Top 24 Oscar Bait FAILURES of Each Year (2000 - 2023)

Welcome to WatchMojo, and today we’re counting down our picks for the movies from each year that seemed specifically designed to win big during awards season but failed big-time. Whether it was at the Oscars, with critics, or with audiences, these movies didn’t win much more than a spot on this list. What was the most obvious Oscar bait you ever saw? Let us know in the comments.

2000: “Pay It Forward”

Based on a popular novel, this movie is trying so hard to make us cry that it’s practically sweating from the effort. “Pay It Forward” is the story of a young boy who begins a movement of kindness that sweeps the nation. Starring Oscar winners Kevin Spacey and Helen Hunt, along with Haley Joel Osment, who was nominated the year before for “The Sixth Sense,” it’s got the ingredients for awards glory. According to the critics, what it didn’t have was integrity. Many reviews accused it of trying to wring tears out of its audience, so much so that it just felt cheap and exploitative instead of life-affirming and inspirational. It failed to win any major awards, let alone any Oscars.

2001: “The Shipping News”

When the book you’re adapting to film has won the Pulitzer, you’re already halfway there as far as respectability goes. Based on the Annie Proulx novel, “The Shipping News” once again stars Kevin Spacey. This time, he’s a haunted Newfoundlander with the most tragic backstory you’ve ever heard. Like Spacey, director Lasse Hallström and co-stars Julianne Moore, Judi Dench, and Cate Blanchett had all had brushes with Oscar glory. While “The Shipping News” wasn’t incompetent, it was deemed thoroughly uninteresting by critics and audiences alike, and it bombed at the box office. Given the caliber of talent involved, it was a notable miss at the Oscars, although it did secure some precursor awards.

2002: “Pinocchio”

Italy’s submission for the Best Foreign Language Film Oscar was heavily advertised for its star, writer, and director, two-time Oscar winner Roberto Benigni. Watching the middle-aged Benigni bounce around, pretending to be the little wooden boy brought to life, is uncomfortable, to say the least. This, bad special effects, and a disastrous English dub sank “Pinocchio’s” chances at Oscar glory. Its English language release is one of the few movies to score a 0% on Rotten Tomatoes. Despite the original Italian version’s middling reviews, it was nominated for several awards. The Oscar, however, was not one of them.

2003: “Radio”

If you wanted to write an Oscar bait checklist, this Cuba Gooding Jr. vehicle ticks several boxes. “Radio” is a biopic about James “Radio” Kennedy, an intellectually disabled man, and the high school football coach who took him under his wing. Meant to be inspirational, critics were put off by its formulaic storytelling, obtrusive musical score, and the story’s treatment of Radio as more of a mascot than a flesh and blood character. Despite winning an NAACP Image Award, Gooding’s performance in the lead role earned him a nomination for Worst Actor at the year’s Razzie Awards.

2004: “Alexander”

When “Gladiator” snapped up the Best Picture Oscar in 2000, it heralded the return of what was once called the “sword and sandal” genre. “Alexander” was just one of many historical epics to be made in its aftermath. Chronicling the life and battles of Alexander the Great, it stars Colin Farrell, Angelina Jolie, and Val Kilmer and was made with a budget of over $150 million. It had scope and big budget excess. What it didn’t have was an audience. Moviegoers didn’t exactly rush out to see it and the critics who did weren’t impressed. Though director Oliver Stone has recut the movie several times, the original release was only a hit with the worst-of awards, nominated for several Razzies.

2005: “Elizabethtown”

Although this quirky romcom feels like what would happen if the Hallmark Channel remade “It’s a Wonderful Life,” it had director Cameron Crowe at the helm. Two of his previous movies, “Jerry Maguire” and “Almost Famous,” scored big with Academy voters, and early predictions thought this movie might be a repeat success. That was not the case. This cloying and overly sentimental movie stars Orlando Bloom and Kirsten Dunst, whose character inspired film critic Nathan Rabin to coin the term “Manic Pixie Dream Girl.” Reviews were almost uniformly negative, with only its music winning any praise.

2006: “All the King’s Men”

Adapted from another Pulitzer Prize winner, this story of the power hungry governor, Willie Stark, had every chance at success. With a star-studded cast and production team, the project had a lot of publicity ahead of its release at the beginning of Oscar season. This movie didn’t just land with a thud. It stunk up the theaters. A lot of political dramas suffered a similar fate in the Bush Era. Emilio Estevez’s ensemble piece, “Bobby,” would fall short of Oscar glory some months later. But “All the King’s Men” failed to inspire anything but vitriol and disinterest. Its failure was even harder to ignore because the 1949 version actually won Best Picture. No such future awaited this abysmal remake.

2007: “Evening”

The cast for this ambitious film is almost comically stacked, rounded out by Oscar favorites Meryl Streep, Glenn Close, Vanessa Redgrave, and other well-respected performers. If pedigree were enough, “Evening” might have had a chance come Oscar season. Despite some decent performances, the movie was described as unworthy of its actors’ talents. It was taken to task for its pedestrian screenplay and muddled narrative, which made it a chore to sit through. “Evening” was such a disappointment, the Alliance of Women Film Journalists nominated it for its “Movie You Wanted to Love But Just Couldn’t” Award. Needless to say, it didn’t show up in any major awards rosters.

2008: “Seven Pounds”

Baz Luhrmann’s “Australia” is often cited as a prime example of ambitious Oscar bait gone awry, but “Seven Pounds” is far more egregious. After his nomination for “The Pursuit of Happyness,” Will Smith’s career began to oscillate between action flicks and obvious bids for another chance at the award. In “Seven Pounds,” he plays a man who inadvertently causes the deaths of seven people, and resolves to redeem himself through good deeds. It’s clear that critics and viewers are supposed to be bowled over by the sheer emotional magnitude of it all. Instead, they were shocked by how trite and phony it was. Kinder reviews suggested the movie could be emotionally impactful … if you turned your brain off for its entire runtime.

2009: “Amelia”

For such a legendary subject, Amelia Earhart’s biopic is a low energy non-starter that, ironically, never gets off the ground. With its period costuming and cavalcade of historical figures, “Amelia” was certainly making its case to Academy voters who’ve voted for this kind of thing before. Some early buzz suggested star Hilary Swank was on her way to a third Oscar. Clearly they hadn’t seen the movie yet. No one could say it was incompetent, but for all the technical skill on display, it was hard to ignore just how boring it was. With a Rotten Tomatoes score of only 19%, it’s clear they didn’t stick the landing.

2010: “The Tourist”

This Johnny Depp and Angelina Jolie thriller made waves in the precursor awards, but not in a good way. It received backlash for competing in the comedy categories at the year’s Golden Globes. However, its award chances were already tanked by a lack of chemistry between its leads and uninspired directing from Oscar winner Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck. If movies were judged solely on the beauty of their locations, “The Tourist” would have been a shoo-in for any major prize. Unfortunately, people come to the movies for good stories and characters to root for. Audiences for “The Tourist” were out of luck on both counts.

2011: “J. Edgar”

Back in the days when Leo was still clawing for that trophy, he was cast as the tyrannical and power-abusing FBI director, J. Edgar Hoover. Penned by “Milk” writer Dustin Lance Black and directed by Clint Eastwood, “J. Edgar” was only Leonardo DiCaprio’s latest attempt at a Best Actor win. Although it was a competent movie, aside from his performance, it didn’t really stand out in any other departments. Many reviews called it a stuffy and hamfisted movie, lacking nuance, depth, or insight into the real Hoover’s life. While “J. Edgar” did have its fans, and DiCaprio did score some nods from the Golden Globes and the SAG Awards, he was shut out come Oscar nominations morning.

2012: “Hyde Park on Hudson”

Bill Murray has had his chances at winning the prestigious award. His turn as Franklin Delano Roosevelt in “Hyde Park on Hudson” was one of the most uncomfortable. The movie is a massive miscalculation on every level. Chronicling the alleged affair between FDR and his cousin, Daisy Suckley, it’s profoundly weird and impossibly boring. It even features one of the most hilariously sentimentalized sex scenes in any movie of its kind. Outside of a few stray awards here and there, the movie didn’t perform as expected. Murray got most of the praise, but the film was cited as one of The A.V. Club’s worst movies of 2012, and only has a score of 37% on Rotten Tomatoes.

2013: “Diana”

With the widespread coverage of her life and death and the awards season success of “The Queen,” it seemed like a prestigious Princess Diana biopic was long overdue. Given how genuinely rotten “Diana” is, maybe there’s a reason it took so long. Naomi Watts is certainly a luminous screen presence, but this movie about the last two years of Diana’s life was ill-conceived from the jump. Although she received a Razzie nod instead of a Best Actress nomination, critics were actually complimentary toward her, saying she tried her best in an underwritten role. A Diana story wouldn’t find Oscar success until 2021’s innovative and immersive “Spencer.”

2014: “The Monuments Men”

Once again, we have a stacked cast, this time led by director and star George Clooney, but let down by a lackluster story. This corny World War II movie follows a group of soldiers rescuing priceless pieces of art from the Nazi regime. Though its message about preserving culture may be thought-provoking, the movie’s reviews pointed out its noticeable lack of tension and meandering screenplay. Although the movie originally had an Oscar friendly release date of December 18, it was pushed to February of the next year. Whether that’s because of the reported post-production delays or the fact that its distributors realized it wasn’t going to set the awards season on fire, we’ll never know.

2015: “In the Heart of the Sea”

Set during the whaling expedition that inspired “Moby Dick,” this historical adventure movie had big stars and a big budget to play with. Chris Hemsworth stars as the first mate on a whaling ship, but this old-fashioned seafaring tale failed to make the splash any of its makers expected. The movie bombed big time, and reviewers found it lacking in the story department. While its computer-generated whale was impressive, not even this could garner awards attention. Come Oscar time, it didn’t even make the preliminary shortlist for Best Visual Effects, let alone appear among the five nominees.

2016: “Collateral Beauty”

After notably losing out on a nomination for the previous year’s “Concussion,” Will Smith was at it again with this saccharine story about a man discovering what really matters in life. A cheap melodrama that’s about as subtle as a smack in the face, it’s essentially a Hallmark Channel rendering of “A Christmas Carol” that nobody, especially the Academy, asked for. It was even more reviled than his previous Oscar bid, “Seven Pounds.” Full of unintentional humor and cringe worthy dialogue, it racked up a truly impressive 13% on Rotten Tomatoes. While its maudlin sentimentality might be some people’s cup of tea, it certainly wasn’t Oscar’s.

2017: “Suburbicon”

Another swing and a miss from George Clooney. “Suburbicon” has an interesting premise with some high-profile talent behind it. Still, this Coen Brothers-penned thriller is a limp satire of the myth of squeaky-clean, postwar suburbia. It was, in short, a mess. Its satire wasn’t clever enough to juggle its heavy themes, and its box office intake was one of the worst openings for a movie in wide release. It didn’t help that it was released in the same year as “Get Out,” a masterpiece that directly tackles some of the same themes this movie only paws at.

2018: “Welcome to Marwen”

This drama stars Steve Carell as real-life artist Mark Hogancamp, who invented a fantasy village called Marwen to cope with a traumatic physical assault. Several of director Robert Zemeckis’ movies had previously basked in the golden glow of the Oscars, including “Forrest Gump,” “Cast Away,” and “Back to the Future.” By its December 2018 release date, it’s clear there was hope for the same outcome with “Welcome to Marwen.” Those hopes were dashed after promotional screenings did not go well, compelling its distributors to cancel plans for a more intense advertising blitz. Despite its warm intentions, visual effects, and leading performance from Carell, the movie was a financial and critical disaster.

2019: “Cats”

While “The Goldfinch” was a notable piece of failed Oscar bait, its biggest sin was how boring it was. The same cannot be said of “Cats.” After “Les Misérables” won three Oscars, Tom Hooper was entrusted with directing another blockbusting musical movie. Unfortunately, “Cats” was not nearly as well-suited to film. That was true even before Rebel Wilson skinned herself. Where “Les Mis” got away with some of its problems by overwhelming you with pure emotion, “Cats” had only a thin plot and one big ballad to fall back on. It scored a grand total of zero nominations. The Academy didn’t even go for the movie’s Best Original Song catnip, shutting out star Taylor Swift’s “Beautiful Ghosts” completely.

2020: “Music”

Although it wasn’t technically released in theaters until February 2021, “Music” was eligible for the 2020 Oscars due to a relaxing of rules in the midst of the COVID-19 epidemic. Of course, this turned out not to matter in the slightest for “Music.” Pop star and songwriter Sia added “film director” to her resume with this convoluted story of an autistic teen, played by former “Dance Moms” star Maddie Ziegler. Controversial for what critics called a harmful and stereotype-laden depiction of autism, the movie was skewered from all corners. Given how much Hollywood has been criticized for handing out awards to actors who play disabled characters while actual disabled actors struggle to get work, it was a misguided project from top to bottom.

2021: “Dear Evan Hansen”

By all accounts, Ben Platt’s award-winning stage performance as high schooler Evan Hansen was a breathtaking experience. Its producers were clearly hoping to repeat their Tony Award successes at the Oscars. By the time the 2021 film adaptation came along, though, Platt was pushing thirty and film closeups aren’t kind to an aging actor. The makers hid his true age in a rather ingenious way … by giving him a haircut that made him look ten years older. That’s just one of the more confusing choices that bogged down this hit musical’s screen adaptation. With as many missteps as this movie made, it just magnified the original show’s flaws and ruined its chances to win over any new fans.

2022: “Amsterdam”

It’s awards-magnet alchemy. Take a former Oscar winning director, a powerhouse cast of Oscar favorites, some period costumes, and a real-life event, and they’ll practically throw the statues at you. But David O. Russell’s “Amsterdam” did not manage to spin these ingredients into Oscar gold. Convoluted and overstuffed, the movie was a confusing and quirky maze of ideas that never came together. It’s clear the components for something special were there, but the execution was a let-down. The movie was estimated to have lost over $100 million, and not to mention garnering some of the worst reviews of Russell’s career.

2023: “Napoleon”

It was actually Joaquin Phoenix’s Oscar-winning role in “Joker” that convinced director Ridley Scott he would be perfect as the French leader Napoleon Bonaparte. The two hadn’t worked together since 2000’s “Gladiator,” which incidentally won Best Picture and earned Phoenix his first nomination. Polarizing for its humor and excessiveness, “Napoleon” received middling reviews and slow box office intake, which is terrible news for its makers. It needed an audience to recoup its massive $200 million budget. Although it has gotten praise for its visual design and elaborate battle sequences, it performed far below initial expectations both at the box office and in the precursor awards.