Colin Farrell is having a terrific 2022, first with his role as the Penguin in The Batman and then in Ron Howard's Tham Luang cave rescue movie, Thirteen Lives. In the film, Farrell portrays British cave diver John Volanthen who, alongside fellow divers Richard Stanton (Viggo Mortensen) and Richard Harris (Joel Edgerton), fight to save the lives of a soccer team.
Since that movie is streaming on Amazon Prime, it's not grabbing dollars at the box office. The Batman did, but that isn't necessarily to say that The Dark Knight reboot is Farrell's number one financial success.
Alexander (2004) — $167 Million
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Oliver Stone's Alexander may be one of Farrell's top-grossing films, but it was far from a success. The film hit screens essentially incomplete, as there's a vast difference between the theatrical version and the director's cut. The former, while still very long, doesn't even have a cohesive structure, making its box office failure (given the sizable budget) fairly predictable.
Alexander carried a price tag of $155 million, meaning it would have needed to clear about $500 million worldwide to make a profit. Instead, Box Office Mojo puts the domestic tally at just over $34 million, which is disastrous. The film's overseas gross didn't help much, as Alexander was only able to clear $167 million worldwide.
Daredevil (2003) — $183 Million
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Daredevil was right when Farrell (and, in a way, superhero movies) was bursting onto the scene. Tigerland had been a big debut showcase and put his name on the major studios' lists, and it was only one of several Farrell-led films from 2003.
It was just about his biggest hit from the year, but unfortunately, poor word of mouth sank the Man Without Fear fairly quickly. With that being said, while the movie as a whole is fairly weak, Farrell is a blast as ace hitman Bullseye. Box Office Mojo puts the budget at $78 million, which it doubled and then some to the tune of $179 million -- respectable, but not enough to make Daredevil Marvel's newest big franchise.
S.W.A.T. (2003) — $208 Million
Stream On AMC
S.W.A.T. gave two now-prominent actors showy roles fairly early on in their careers: Farrell and Jeremy Renner. They are two members of a team charged with escorting a major kingpin to prison. However, when the prisoner offers up $100 million to anyone who will break him free, the men reveal their true colors. The duality lets the two have some fun with the roles, and their final fight is particularly memorable.
The film was one of several big movies that closed out 2003's summer movie season. Its opening weekend even out-grossed the debuts of fellow August releases American Wedding, Freaky Friday, and Freddy vs. Jason. Even still, it was only a modest success. According to Box Office Mojo, S.W.A.T. hit screens with an $80 million budget. By the time it had run its course worldwide, the film had pulled in $207.7 million. While certainly a respectable figure, it wasn't enough to get the film a theatrical sequel.
Total Recall (2012) — $212 Million
Stream On Netflix
Like Paul Verhoeven's Schwarzenegger classic from 1990, Total Recall (2012) is a relatively loose adaptation of Philip K. Dick's "We Can Remember It For You Wholesale." The remake doesn't stray from the original film very much, essentially serving as a take with updated special effects and less graphic content. Unfortunately, even with Farrell playing a futuristic spy on the run, there's very little in the 2012 film that stands out.
Perhaps the original film wasn't as popular as Sony thought or perhaps there were too many similar films on the market, but unlike Total Recall (1990), the remake was a box office bomb. The remake earned less than half of the original film domestically (via Box Office Mojo), despite 12 years' worth of inflation.
Horrible Bosses (2011) — $212 Million
Stream On HBO Max
A fair argument could be made that Farrell's Bobby Pellitt (boss of Jason Sudeikis' Kurt Buckman) is the highlight of Horrible Bosses. At the very least, it was an unconventional role for the actor, and he ran away with the all-too-brief period of time in which he's on-screen. Impressive, considering the movie also features Sudeikis, Jennifer Aniston, Jamie Foxx, Jason Bateman, and Charlie Day (when he wasn't filming episodes of the well-written It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia).
Box Office Mojo reports that Horrible Bosses did very well for itself (a fate not faced by its arguably superior successor). On a budget of just $35 million, Horrible Bosses cleared over $200 million worldwide, over $100 million of which came from the U.S. and Canada alone.
Epic (2013) — $268 Million
Stream On HBO
Epic was one of Blue Sky Studios' bigger gambles; Of the production house's 13 animated films, five were Ice Age (including their first), one had the Peanuts brand name, while another had Dr. Seuss' name in the title. Epic, however, was based on a beautifully personal, yet comparatively little-known, children's book titled The Leaf Men and the Brave Good Bugs. Even with a phenomenal cast (including Farrell as a goodhearted warrior who attempts to impart lessons upon deaf ears).
Box Office Mojo puts the film's budget at $100 million, and while its worldwide total of $268 million isn't in the same league as later Ice Age installments, it was a modest hit in its own right.
Dumbo (2019) — $353 Million
Stream On Disney+
Tim Burton's live-action take on Dumbo was quite different from the classically-animated version. Most notably, there are no talking animals; Instead, the buddy role once held by Timothy Q. Mouse is now inhabited by Farrell's Holt Farrier, a former circus performer turned veteran, father, and elephant caretaker.
Even with an incredible cast including Farrell, Michael Keaton, Eva Green, and Danny DeVito, Dumbo only pulled in just under $115 million domestically (per Box Office Mojo). It did generate nearly $240 million internationally, but Burton's live-action remake also held a massive $170 million budget.
Minority Report (2002) — $359 Million
Stream On Showtime
Steven Spielberg's Minority Report is largely focused on Tom Cruise's pre-crime commanding officer Chief John Anderton. But Farrell gets a major early part to play as Danny Witwer, a DoJ agent tasked with bringing the falsely-incriminated Anderton down.
Minority Report was one of Spielberg's biggest hits of the aughts. With a budget of just $102 million (impressive considering how much is on the screen), the film pulled in nearly $358 million worldwide (via Box Office Mojo).
The Batman (2022) — $771 Million
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After Tim Burton's two Batman movies, Joel Schumacher's two, Christopher Nolan's three, and two team-up adventures in the DCEU, The Batman very easily could have felt like too much. Instead, it was an event, primarily because trailers announced the film up front as a mixture of familiar (dark tone) and new (young Batman).
It also revealed Penguin being pursued by the Bat, and it's a showstopping moment made all the more enticing when it dawns on the audience member that it's actually Farrell under all the Oscar-worthy makeup. The Numbers puts the film's budget at $200 million, pretty standard for a big name like The Batman, but it nearly quadrupled that figure to the tune of just under $768 million worldwide.
Fantastic Beasts And Where To Find Them (2016) — $814 Million
Stream On HBO Max
There was a fair amount of anticipation going into Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them. Time and two sequels have done some major damage to that enthusiasm, but the first film is still a minor treat, a big part of which comes from Farrell's obvious joy in the antagonistic role of Lord Percival Graves.
Of course, Graves ends up actually being Gellert Grindelwald, a character whose casting would go on to cause the franchise some issues. Ironic, considering it was done perfectly the first time. Box Office Mojo puts the film's budget at a respectable $180 million, but fortunately for Wizarding World fans, it earned over $800 million worldwide. Unfortunately for fans, though, the two released sequels didn't match the original, either in terms of quality or financial performance.