Animals were harmed in these films
‘Life Of Pi’ (2012) was a visual triumph and won four Oscars for Best Director, Best Visual Effects, Best Cinematography, and Best Original Score. Unfortunately it couldn’t save Rhythm & Hues Studios from going under.
New Line Cinema probably thought they had a new ‘Harry Potter’ style franchise on their hands when they got the rights for the 2007 film ‘The Golden Compass.’ It was an adaptation of the first book in Philip Pullman’s popular ‘His Dark Materials’ trilogy.
‘Mars Needs Moms’ (2011) was an extremely ambitious performance-capture animation movie with a massive budget of US$150 million. It didn’t regain even a third of the budget.
The 2001 movie ‘Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within’ was a loving adaptation of the popular video game. It took a team of 200 people working painstakingly over four years to create, and earned a respectable US$85.1 million at the box office.
‘One from the Heart’ (1981) was an unexpected project from the director of ‘The Godfather,’ Francis Ford Coppola. It’s a dreamy musical rom-com set in Las Vegas, and fans of his previous work did not turn out.
The 1980 film ‘Raise the Titanic’ was an epic undertaking. The budget was US$40 million and most of that went towards recreating the historic vessel.
‘The Fall of the Roman Empire' (1964) was a historical epic that rivaled ‘Cleopatra.’ Samuel Bronston Productions spent a small fortune building a set that recreated the Roman Forum. It was the biggest outdoor set ever built at the time.
‘It's a Wonderful Life’ (1946) is one of the most beloved Christmas movies ever made, even seven decades after its release. It also earned five Oscar nominations in 1947. Despite this, it barely broke even when it was released in December 1946.
Unfortunately, it was not meant to be. The movie cost US$180 million and grossed US$372 million, which sounds pretty good, but New Line Cinema had signed away international rights in order to finance it. They only earned US$70 million and were financially ruined. They had to merge with Warner Bros. Pictures to survive.
‘Heaven's Gate’ (1980) was supposed to be the masterpiece of director Michael Cimino, but it became a joke in the film industry. Famed film critic Roger Ebert called it “the most scandalous cinematic waste I’ve ever seen.”
‘Superman IV: The Quest for Peace’ (1987) has been called the worst superhero movie of all time. The special effects are embarrassing, even for 1987, and the villain is called “Nuclear Man.”
The 2008 Nicolas Cage movie ‘Bangkok Dangerous’ managed to take the number one spot at the US box office, but it soon plummeted down the charts.
‘Space Jam’ (1996) was a huge success, absolutely nailing the mashup of beloved animated characters and live-action stars. Unfortunately, ‘Looney Tunes: Back in Action’ (2003) did not have the same success.
The movie, which starred Brendan Fraser and Jenna Elfman, had a budget of US$80 million and it only returned US$68.5 million at the box office. It was the last movie made by Warner Bros. Feature Animation before Warner Bros. had to axe the company.
Unfortunately it wasn’t enough to break even, as the budget had been pushed to a whopping US$137 million thanks to the photorealistic animation. Production company Square Pictures could not recover their losses and had to close their doors the same year.
Coppola spent much of his US$27 million budget on new visual techniques and a recreation of the Las Vegas airport. It only returned a dismal US$638,000 at the box office. The movie was produced by Coppola’s own company and it never recovered from the loss. It went bankrupt in 1992.
‘Battlefield Earth’ (2000) is a sci-fi disaster starring John Travolta which has been described as a “self-indulgent love letter to Scientology.” Travolta invested US$5 million of his own money into the US$73 million budget.
The movie had a huge budget of US$98 million, but it only earned US$10 million at the box office. Yikes. The production company Carolco Pictures filed for bankruptcy that year and ended up selling their assets to 20th Century Fox.
Unfortunately the public was not inspired by the Cold War saga and it only earned US$7 million at the box office. The studio ITC Entertainment was in crisis from the loss. They had to sell off the distribution arm of their company to avoid going completely bankrupt.
It only grossed US$47 million worldwide which didn’t even recover the budget. As a result, the movie’s co-production company Virtual Studios had to be shut down.
The story is about a suicidal man who is shown an alternate reality where he doesn’t exist. Perhaps patrons skipped it, not anticipating the heartwarming Christmas classic it turned out to be. Liberty Films was a relatively new production company and the box office failure crushed them. They were forced to accept an acquisition offer from Paramount Pictures.
The Sophia Loren blockbuster only regained a quarter of its US$19 million budget. Within three months, Samuel Bronston Productions had filed for bankruptcy.
Cannon Films told lead actor Christopher Reeves that they had a budget of US$37 million, but they actually had less than half of that at their disposal. Naturally the movie tanked, and the company was left in terrible debt and facing bankruptcy. They sold out to Pathé in 1988.
The company had laid off 254 employees and filed for bankruptcy after the film's production. Although ‘Life of Pi’ (2012) did extremely well at the box office, it was too late for the studio to reap the benefits.
Disney was a co-producer on the movie and it was the biggest loss they'd ever faced. It also tanked producer Robert Zemeckis’s digital production company, which had to be shut down after releasing only two movies. Probably not what he had planned...
It earned a Razzie award for being truly awful and it's one of those movies that makes you laugh in all the wrong places. The studio, Franchise Pictures, even ended up in court on charges of scamming the movie’s investors and ultimately went bankrupt.
This 1995 pirate adventure drama starring Geena Davis was torn to shreds by the critics. Production was a disaster with lead actor Michael Douglas pulling out, Geena Davis trying and failing to end her contract, and one of the producers quitting. It was destined to be a failure from the start.
‘Titan A.E.’ (2000) is a post-apocalyptic animated sci-fi tale voiced by A-listers Drew Barrymore and Matt Damon. It was also the last movie ever produced by the doomed Fox Animations. It only earned a quarter of its US$37 million budget back at the box office. Parent company 20th Century Fox decided to cut their losses and Fox Animation was no more.
Sources: (Mental Floss) (Screen Rant)
See also: The 30 most quotable movies of all time
Production company United Artists had multiple blockbuster hits in the works at the same time, such as ‘Raging Bull’ (1980) and ‘Apocalypse Now’ (1980), but ‘Heaven’s Gate’ (1980) still managed to sink them. They were forced to sell to MGM.
Filmmaking is an art that some have certainly mastered, but no matter how skilled a team you assemble, it's always going to be a gamble once you release it into the world. Sometimes a serious action blockbuster becomes a joke, or a major advancement in visual effects simply isn't appreciated by the audience. The tides can change at the drop of a hat and a sure thing turns out to be anything but. On the other hand, sometimes production companies are at fault for throwing millions of dollars at a turd...
Let's take a look at the movies that tanked so badly they took the studios down with them. Click through the gallery and prepare to cringe.
Movies that bankrupted their studios
The consequences of these box office failures were devastating
MOVIES Disasters
Filmmaking is an art that some have certainly mastered, but no matter how skilled a team you assemble, it's always going to be a gamble once you release it into the world. Sometimes a serious action blockbuster becomes a joke, or a major advancement in visual effects simply isn't appreciated by the audience. The tides can change at the drop of a hat and a sure thing turns out to be anything but. On the other hand, sometimes production companies are at fault for throwing millions of dollars at a turd...
Let's take a look at the movies that tanked so badly they took the studios down with them. Click through the gallery and prepare to cringe.