We’ve all seen them: Those big-budget movies that make you feel like you want your money and two hours of your life back. Those are the movies known as flops. They can ruin careers and lose studios large amounts of money.
Take a look at some of the top flops, and then tell us which ones you’ve seen.
EPIC FILM FLOPS
We’ve all seen them: Those big-budget movies that make you feel like you want your money and two hours of your life back. Those are the movies known as flops. They can ruin careers and lose studios large amounts of money.
Take a look at some of the top flops, and then tell us which ones you’ve seen.
‘Jack the Giant Slayer’
Budget: An estimated $200 million
First weekend gross: $28 million
Nicholas Hoult (third from right), veteran actor Ewan McGregor (second from left), and a legion of looming giants weren’t enough to drive viewers to the movie theater for its March 2 release. The film is loosely based on the fairy tale “Jack and the Beanstalk,” and took in a measly $28 million in its first weekend.
Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band
Budget:An estimated $18 million
Gross:$12.9 million (USA)
The Brothers Gibb (better known as the Bee Gees) and Peter Frampton starred in this epic 1978 flop in which a small-time small-town band hits the big time and must prevent the destruction of their hometown. The film is set to the music of the Beatles.
Heaven’s Gate
Budget: An estimated $44 million
Gross:$3,484,331 (USA)
Christopher Walken and Kris Kristofferson graced the screen in this1980 colossal failure that follows the conflict between wealthy landowners and European immigrants in 1890s Wyoming. Two men on opposite sides battle it out after falling in love with the same woman.
Ishtar
Budget: An estimated $51 million
Gross:$12,715,192 (USA)
Dustin Hoffman and Warren Beatty headlined this epic 1987 flop in which two horrible lounge singers were booked on a gig in Morocco, but wound up being inadvertently involved with a plot to overthrow the emir of Ishtar.
Last Action Hero
Budget: An estimated $70 million
Gross:$49,946,994 (USA)
Arnold Schwarzenegger starred in the 1993 story of a young movie fan who gets thrown into the fictional movie world of his action hero icon.
Waterworld
Budget: An estimated $175 million
Domestic Gross: $88,246,220 (USA)
In this 1995 flop starring Kevin Costner, the polar ice caps had melted and almost all of planet Earth was underwater. Costner, our reluctant hero-with-gills, tries to help a woman and girl find dry land.
Speed 2: Cruise Control
Budget: An estimated $104 million
Gross:$48,068,396 (USA)
Sandra Bullock, Jason Patric, and Willem Dafoe (shown) all starred in this 1997 sequel in which a hacker broke into the computer system of a cruise ship and set it on a collision course with an oil tanker.
Battlefield Earth
Budget: An estimated $44 million
Gross:$21,471,685 (USA)
In 2000, John Travolta starred as the evil alien Terl, whose goal is to strip the Earth of its natural resources while one lowly human leads the charge to fight back.
The Real Cancun
Budget: An estimated $8 million
Gross:$3,713,002 (USA)
This 2003 documentary followed real college students during their Spring Break escapades in Cancun, Mexico. Much fighting, drinking, and flirting ensues.
Gigli
Budget: An estimated $54 million
Gross:$6,068,735 (USA)
Ben Affleck and Jennifer Lopez headlined this 2003 failure, which centers around Larry Gigli (Affleck) and Ricki (Jennifer Lopez) falling in love while trying not to botch a high-profile kidnapping job.
Jersey Girl
Budget: An estimated $35 million
Gross:$25,266,129 (USA)
A year after Gigli flopped, J-Lo and Affleck teamed up again to star in “Jersey Girl” the epic 2004 bomb that included other stars such as Liv Tyler, Matt Damon, George Carlin, and Will Smith. Affleck played a single man who must figure out how to take care of his daughter.
Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow
Budget: An estimated $40 million
Gross:$37,760,080 (USA)
Jude Law, Gwyneth Paltrow, and Angelina Jolie led the cast in this 2004 flop where a reporter notices that the world’s scientists are disappearing. The reporter links those disappearances to an attack on New York City by giant flying robots.
