Making a movie, especially in today's day and age, requires a lot of money, and, quite often, that money isn't wisely spent. Fortunately, the film industry can always rely on the box office to rake in the dough.
Well, maybe not always. Investing a ton in a picture doesn't automatically guarantee that it'll make its money back, and these 10 summer box office bummers totally failed to draw in theatergoers.
Speed Racer
Typically, big-name directors can usually draw in audiences and create worthwhile films that the audiences will enjoy. When Speed Racer was announced to be directed by the Wachowski siblings, the same directors responsible for The Matrix, people were excited.
When Speed Racer was released, however, the excitement died. While the film only lost 26 million dollars, it was still considered to be a box office failure, with the promise of two great directors and one fantastic vision not living up to the hype.
Battlefield Earth
One of the simplest and most enjoyable forms of summer blockbusters for a popcorn loving audience to enjoy, action-oriented sci-fi movies rarely disappoint. By all accounts, most, if not all, of these films should be successful. For a film like Battlefield Earth, however, that wasn't the case.
Unable to draw in an audience, the movie failed to make a return on its budget of 73 million. While it did manage to make back 43 million, Battlefield Earth is still considered to be a box office failure.
X-Men: Dark Phoenix
In this day and age, superhero films are considered to be the kings of the box office. The success can be traced back to many franchises, one of the most prominent being the X-men. Since it's origin in 2000, the X-men films have done well at the box office... until 2019, when Dark Phoenix was released.
Full of plot issues and poor acting, Dark Phoenix became the lowest-grossing film of the entire franchise. Instead of being the epic send off the series deserved, it was a true box office failure.
Waterworld
Post-apocalyptic films are some of the best movies to draw people into the theatres. In 1995, Universal Studios attempted to make their own end of the world film with Waterworld, at the time considered to be the most expensive film ever made.
Unfortunately, Waterworld failed to make back it's 200 million dollar budget, falling way short of that mark. While the movie was able to salvage some profits on the home video market, the movie was still considered to be a failure.
Green Lantern
There's something about Ryan Reynolds and superhero films that didn't seem to work for the longest time. When it was announced he would be starring in a Green Lantern movie, fans hoped that it would be another hit like the Dark Knight.
Instead, it was a mess that even Reynolds himself despises. From CGIng the suit to a by the numbers plot, the film suffered heavy losses, losing 75 million dollars. At the very least, Reynolds got over the failure and went on to make the incredibly enjoyable Deadpool.
The Mummy
Since the creation of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, there have been numerous attempts to create a similar universe. Universal, who many consider being the founders of the concept, tried their hand with a remake of The Mummy, meant to be the start of their own Dark Universe.
Unfortunately, Universal was so concerned with creating a cinematic universe, they forgot to create a film with a good story, likable characters, and a menacing monster. As such, the film lost 95 million dollars, and the Dark Universe ceased to exist.
Titan A.E.
One of the few films that actually destroyed its own company in the fallout, Titan A.E is a film probably very few people know or even remember. Intended to be an animated sci-fi adventure, the film was released in 2000 to devastating results.
Not only did the movie lose 100 million dollars, but it also brought about the end of Fox Animation Studios, who had only made Titan A.E and Anastasia. With the studio shuttered, Titan A.E left its mark in the worst way possible.
The Adventures Of Pluto Nash
Comedian Eddie Murphey has had many great roles and films over the years, from Trading Places and Coming To America to Shrek and Mulan. Unfortunately, Murphy hit a couple of rough patches along the way, including the summer disaster The Adventures Of Pluto Nash.
Intended to be a sci-fi comedy, Pluto Nash crashed and burned for multiple different reasons. It became one of the largest box office failures of all time, losing the studios 145 million dollars. Talk about a bad joke.
King Arthur: Legend Of The Sword
For the longest time, many studios have tried to create a fantasy series on par with Lord Of The Rings and Harry Potter. In 2017, Warner Brothers thought they'd cracked the code with King Arthur: Legend Of The Sword, so much so that they planned it as a six-film franchise.
When the film released and lost WB 150 million dollars, the six-film franchise became a pipe dream. This devastating upset totaled King Arthurs's future before it even began.
The Lone Ranger
Many studios have the strangest habit of believing that every old TV show or movie deserves a gritty reboot. Probably the most notorious for this is Disney, who, in 2013, remade The Lone Ranger into an action-adventure film.
Like most of the remakes, the movie was a failure thanks to the overdone plot to the terrible acting, although it was nominated for two Oscars. In fact, many consider it to be one of the biggest box office bombs of all time, losing Disney 190 million dollars.