2018 was a great year for science-fiction films. We were blessed with Annihilation, Avengers: Infinity War, Venom, and A Quiet Place. Truly, the list is kind of great. So, what happened to 2019? We aren’t saying there was a bunch of bad sci-fi films but we know of at least 10 and they are on this list.
Sci-fi is a hard genre to master and no matter what, fans will see the holes, so maybe that’s why the ones on this list didn’t do as well as everyone thought they would. Granted some of them should have never been made in the first place but these ones were created regardless, and according to Box-Office Mojo, they bombed.
Serenity
Serenity is a film starring Matthew McConaughey, Anne Hathaway, and Djimon Hounsou. It is a mystery covered in drama, thrill, and a tiny bit of sci-fi. Nonetheless, it made the list because no matter the cast, this film still bombed. The budget for the film was reportedly $25 million. Unfortunately, the film did not meet expectations. It made a whopping 14 million at the box office which is a lot of money. However, for a $25 million budget that is not acceptable. Even the talks of a shocking twist at the end was not enough to get the butts in the seats
Daniel Isn’t Real
Starring Arnold Schwarzenegger and directed by Patrick Schwarzenegger the film that made just over $10,000 was about a man who deals with a traumatizing event and re-imagines his imaginary friend who causes a bit of chaos. The problem here is this sounds an awful lot like Drop Dead Fred.
We assume the movie was an independent one and that is not easy to make but we also assume it only made that amount because of the indie category it was in. It’s actually a little surprising that he didn’t get a bigger backing with the famous family he is from then again, that could have been strategic.
IO
Margaret Qualley stars in this Netflix film with Anthony Mackie. She is trying to find a way to save earth after all the horrible things that humanity has done to ruin it. Mackie’s character is racing to catch the last shuttle off of earth so he can start somewhere new. Netflix hasn’t talked much about the budget but we know it was on the smaller side. However, the reviews say it all. It didn’t go viral like some of the other Netflix films. It has been called second-rate, melodramatic, and CGI-heavy. But, what good film isn’t?
Replicas
Alice Eve, Keanu Reeves, Thomas Middleditch, the cast sounds okay. To be honest, the film hasn’t done that badly but it was projected to do way better than it actually did. Even the plot sounds interesting. A scientist loses his family in an accident and he spends his time trying out different ways to bring them back. The budget was $30 million and this film only took home $9 million. Let’s not forget to mention that it only opened in 18 markets for a film with a budget this big, that is probably one of the factors in why the film just didn’t do that well.
Captive State
Not many people have even heard of this film and this could be the reason why it flopped. The film starring Vera Farmiga and John Goodman was about a world occupied by extraterrestrials for the last 10 years and now they must decide if they want to rise up or sit down.
The budget for the film was $25 million but when we say this film bombed, it bombed. It made $5,958,315 opening weekend domestically, Internationally, it made $2,814,497 and worldwide, it made $8,772,812. This is rough, very rough. But what can you expect from a film that cast Machine Gun Kelly?
Hellboy
Fans of the Hellboy franchise seemed excited to have David Harbour play Hell Boy in the reboot. The creator of the comic Mike Mignola decided to reboot the franchise instead of making a third film thus keeping Ron Pearlman (who people loved as Hellboy). This was fine; change isn’t bad but maybe this change just wasn’t what fans were looking for and it showed at the box office. The film’s budget was $50,000,000, opening weekend it made $12,045,147, and eventually, worldwide, it made $44,664,690 just shy of the film’s budget. This is a little pitiful.
Gemini Man
Will Smith has been in a lot of box office bombs lately and this is clearly problematic. No one wants to be known as the person who makes consistently horrible films. Gemini Man is a film about a hitman who has to face-off with a younger version of himself. The budget was $138,000,000 but unfortunately, the film only made $20,552,372 opening weekend.
Internationally, the film made $124,627,582 but worldwide, the film only made $173,174,352. Yes, this is over the budget but not much over and therefore, there is no way this film could recuperate the cost.
Terminator: Dark Fate
The Terminator films have always been a thumbs up or thumbs way down at the box office. So, what was different this time around? Well, James Cameron was hands-on involved in this latest installment. In addition, Linda Hamilton and Arnold Schwarzenegger were a part of the cast. The budget for the film was $185,000,000 opening weekend, the film took home $29,033,832. Worldwide, the film took home $260,503,460 this is over the film budget but when you take into account the promotion for the film, the pay for the actions and all that behind the scenes stuff, the film technically didn’t do well. We can only assume that this is because fans are tired of seeing this story especially seeing as ones in the past have not been the greatest. The reviews were mostly good but the excitement just wasn’t there.
Dark Phoenix
Superhero films are usually well-received especially the Marvel ones. This phase of the X-Men films has been a hit or miss but for the most part, they do pretty well. That’s why it was a bit shocking that Dark Phoenix did that poorly. It made $65,845,974 domestically, $186,597,000 internationally and worldwide, $252,442,974. So this sounds great right and truthfully it did okay at the box office but this film is the lowest money maker for the X-Men franchise. It has been 19 years since the first X-Men film and this is not the way they should be going out. The film took $200 million to make and when you look at the facts it truly only made just over $52 million in profit.
Men In Black: International
Men In Black: International was absolutely a huge bomb for the sci-fi genre. The film was hyped up with a lot of elaborate advertising schemes. At the end of the day, the public wasn’t interested in seeing a Men In Black film without Will Smith and Tommy Lee Jones. However, with a budget of $110,000,000 one would assume that this movie would have some extraordinary scenes and exciting action. The film only brought in $30,035,838 domestically opening weekend. Overall, the film made $253.9 million worldwide. This is a huge failure considering that the film was made for so much money and they barely recouped the cost.