They are the mega-bucks blockbusters that bombed at the office!
The Daily Star revealed on Tuesday that director Sir Ridley Scott has blamed millennials for historical epic The Last Duel flopping in cinemas.
The £75million flick, which stars Matt Damon, Adam Driver and Jodie Comer, suffered from a smartphone generation that “doesn’t ever want to be taught anything”, according to the 83-year-old.
But it’s far from being the only big-budget picture which failed to live up to its hype.
From The Adventures of Pluto Nash to musical Cats, Daily Star has taken a look back at the flicks which didn’t hit the spot with viewers.
Gigli
The 2003 mobster comedy starring real-life couple Ben Affleck and Jennifer Lopez was so bad that it was pulled from cinemas. It cost £56million but made just £5m.
The American comedy written and directed by Martin Brest faced universal negativity and has since been considered as one of the worst films of all time.
Gigli is the last film that Martin has directed after it was one of the most expensive box office bombs in history.
Later the movie won a Golden Raspberry Award in 2005 for the Worst Comedy.
King Arthur: Legends of the Sword
Guy Ritchie’s £130m historical turkey lost around £20m, despite a cameo by David Beckham. A planned six-film franchise was cancelled.
The 2017 fantasy action adventure film starring Charlie Hunnam and Jude Law underperformed so much at the box office that it lost Warner Bros and Village Roadshow Pictures over $150 million.
The release of Kind Arthur: Legends of the Swords was moved three times due to competing with other films such as Maze Runner: The Death Cure and Lights Out.
Cats
Despite a star-studded cast including Taylor Swift, Judi Dench, Idris Elba, and James Corden.
The film, based on the hit musical, was dubbed one of the worst ever made. Even original creator Andrew Lloyd Webber called it “ridiculous”. It cost £75m but raked in just £55m.
The 2019 film was directed by Tom Hooper which was his second musical following Les Misérables but lost Universal Pictures approximately $114 million.
The Lone Ranger
Casting Johnny Depp as a native American in the 2013 western provoked backlash.
With costs of an estimated £300m, it’s reckoned to have made losses in excess of a massive £100m.
Armie Hammer starred as the Lone Ranger and Depp as Tonto the film explores the duo’s efforts to bring the corrupt to justice however, it performed extremely poorly at the box office.
Battlefield Earth
The futuristic movie starring John Travolta was named the worst film of the decade in 2010 and a producer has since said it should never have been made.
The American sci-fi action film brought in less than half of its £55m budget making it one of the most expensive box office bombs in film history.
Warner Bros attempted to cut its losses and cancel the number of screens in which the film was shown.
Sahara
The 2005 treasure-hunting adventure starring Penelope Cruz had a budget of £150m but lost £63m after production costs spiralled, with a multi-million-pound plane crash that didn’t even make it into the final cut of the film.
The film was intended to be the first in a franchise according to leading actor Matthew McConaughey but due to its poor box-office performance the idea was cancelled.
The 13th Warrior
This 1999 Viking saga featuring Antonio Banderas cost a tidy £160m to bring to the big screen but made only £45m.
The film was originally called Eaters of the Dead but went through several re-edits causing the release date to be pushed back and a new ending being recorded due to test audience not reacting well to the initial film.
Co-star Omar Sharif was so disappointed he even temporarily retired from acting.
The Adventures of Pluto Nash
This 2002 sci-fi comedy starred comedian Eddie Murphy as a smuggler running a nightclub on the moon and cost £75m to make.
The film was panned by the critics and made just £5m back after being ranked the 79th worth film in the 100 worst 2000s decade movies list.
The film was nominated for five Golden Raspberry Awards in 2003 for Worst Picture, Worst Actor, Worst Director, Worst Screenplay, and Worst Screen Couple but failed to win any.
47 Ronin
Costing an estimated £160m, the 2013 samurai fantasy adventure starred Keanu Reeves but only notched up £100m in cinemas globally.
The film had to move its release date twice due to the 3D visual effects still needing work and more re-shoots and post-production needs.
Despite its losses of recovering its production budget in the box office, a sequel is in the pipeline.
Mars Needs Moms
An animated 3D sci-fi flick from 2011, which sees a boy trying to rescue his mum from aliens, got mixed reviews despite costing £112m thanks to motion capture technology.
For a Disney branded film it was their worst financial loss scooping just £29m and The New York Times put the failure down to unoriginal premise, the style of animation
In 2014, the Los Angeles Times listed Mars Needs Moms as the most expensive box-office disaster of all time.
Cutthroat Island
This swashbuckler from 1995 starring Geena Davis was plagued by production problems and expensive sets.
Branded the biggest box office bomb by the Guinness Book of Records, its adjusted losses were an eye-watering £110m.
Michael Douglas originally agreed to play the male lead but eventually pulled out due to other roles having more air time.
Due to his departure, director Renny Harlin was preoccupied trying to find a new lead causing set construction and script work to be done without him.
Harlin did not like what had been created which lead to expensive rebuilds and rewriting.
Monster Trucks
The 2016 film about a teenager who finds a monster living in his truck, crashed and burned at the box office.
The movie was made for £93m however, ticket sales only reached around £47m making it a film failure.
The American monster action-comedy which stars Lucas Till, Jane Levy, and Amy Ryan had its release date moved several times.
John Carter
The 2012 fantasy adventure set on Mars was one of the most expensive movies ever made at over £260m but was dubbed a ‘big budget fiasco’ after making only around £200m.
The movie saw the head of Walt Disney Studios, Rich Ross resign due to the failure.
In the UK, the film gained only 1 star out of 5 in The Guardian after it was described as a “giant, suffocating doughy feast of boredom.”
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Source: Celebrities - dailystar.co.uk
