Labor Day weekendis finally here. That means thesummer moviegoing seasonis over and done with. The smoke has cleared. The dust has settled. And you may pretty much guess what the biggest movies of this past four months were, especially if you spent a lot of time lingering around your local cinemaplex. But what were the biggestbombs? The movies you didn’t see? There has been a lot of talk all through August about what a disaster 20th Century Fox’sFantastic Fourturned out to be. But guess what? It comes in number two at thebox officewhen talking about flops. What resides as number one?
Summer box office 2015 has made the record books. In terms of overall revenue, it is one of the biggest in history. But it is also notorious for dropping some of the biggest doots of all time. And none of the movies that failed will surprise you. Some big stars were effected by their bad choices in 2015, includingGeorge Clooney,Adam SandlerandBradley Cooper. High profile directors left feeling the sting includeBrad Bird,Cameron CroweandJosh Trank.
When looking at the five biggest box office bombs of summer 2015, a lot of things are being factored in. We have to look at budget, marketing costs, and all the revenue any given film can expect to earn in ancillary markets. The grosses listed here are through August 09, 2025. As you’ll notice, several of these movies are still playing in theaters worldwide. But judging from audience participation and appreciated of such titles, they probably won’t be for long.
The biggest bomb of the summer isTomorrowland. It opened at number one on May 22, pulling in a respectable, but lower than expected, $33 million. Its only new competition that week was the remakePoltergeist, which disappeared from theaters a little faster thanTomorrowland, but it was made on a shoestring budget. The Disney movie is budgeted at $190 million. So far, it has pulled in $208.4 million. When factoring in all the costs Disney spent to get people to come to theaters, the film is expecting losses anywhere between $120 to $150 million. The only saving grace for Disney is that it also released two major blockbusters this summer.Avengers: Age of Ultronhas pulled in $1.4 billion and counting, globally. While Pixar’sInside Outtook in $703 million. It is still in the process of opening overseas, and should continue doing well into the first part of the fall. These two films will help Disney absorb some of the loss caused byTomorrowland, which was directed byBrad Birdand starredGeorge Clooney,Hugh LaurieandBritt Robertson.
The second biggest bomb of summer 2015 needs no introduction.Fantastic Fouris still making headlines for just how bad it is. The 20th Century Fox Marvel reboot opened at number two on August 7th, coming in just behindMission: Impossible Rogue Nation, which had already been in theaters for a week. It made a lousy $25.6 million on its opening weekend, going on to earn a globally tally of $146.7. Budgeted at $125 million, expected losses are between $80 million and $100 million. The dismal grosses have many speculating about whether or notThe Fantastic Four 2will still move forward. Fox already gave it a summer 2017 release date, but there has been talk that they may switch it out withDeadpool 2. The cast, which includesMiles Teller,Kate Mara,Jamie BellandMichael B. Jordan, probably won’t be too affected by this disaster. But directorJosh Trank’s fate hangs in the balance. He was once set to direct a Star Wars spinoff, but was fired. Most assume because of how he behaved on this Marvel adventure.
Coming in at number three isPixels, starringAdam Sandler,Kevin James,Michelle Monaghan,Peter DinklageandJosh Gadas a team of video game experts who set out to save the world from an alien invasion. Despite featuring some of the biggest arcade characters in the world, people just weren’t ready for this one.Pixelsopened at number two on July 24, pulling in $24 million. It came in behind Marvel’sAnt-Man,which had already been in theaters for a week. It pulled in $186.4 million worldwide, but is still opening in various parts of the world. Budgeted at $88 million+, the film is expected to lose $75 million+.Pixelswas meant to launch a franchise, and that could still happen. The movie is opening in China later this month, where it could pull aTerminator Genisysand become a hit in that country. China is the second-biggest moviegoing market in the world. If they like it, we can expect more. And some speculate that it will be big hit on the home market as well. So it’s not a total wash.
Coming in at number four is a movie that actually got good reviews.The Man from U.N.C.L.E.has been called a fun, sexy ride. But its period setting may have kept audiences away. Not to mention America was way more interested in a little rap group called N.W.A.The Man from U.N.C.L.E.opened August 14, coming in at number three behindMission: Impossible Rogue Nation, which had already been in theaters for a couple of weeks, andStraight Outta Compton, Universal’s sleeper hit of the summer. The film has grossed $72.1 million thus far, and is still playing in theaters. But not many. Budgeted at $75 million+, the film is expected to lose around $80 million+. It was meant to launch a new spy franchise for Warner Bros. But that seems very unlikely, even though it is still set to open in a number of foreign markets in the coming weeks.
The final of the big five floppers is another movie that is almost as notorious asFantastic Fourfor how poorly it did at the box office. Despite being directed byCameron Croweand starring mega-starsBradley Cooper,Emma StoneandBill Murray,Alohaopened at number 6 with $9.6 million. The only other new release that weekend, which opened at number one, wasSan Andreas. In its short theatrical run,Alohawould only make $26.2 million. Budgeted at $37 million+, it is expected to lose around $65 million. What went wrong? Many are still trying to figure that out.
We’ll forgive you if you haven’t seen any of these five movies. I haven’t and I work at a movie site. As stated at the beginning of this story, 2015 is one of the biggest on box office record. And four of the top five movies opened this summer, withJurassic Worldstill sitting pretty at number one.Avengers: Age of Ultroncomes in at number two, followed byFurious 7,Inside OutandMinions. The biggest bombs will be heading home soon on Blu-ray, DVD, VOD and other streaming services. Will you give them a second chance this fall?
