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The 25 Biggest Box Office Bombs of All Time Adjusted for Inflation

By Dustin Rowles | Posted Under Seriously Random Lists | Comments (45)

gigli-movie-.jpg

The following list of box-office bombs is based on the amount of money the film lost. The worldwide box-office grosses are subtracted from the production cost, distribution, and marketing costs, where available.

The numbers in parenthesis indicate how much money the films lost in 2011 dollars.

25. Hudson Hawk ($78 million)

24. Beloved ($79 million)

23. Ishtar ($80.4 million)

22. Around the World in 80 Days (2004) ($80.7 million)

21. Gigli ($81 million)

20. The Adventures of Rocky & Bullwinkle ($83.1 million)

19. Soldier ($83.6 million)

18. Monkeybone ($86.6 million)

17. Red Planet ($86.9 million)

16. The Postman ($87 million)

15. Treasure Planet (2002) ($86 million)

14. Raise the Titanic (1980) ($90 million)

13. Inchon ($95 million)

12. Battlefield Earth ($96 million)

11. Supernova ($98 million)

10. Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within (c$104 million)

9. Heaven’s Gate ($110 million)

8. Speed Racer ($110 million)

7. Town and Country ($120 million)

6. The 13th Warrior ($132 million)

5. Mars Needs Moms ($136 million)

4. Sahara ($140 million)

3. The Adventures of Pluto Nash ($141.1 million)

2. The Alamo (2004) ($141.8 million)

1. Cutthroat Island ($142 million)










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Comments

Ha! There's 25 flicks I totally missed.
Wait... that Treasure Planet one. Was that the Disney animated thing about
a journey to Atlantis, etc? Gah.

Posted by: Ms MoMo at August 15, 2011 3:09 PM

Of those, I have seen Hudson Hawk, The 13th Warrior, Sahara, and Cuthroat Island, and can attest that there is no reason to watch any of those.

Posted by: Reba at August 15, 2011 3:28 PM

No, Treasure Planet was a Disney adaptation of Treasure Island, but set in outer space. It was honestly quite good.

As for the "thing about a journey to Atlantis," you're probably thinking of Disney's other animated adventure film, which was called, sensibly enough, Atlantis.

Posted by: mightygodking at August 15, 2011 3:28 PM

i don't care what anyone says, i loved hudson hawk...

Posted by: Greg at August 15, 2011 3:37 PM

I am surprised that some of these films cost so much to make. At least Hudson Hawk and The 13th Warrior seem to have some life on DVD as cult movies...

Posted by: browngoat at August 15, 2011 3:42 PM

I love The 13th Warrior. I'm really surprised to see it here. I'm also unsure how it could have cost so much in the first place. I also liked Speed Racer and Sahara, but those I understand.

Posted by: EJ at August 15, 2011 3:43 PM

Sheesh. I have to keep reminding myself that this is in 2011 dollars, because I have to wonder how big a budget was for a film to have lost more than $100,000,000.

Posted by: Jerry at August 15, 2011 3:44 PM

25-16 has several hidden gems. 15-1 has none.

Posted by: Lawdog at August 15, 2011 3:53 PM

Something smells fishy here. All of these were released in my lifetime (I know I'm old but not that old). Hollywood has really doubled down on costly special effects I guess. Otherwise, how to explain 100 years of movie making and all the outrageous bombs come in the last 30 years or so?

Posted by: ed newman at August 15, 2011 3:55 PM

I liked both The 13th Warrior and Soldier. Sue me...

Posted by: The Kilted Yaksman at August 15, 2011 3:57 PM

Hmm...I saw The Alamo when it was out. It was pretty decent, but probably the poster child for unneccesary remakes. (Oooh, I have an idea let's take this iconic John Wayne movie and remake it....no, not True Grit...well we can do that one too.) But seriously, which exec thought that the Alamo would draw a large audience outside of Texas in the first place?

Posted by: NateS1973 at August 15, 2011 3:57 PM

I still like 13th Warrior and I've loved Hudson Hawk since I was a kid.

Posted by: Paultera at August 15, 2011 3:58 PM

I've only seen "Gigli" and that was because I thought it'd be funny to force my friends to watch it. They didn't agree.

Posted by: MelBivDevoe at August 15, 2011 4:00 PM

No Waterworld? Huh. When it came out Hopper said it was the most expensive movie ever made.

(It was, actually. It cost $175 million to make. But worldwide, that movie made $265 million. It was actually quite profitable. -- DR)

Posted by: logan at August 15, 2011 4:01 PM

Of those, I've seen exactly one, on TV: Sahara.

It was not bad for watching on TV on Saturday afternoon when you don't feel too good. Steve Zahn added some nice levity, and McConaughey being charming was bearable because it wasn't paired with Kate Hudson being insufferable. Plus, it has the Merovingian as the villain. I love that guy!

But yeah, I wouldn't even have considered seeing any of these movies in the theater.

Posted by: MM at August 15, 2011 4:03 PM

Seconding the love for Hudson Hawk.

Surprisingly entertaining. Richard Grant in one of those crazy, terrible movies...(plus Sandra Bernhard! and pope jokes!)

Posted by: Sara Tonin at August 15, 2011 4:43 PM

Gigli lost $81 million (in 2011 dollars)? That means it cost more than $81 million to make. How the fuck is that possible? Wasn't a huge chunk of the movie just "Bennifer" bantering in a room? Did they replace the film celluloid with hundred-dollar bills? Give Affleck a CGI sidekick based off of "Hong Kong Phooey" that they later excised? How the fucking fuck did they do that? Even with massive salaries for the stars...

To resolve this insanity, please pardon me while I make up an explanation that borders on sensible... AH HA! The movie's budget was hyperinflated because the Gigli production crew also built California State Route 57 during production, linking Glendora to Fontana as part of the extension of Interstate 210. See, now that's forgivable. The movie wasn't an ego-trip bomb, but rather an attempt to combine entertainment with improvements to America's infrastructure. Cool! Thank you, Martin Brest, Ben Affleck, and Jennifer Lopez!

Phew. Mental strain relieved.

Posted by: Soulless Merchant of Fear at August 15, 2011 5:06 PM

I think a lot of these films are not necessarily as bad as people think. I mean some of them are just victims of really bad hype like "Istar" and "Heavens Gate". I honestly believe "Heavens Gate" was unfairly maligned just because how long it was. Other films are just killed by their insane costs in production. Honestly I think the making of "Inchon" would be a fascinating documentary. Sort of the same thing with "Raise the Titanic" and the Final Fantasy movie where the expensive special effects basically required the film to be a block buster to even have a hope to come close to breaking even.

But some of these I can't fucking stand and I like "bad" cinema. "Gigli" is an ego driven clusterfuck, "Hudson Hawk" just plain rubs me the wrong way, and "Monkeybone"...I have no fucking clue why they even made this...

I got to admit...I love "Battlefield Earth"...its Ed Wood with a huge budget...

Posted by: Diablo at August 15, 2011 5:13 PM

Thirding Hudson Hawk. I just love that movie. Made my night to see it on Netflix instant.

As for the rest, I've only seen Final Fantasy and Battlefield Earth, though I don't think it counts since I only saw Battlefield with the rifftrax. It made the movie tolerable. Somethings even rifftrax can't save.

Posted by: Harborwolf at August 15, 2011 5:19 PM

I think I have seen far too many of these for my own comfort. Hudson Hawk isn't as bad as it's made out to be, if you like Bruce Willis and Danny Aiello it can be fun. Red Planet has a pretty good cast and an awful screenplay but it's watchable. The 13th Warrior was kinda fun, plus it has Omar Sharif, and I have no clue how it could have cost so much money to make unless they built all of the sets from ground-up. Aside from Steve Zahn (who was horribly miscast from the books) Sahara was putrid, but I am admittedly an avid reader of Clive Cussler (guilty pleasure - so sue me). Gigli, Soldier, Monkeybone, The Postman, Speed Racer, and Pluto Nash all belong on this list. I'm kinda surprised Leonard Part 6 didn't make the cut with inflation taken into consideration.

Posted by: EshinX at August 15, 2011 5:41 PM

Thanks Rowles I had always considered Waterworld a box office and critical failure. I guess it just sucked.

Posted by: logan at August 15, 2011 5:47 PM

I've seen "The 13th Warrior," and it doesn't suck. Pretty sure I haven't seen any of the others. A few I don't recall hearing about when they came out.

How the fuck did "13th Warrior" cost so much?

Posted by: Slash at August 15, 2011 5:50 PM

The 13th Warrior is flat awesome.

Expensive horses?

Posted by: Salieri2 at August 15, 2011 7:25 PM

I love Hudson Hawk, Monkeybone, Final Fantasy and Speed Racer. And if any of you have an issue with that, then I will fight you.

Fight.

You.

Posted by: Shane at August 15, 2011 7:58 PM

Hudson Hawk was actually entertaining.

Posted by: Adrien at August 15, 2011 8:16 PM

I loooove The 13th Warrior. And I suspect it made a lot of money in DVD sales and maybe TV showings? It's always on somewhere, and just about everyone I know has a copy of it, or has seen it, though I guess they didn't watch it in the theater. Anyway, it's a pretty badass movie.

Posted by: figgy at August 15, 2011 8:35 PM

Joining in the Hudson Hawk love!! That movie is funny. (I'll forgive a lot if it makes me laugh!)

And Final Fantasy - yep, love for Squeenix, no matter what. I actually liked Cutthroat Island too.

Battlefield Earth, however? That deserves to be there. Absolutely.

Posted by: nessun at August 15, 2011 8:42 PM

I'll second the love for Speed Racer. It was just like the cartoon (which wasn't good, yet entertaining). If you just cut the little brother and monkey from the film, I bet it would've done better at the box office...and been easier for most people to swallow.

Posted by: B-Unit at August 15, 2011 9:30 PM

Speed Racer is damn near perfect.

Posted by: ed newman at August 15, 2011 10:00 PM

I have seen none of these movies. I have nothing to contribute. And yet I take the time to type that (lack of) information.

I lied. I've seen part of Battlefield Earth. It is insane.

Posted by: Mrs. Julien at August 15, 2011 10:24 PM

Hudson Hawk rocked. Very underrated movie and one that I have watched many times.

Sahara had its moments but I think it was just Steve Zanh and William H Macy that was good. The rest of the cast was forgettable and the script was coma inducing.

Gigli sucked. If I didn't know better I'd think it was a Kevin Smith movie.

Posted by: John at August 15, 2011 10:30 PM

I've seen 19 of those.

I can only assume my IP address will be blocked in short order.

Posted by: Wembley at August 16, 2011 12:29 AM

The 13th Warrior is the only one of those I've seen. And one of mr.wsapnin's favorite movies.

Seriously...did it cost so much to make or just did no one go see it?

Posted by: wsapnin at August 16, 2011 1:41 AM

I liked 8 out of those 25...
Hudson Hawk
Sahara
Monkeybone
Speed Racer
Raise the Titanic
Ishtar
Soldier
and
Cutthroat Island



Posted by: Adam C at August 16, 2011 2:49 AM

I've only seen a few of these, but Cutthroat Island being at the top is a good thing. Postman and in particular Battlefield Earth as well. Especially Battlefield Earth. In fact, that piece of crap needs to take up five spaces. All but killed Barry Pepper's career, sadly, but good gawd what a pile.

Posted by: Protoguy at August 16, 2011 5:09 AM

Look, the majority of those films fell flat because of many reasons (including poor marketing of the films), but these movies are far from the worst ever made. Even Gigli isn't the worst movie in history (even though it gets a bad rap). A few of these movies are very watchable. For the most part I enjoyed Ishtar, The Postman, Red Planet, and Speed Racer. To each his (or her) own. There is nothing wrong with liking movies that others do not. Its called a guilty pleasure for a reason.

Posted by: IFB at August 16, 2011 9:17 AM

How the hell can you say cut the little brother and the monkey from "Speed Racer"? It's not "Speed Racer" then!

Posted by: logan at August 16, 2011 10:03 AM

Cutthroat Island is one of my favoritest-favorite movies. I'm sorry it sank the studio with its spectacularness. Oh. And destroyed at least one marriage. And almost got me thrown out of the screening because I couldn't stop giggling. King Charles 4-eva!

Posted by: ChickaBoom! at August 16, 2011 11:11 AM

Count me as another 13th Warrior fan. I even saw it in a movie theatre, not the DVD (say what you will about his acting or screen presence, but Antonio Banderas is que mas macho y mango suculento, particularly when he was younger). I also found a few things to like about Monkeybone and The Alamo, assuming the latter is the one with Billy Bob Thornton and Patrick Lewis. The rest of this list is puro mierda.

Posted by: PDamian at August 16, 2011 12:08 PM

Patrick Wilson, dammit.

Posted by: PDamian at August 16, 2011 12:24 PM

The Hudson Hawk love is gratifying. Great movie. Bunny! Ball-ball!

Posted by: TL at August 16, 2011 12:34 PM

Speed Racer is criminally underrated.

Coincidence that two of these turd fests are based on Clive Cussler's Dirk Pitt novels?

Probably not.

Posted by: TheRealDubya at August 16, 2011 12:58 PM

I think Andie MacDowell ruined Hudson Hawk for me. I hate her wooden acting and that she continued to get work for years, despite being a crappy actress. The movie has many funny and quotable moments, but then it devolves into things that make no sense at all but can't quite manage absurd. I think if someone had exercised even a hint of restraint, it could have been good. It's memorable, but that isn't always a compliment. However, I will give it a pass because for quite some time, upon booting up, my computer would say "If I don't get a capuccino soon, I'm gonna kill someone."

Still don't know that it's worth suffering through for the cool bits.

Posted by: Reba at August 16, 2011 1:55 PM

Gotta throw in with the other Speed Racer nods. A vastly misinterpreted movie, and a special kind of genius. Just not commercially correct for a wide audience.

I'm not saying it's actually great mind you. But I think it is unique in my viewing history as the movie that completely transported me back to a childhood moment. I think that was what the Warchowskys were trying to capture, and quite honestly for me it was masterfully done.

For just a little while, the very young kid who used to do a little boogie in front of the TV to the theme song crept out while watching that. It was a great feeling.

-Frob

Posted by: frobme at August 16, 2011 8:49 PM

13th Warrior is too cool, Soldier was gritty and interesting, Cutthroat Island and Battlefield Earth are great guilty pleasure movies. So suck it myopic critical dilettantes.

Posted by: Mr. stitch at August 16, 2011 10:03 PM