A box-office bomb, box-office flop, box-office failure, or box-office disaster is a film that is unprofitable or considered highly unsuccessful during its theatrical run. Although any film for which the production budget, marketing, and distribution costs combined exceed the revenue after release has technically "bombed", the term is more frequently used for major studio releases which were highly anticipated, extensively marketed, and expensive to produce, and ultimately failed commercially. [1] [2]
With the advent of social media platforms such as Facebook and Twitter in the 2000s, word of mouth regarding new films is easily spread and has had a marked effect on box office performance. A film's ability or failure to attract positive or negative commentary can strongly impact its performance at the box office, especially on the opening weekend. [3]
Occasionally, films may underperform because of issues largely unrelated to the content of the film, such as the timing of the film's release. This was one of the reasons given for the commercial failure of Intolerance , D. W. Griffith's follow-up to The Birth of a Nation . Owing to production delays, the film was not released until late 1916, when the widespread antiwar sentiment it reflected had started to shift in favor of American entry into World War I. [4] Another example is the 2015 docudrama about FIFA entitled United Passions . A glowing portrayal of FIFA, which had mostly funded the film, United Passions was released in theaters in the United States at the same time FIFA's leaders were under investigation for fraud and corruption. The film grossed only $918 at the US box office in its opening weekend. [5]
Sometimes, a film's performance may be adversely affected by national crisis or a disaster, such as the September 11 attacks in 2001, Hurricane Harvey in 2017, and the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020–2021. [6] [7] [8]
In evaluating box-office gross numbers, it is important to keep in mind that not all money is returned to the film studio. Some of the gross is kept by the film exhibitors and the film distributor. The scratch formula for making a rough estimate of a studio's portion of the gross is that the studio usually gets half. [9]
A large budget can cause a film to fail financially, even when it performs reasonably well at the box office; 1980's Heaven's Gate , for example, exceeded its planned production schedule by three months, [10] causing its budget to inflate from $12 million to $44 million. [11] The film only earned $3.5 million at the box office. [12]
For the 2005 film Sahara , its budget ballooned to $281.2 million for production, distribution, and other expenses. [13] The film earned $119 million in theaters and $202.9 million overall with television and other subsidies included, resulting in a net loss of $78.3 million. [13] [14] In 2012, Disney reported losses of $200 million on John Carter. The film had made a considerable $234 million worldwide, but this was short of its $250 million budget plus worldwide advertising. [15]
The 2007 film The Golden Compass had a production budget of $200 million. To be able to fund the film, New Line Cinema had to sell all of the film's international distribution rights to various film distributors around the world. The film underperformed domestically, but was an international success; however, New Line did not have a cut of the international box office. These events were major factors in New Line becoming a division of Warner Bros. Pictures. [16]
Films initially thought of as "flops" may recover income elsewhere. Several films have underperformed in their countries of origin, but have been sufficiently successful internationally to recoup losses or even become financial successes. [17] Films may also recover money through international distribution, sales to television syndication, distribution outside of cinemas, and releases on home media. [18] The 1995 post-apocalyptic action film Waterworld was the most expensive film ever made at the time after undergoing significant production difficulties. While it performed relatively well in the US box office, it did not initially turn a profit and became known as a box-office flop. However, international box-office takings and video sales led it to turn a profit. [19] In 2023, Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One , which underperformed at the box office, was given a COVID-19 insurance payout, which amounted to £57 million ($71 million). [20] [21]
Other films have succeeded long after cinema release by becoming cult films or being re-evaluated over time. High-profile films fitting this description include Vertigo , [22] Blade Runner , The Wizard of Oz , It's a Wonderful Life , Citizen Kane , [23] The Shawshank Redemption , [24] The Thing , [25] and Scott Pilgrim vs. the World , [26] each of which initially lost money at the box office but has since become popular.
It is common for a single film's lackluster performance to push its studio into the red, in the sense of recording a net loss on its income statement. However, in extreme cases, a bomb may push its studio into bankruptcy or closure. Examples of this include United Artists (Heaven's Gate) [27] and Carolco Pictures ( Cutthroat Island ). [28] [29] The Golden Compass was a success at the international box office and grossed $372 million worldwide; however, its underperformance at the box office in North America was seen as a significant factor in influencing the decision by Warner Bros. to take direct control of New Line Cinema. [30]
In 2001, Square Pictures, a division of Square, released its only film, Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within . It received mixed reviews from critics and failed to recover its $145 million cost. Following the film's struggles, Square Pictures did not make any more films [31] and is now a consolidated subsidiary of Square Enix as Visual Works. [32] In 2011, Mars Needs Moms was the last film released by ImageMovers Digital before Disney's stake got absorbed by ImageMovers to a loss of nearly $140 million – the largest box-office bomb of all time in nominal dollar terms. Regardless of this loss, the decision to close the production company had been made a year prior to the film's release. [33]
The 2006 independent movie Zyzzyx Road made just $30 at the US box office. With a budget of $1.2 million and starring Tom Sizemore and Katherine Heigl, its tiny revenue is due to its limited box-office release – just six days in a single theater in Dallas for the purpose of meeting Screen Actors Guild requirements – rather than its ability to attract viewers. [34] [35] According to co-star Leo Grillo, it sold six tickets, two of which were to cast members. [36]
Previously, the 2000 British film Offending Angels had become notorious for taking in less than £100 (~$150 [37] ) at the box office. [38] It had a £70,000 (~$105,000 [37] ) budget but was panned by critics, including the BBC, who called it a "truly awful pile of garbage", [39] and Total Film , who called it "irredeemable". [40]
In 2011, the film The Worst Movie Ever! opened to just $11 at the US box office. It played in only one theater. [41]
Heaven's Gate is a 1980 American epic Western film written and directed by Michael Cimino, starring Kris Kristofferson, Christopher Walken, John Hurt, Sam Waterston, Brad Dourif, Isabelle Huppert, Jeff Bridges, and Joseph Cotten, and loosely based on the Johnson County War. It revolves around a dispute between land barons and European immigrants in Wyoming in the 1890s.
Gigli is a 2003 American romantic crime comedy film written, co-produced and directed by Martin Brest and starring Ben Affleck, Jennifer Lopez, Justin Bartha, Al Pacino, Christopher Walken, and Lainie Kazan.
New Line Productions, Inc., doing business as New Line Cinema, is an American film and television production studio owned by Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD). Since 2008, it has been operating as a unit of Warner Bros. Pictures.
Waterworld is a 1995 American post-apocalyptic action film directed by Kevin Reynolds and co-written by Peter Rader and David Twohy. It was based on Rader's original 1986 screenplay and stars Kevin Costner, who also produced it with Charles Gordon and John Davis. It was distributed by Universal Pictures.
Cutthroat Island is a 1995 adventure swashbuckler film directed by Renny Harlin and written by Robert King and Marc Norman from a story by Michael Frost Beckner, James Gorman, Bruce A. Evans and Raynold Gideon. It stars Geena Davis, Matthew Modine and Frank Langella. It is a co-production among the United States, France, Germany and Italy.
Renny Harlin is a Finnish film director, producer, and screenwriter who has worked in Hollywood, Europe, and China. His best-known films include A Nightmare on Elm Street 4: The Dream Master, The Adventures of Ford Fairlane, Die Hard 2, Cliffhanger, The Long Kiss Goodnight, and Deep Blue Sea.
Nickelodeon Movies is an American film production company owned by Paramount Global. Originally founded in 1995, it serves as both the film production arm of the American children's network Nickelodeon and the family film distribution label of Paramount Pictures, operating under its Paramount Players division.
MTV Entertainment Studios is the film and television production arm of MTV Entertainment Group, a subsidiary of the Paramount Media Networks division of Paramount Global. Founded in 1991 as MTV Productions, it is a consolidation of the former MTV Films group established in 1996 and the MTV Production Development/MTV Studios group of 2003–2021, it has produced original television shows like Beavis and Butt-Head, Æon Flux, Jackass, My Super Sweet 16, Daria, Celebrity Deathmatch, Clone High and The Real World and films such as Election, Joe's Apartment and Napoleon Dynamite. Its films are released by fellow Paramount Global division Paramount Pictures. The MTV Films unit was part of Paramount Players until 2020.
Hollywood accounting is the opaque or creative set of accounting methods used by the film, video, television and music industry to budget and record profits for creative projects. Expenditures can be inflated to reduce or eliminate the reported profit of the project, thereby reducing the amount which the corporation must pay in taxes and royalties or other profit-sharing agreements, as these are based on net profit.
A low-budget film or low-budget movie is a motion picture shot with little to no funding from a major film studio or private investor.
Warner Bros. Family Entertainment was the family division label of Warner Bros. Entertainment. It released numerous theatrical and direct-to-video family-oriented films and television shows.
Lionsgate Films is a Canadian-American film production and film distribution studio founded in Canada, now a division of Lionsgate Entertainment headquartered in Santa Monica. It is the largest and most successful mini-major film studio in North America.
Peter Sohn is an American filmmaker, animator, storyboard artist, and voice actor. He is best known for directing the Pixar animated films The Good Dinosaur (2015) and Elemental (2023), for the latter where he was nominated for the Academy Award. He also voiced Emile in Ratatouille (2007), Squishy in Monsters University (2013), Ciccio in Luca (2021), and Sox in Lightyear (2022).
Viva Films, Inc. is a Filipino film production company owned by Viva Communications. It was founded in 1981, by Vic del Rosario Jr. and his sister Tess Cruz. It is one of the major film production companies in the Philippines, along with Regal Entertainment, Star Cinema and GMA Pictures.
Summit Entertainment, LLC is an American film production and distribution company. It is a label of Lionsgate Films, owned by Lionsgate Entertainment and is headquartered in Santa Monica, California.
Paramount Animation is an American animation studio, serving as the animation division and label of Paramount Pictures, a subsidiary of Paramount Global. The division was founded on July 6, 2011, following the box office success of Paramount's own Rango and the end of their distribution deal with DreamWorks Animation in 2012.
Gaturro: The Movie (Gaturro) is a 2010 animated comedy film based on the popular Argentine comic book of the same name created by Cristian Dzwonik. The film is produced by Illusion Studios, Toonz Animation, and co-produced by Mexico's Ánima Estudios. This film is the first Indian-Latin American animated co-production.
Balaji Motion Pictures is a wholly-owned subsidiary company of Balaji Telefilms Limited which is an Indian film production and distribution company established by Shobha Kapoor and her daughter Ekta Kapoor. It is based in Mumbai, and it produces and distributes Hindi films. The chairman of the company is former Bollywood actor Jeetendra Kapoor.
Gods of Egypt is a 2016 fantasy action film directed by Alex Proyas based on a fantastical version of ancient Egyptian deities. It stars Nikolaj Coster-Waldau, Brenton Thwaites, Chadwick Boseman, Élodie Yung, Courtney Eaton, Rufus Sewell, Gerard Butler, and Geoffrey Rush. The film follows the Egyptian god Horus, who partners with a mortal Egyptian thief, on a quest to rescue his love and to save the world from Set.
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