box Office Bombs of the Past Decade
