Top 10 Biggest Action Movie Box Office Fails of All Time
Top 10 Action Movies That Bombed at the Box Office
Top 22 Biggest Box Office Fails of Each Year (2000 - 2021)
These action flicks failed to get audiences’ blood (or wallets) pumping. Welcome to WatchMojo.com and today we’ll be counting down our picks for the Top 10 Action Movies That Bombed at the Box Office. For this list, we’ll be looking at action-oriented films that were massive financial duds. We’ve ranked them based on how much they lost, as well as how much hype they had prior to release.
#10: “Gemini Man” (2019)
Even though it managed to make it out of development hell, this film seems to be doomed.“Gemini Man” tells the story of Henry Brogan, a former Marine turned assassin who is on the run from a clone of himself. Despite the impressive use of de-aging technology and solid performances, the sci-fi thriller was labelled as a generic action movie with a subpar script. At the box office, “Gemini Man” immediately tanked, bringing in only $173 of the expected $275 million, resulting in losses upwards of $75 million for the studios involved, and will live on as one of Will Smith’s biggest bombs ever .
#9: “Speed Racer” (2008)
Top 10 Characters With Super Speed
Based on the classic anime from the 1960s, “Speed Racer” is a bright, colorful racing film about the titular protagonist and his struggles against his fellow racers and corporate greed. The movie was not well-received at the time of its release, but has since developed a cult following. Nevertheless, “Speed Racer” only grossed a little over $90 million on a budget of $120 million, making it a bomb upon release. Given that it was up against “Iron Man,” the film that kicked started the enormously successful MCU, it’s a wonder that it even made as much as it did.
#8: “John Carter” (2012)
Top 5 John Wick Killstreaks
A Disney sci-fi action film adapted from a series of pulp adventure novels by Edgar Rice Burroughs, “John Carter” is about the eponymous Civil War veteran who finds himself on Mars and becomes embroiled in a conflict there between Martian factions. The movie had a troubled production and its budget reportedly ballooned during that time, which along with advertising expenses put the price tag at around $350 million. Even “John Carter”’s final gross of $284 million wasn’t enough to recoup Disney’s heavy investment, making it a very expensive bomb indeed.
#7: “Catwoman” (2004)
Michelle Pfeiffer VS Zoë Kravitz VS Anne Hathaway as Catwoman
Sharing its name, if nothing else, with the comic character of the same name, “Catwoman” follows a woman who gains catlike powers after being drowned by a villainous cosmetics company. Lambasted by critics for failing on nearly every production level, its gratuitous sexualization, and its lack of ties to its supposed source material, “Catwoman” also failed to connect with audiences, managing to only gross $82 million on a budget of $100 million. Cats may have nine lives, but “Catwoman” had trouble scraping together even one.
#6: “Alexander” (2004)
A historical epic about the life of Alexander the Great, the famed Macedonian general and ruler, “Alexander” failed to live up to the greatness of its namesake. Critics largely panned the film, citing its poor pacing, historical inaccuracies, and lack of involving characters as some of its major faults. Meanwhile audiences were probably turned off by its laborious runtime and the sparse action. Although it grossed $167 million on a $155 million budget, advertising and other costs still put the film behind around twice that much.
5. The Rhythm Section (2020)
Top 10 Action Movie Scenes Where the Hero FAILS
Releasing a movie around the Super Bowl can be risky, and “The Rhythm Section” proved to be no exception. This action drama film stars Blake Lively as a grieving mother who finds out her family was killed not in a tragic plane crash, but instead a terrorist attack. The set up for the movie must not have appealed to many, as it received the worst wide opening of all time, making only $2.8 of the expected 9 to 12 million in its first weekend. With losses expected to be in the $30 - 40 million dollar range, this action movie was just a little off-beat
#4: “The Lone Ranger” (2013)
Top 20 Biggest Box Office Fails of the Century (So Far)
This Western action film, adapted from a long running radio series and other media, follows the title’s Texas Ranger and his Native American sidekick as they team up to fight outlaws. Like other entries on our list, “The Lone Ranger” suffered critically as well as financially, as many found it overflowing with too many ideas and the whitewashing of Tonto was a rather sore spot. The movie had many production issues and cost at least $225 million, though that figure bloats to over $375 million with advertising costs. Since it only managed to make $260 million, “The Lone Ranger” managed to be a “singularly” disappointing bomb.
#3: “47 Ronin” (2013)
Top 10 Best Action Movie Remakes of All Time
Set in a fantasy version of 18th century Japan, “47 Ronin” is about a group of disgraced/outcast samurai, or ronin, who try to get revenge on the man who disgraced their former lord. While its visuals and action were praised by some, most found the characters and the story flat and it was especially unsuccessful in connecting with Japanese viewers. It also failed spectacularly at the box office, making only $151 million on a $225 million budget - a figure that includes marketing costs - with its total losses amounting to around as much as it made, when accounting for inflation.
#2: “Sahara” (2005)
An action comedy adventure film, “Sahara” follows adventurers searching for a ship in the Sahara desert, while also becoming caught up in a fight against a warlord spreading a deadly plague. While many of the films on this list so far have been considered bad, most criticism of this adventure flick is about how generic and dull it is. One of the most expensive flops of all time, “Sahara” made $119 million at the box office, but its total cost was a whopping $160 million. It seems like the executives in charge invested a bit too much in their own search for treasure. Before we get to our number one action movie bomb, here are a few dishonorable mentions: “Battleship” (2012) “Blackhat” (2015) “Robin Hood” (2018) “Death Wish” (2018) “Miss Bala” (2019)
#1: “R.I.P.D.” (2013)
Top 10 Best Action Movie Endings of All Time
This supernatural buddy action comedy film follows a police officer that is recruited into a ghostly police force after death to combat evil spirits. Critics panned the film – adapted from a comic book - as being highly derivative of “Ghostbusters” and “Men in Black,” while being rather predictable and nonsensical. Audiences stayed away in droves too, as “R.I.P.D.” cost $130 million to make, yet it only grossed $78 million, making it one of the biggest box office bombs of all time. A movie this unoriginal never stood a “ghost” of a chance – kind of like that pun.
