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Re: Biggest Hollywood bombs of the last 25 years
Biggest Film Flops and Fiascoes
by Amy & Nancy Harrington, GetBack.com   
Do you remember the days when a movie studio would pour a ton of money into a film and then release it in theaters whether it was good or bad? Thanks to that tried-and-true practice, the world was able to see "classics" like "Howard the Duck," "Glitter," and "Gigli."
Now, with studios owning cable networks, they think they can slip a sure-to-be-disastrous movie like Lindsay Lohan's upcoming debacle "Labor Pains" right past us, putting it on ABC Family rather than at the local cineplex. But we're setting our TiVo and buttering the popcorn. While we wait, we're looking back at some of our favorite Hollywood disappointments and picking our film-flops poster boy (care to guess who it might be?).
Dune (1984) Fans of Frank Herbert's 1965 sci-fi novel "Dune" had been waiting almost 20 years for a big-screen version of the story of Paul Atreides. First, a David Lean adaptation was derailed by the unexpected 1973 death of producer Arthur P. Jacobs. The next director hired wanted to co-direct with a team he called his "seven samurais." This group of filmmaking warriors included Orson Welles, Salvador Dalí, and Hervé "da plane, da plane" Villechaize. Needless to say, that fell apart. Ridley Scott stopped by in 1979 but moved on to direct "Blade Runner" when his older brother passed away and he realized spending two-and-a-half years of his life on "Dune" probably wasn't the best idea. And then David Lynch, hot off "The Elephant Man," was hired. He had never read the Herbert novel. So imagine fans' disappointment when they finally saw the 1984 film, a confusing and gory two-hour-plus romp in the sand with a then-unknown named Kyle MacLachlan and the always boring (whether singing or acting) Sting. The soundtrack by Toto, of all bands, did not help. The film earned just over half of its $45 million budget back at the box office.
Ishtar (1987) It seemed like a home run on paper: dashing star Warren Beatty teamed with lovable everyman Dustin Hoffman in a film directed by comedy legend Elaine May. A Hope/Crosby-esque road movie for a new generation. But production ran amok, and the budget rose to an estimated $55 million. Unfortunately, the film only made $14 million at the box office. Frankly, the movie isn't that bad. So what happened? The legend goes that David Puttnam, who came onboard as head of Columbia Pictures midway through production, spread negative stories about the film to the press prior to its release because he had personal problems with Beatty and Hoffman.
Hudson Hawk (1991) Proving that some people are better off in front of the camera, Bruce Willis used his celebrity power to not only star in but also co-write the story for "Hudson Hawk," an over-the-top slapstick action movie. But the constant rewrites and plot changes during production showed on the screen. Add to that the bad and confusing marketing campaign that pitched the big-screen comedy in the Willis-style "Die Hard" tradition. The $65 million film pulled in only $17 million. Luckily for Bruce, his John McClane movies have done much better -- and he's been smart enough since to not write another screenplay.
Soldier (1998)You'd think after releasing "The Postman" (Kevin Costner's post-apocalyptic "dude in a desert" flop) in 1997, Warner Bros. would have learned its lesson. But just one year later, they put out "Soldier" (Kurt Russell's post-apocalyptic "dude in a desert" flop). Kurt's main character speaks 79 words during the 99-minute movie (11 are "sir" -- he is a soldier, after all). That's about one word every 1.25 minutes. A total of 24 lines of dialogue, the longest being "Affirmative, two, report to nine and commence firing." Powerful stuff. The film reportedly cost $75 million and opened at about $6.5 million. That's about $82,500 per word.
Wild Wild West (1999)It seems almost impossible to make Will Smith un-charismatic. Especially, one would think, if you put him in a remake of one of the most entertaining and imaginative TV shows of the '60s, "The Wild Wild West." But the Will Smith we love got lost somewhere amid a bad screenplay, overblown visual effects, and a villain with only a torso (it was, in reality, Kenneth Branagh's talent that got cut off at the waist). Even Kevin Kline and Salma Hayek couldn't help save the train wreck. Although the film cleared more than $200 million worldwide, it reportedly cost $170 million to make -- not a worthwhile profit margin by Tinseltown standards when you add in marketing costs -- and it was a critical disaster. And another movie-franchise dream died in Hollywood.
Battlefield Earth (2000)Universally considered one of the worst films of all time, "Battlefield Earth" starred John Travolta as a lumbering, Frankenstein-like alien with dreadlocks. Heard enough? It gets worse. Scientologist Travolta's passion project was based on the first half of a novel by Scientology founder L. Ron Hubbard. But it was such a major flop that the planned sequel (which covered the book's second half) was never made. Oh, and the fact that its production company was sued for padding the budget by $31 million and went bankrupt didn't help matters. So even though the $75 million film actually cost only $44 million, its $21 million U.S. box-office tally was still not good news.
The Adventures of Pluto Nash (2002) The outer-space comedy had been in development for about 15 years. That should have been the first warning sign. Then it sat on a shelf for two years after filming was completed. Bad sign #2. The film's star Eddie Murphy seemed to walk through his role, and his performance was painful, the ultimate red flag for a movie flop. The results? The $100 million picture earned a total of about $8.9 million worldwide. In absolute terms, "Pluto Nash" suffered the greatest financial loss of any film ever made. Its embarrassment was otherworldly.
Planet of the Apes (2001) OK, so it made almost $363 million worldwide (and only cost $100 million), so by Hollywood standards it was technically a success. But to us personally it is one of the greatest mistakes in filmmaking history. We were genuinely excited when we heard our favorite childhood movie was going to be remade by one of our favorite directors, Tim Burton. Let's face it, the only thing better than a monkey movie is a TALKING monkey movie. We ordered our tickets in advance. We got in line for the best seats and excitedly devoured our popcorn before lights out. Then came Tim Burton's "Planet of the Apes." It lacked not only the charm of the original but also the charm of every other Tim Burton movie ever made. 20th Century Fox clearly agreed. Despite the film's box-office success, the previously discussed sequel never saw the light of day.
Speed Racer (2008) We'd like to think that "Speed Racer" is proof that the Wachowski Brothers are truly overrated. Yes, yes, yes, we know they made the sci-fi bible of the new millennium, "The Matrix." But we don't have to remind you that they also made its ultra-disappointing sequels, "The Matrix Reloaded" and "The Matrix Revolutions," AND they wrote "Assassins," the Sylvester Stallone/Antonio Banderas flop that would have made this list had anyone had any expectations for it. Their $120 million "Speed Racer" made only $97 million worldwide and tainted the image of one of the greatest animated TV shows of all time. The allegations of animal mistreatment didn't help, either. Chim-Chim should have taken the blue pill.
Kevin Costner Kevin Costner: Film Flop Poster Boy OK, it's not a movie, it's a man. Kevin Costner, the poster boy of major motion picture disappointment. First there was "Waterworld." Then he followed his Oscar-winning directorial debut, "Dances With Wolves," by helming "The Postman," which was little more than "Waterworld" in the desert. And when it finally looked like he was going to earn some indie cred, he starred in "3000 Miles to Graceland." The three films earned a total of 14 Golden Raspberry Award nominations. And Costner? He earned a Razzie nom for Worst Actor of the Century for his body of work, including "The Postman," "Waterworld," " Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves," and "Wyatt Earp."
Re: Biggest Hollywood bombs of the last 25 years
Costner gets on the list as himself. I seriously don't understand how that guy keeps getting work. Everything post "Wolves" was basically a bomb, and his work continues today. He must've made ALOT of friends. I can't believe he isn't helming some cable TV series at this point like Patrick Swayze or Denis Leary.
Another one you can throw on that list in recent years is Michael Mann's "Miami Vice" movie. The movie is actually pretty good, but reportedly the budget was OVER $200 million, with on location shooting in the actual countries depicted in the film. Universal only claims like $130-140mil. Odds are the film still hasn't earned it's actual money back.
Re: Biggest Hollywood bombs of the last 25 years
I liked "The Postman"...:P
^^^ Yeah, I thought "Cutthroat Island" was the biggest box-office flop of all time.
Re: Biggest Hollywood bombs of the last 25 years
I liked "The Postman"...:P
I did too.
I don't think it's surprising that Costner keeps getting work, but it is surprising how many huge productions seem to get thrown at him.
Also, wasn't his Robin Hood movie actually a hit when it came out? I understand why they put him on the list like they did, but unless I'm remembering wrong that one doesn't really belong on there.
Re: Biggest Hollywood bombs of the last 25 years
I actually paid to watch Waterworld and I didn't think it was that bad, just kind of ridiculous. The problem with Costner especially during the mid-late 90s is that he went away from his established audience. He plays better in dramas than action and epic films (Dances with Wolves--exempted). Look at the bombs in that list--The Postman (Tom Petty was also in it) an epic which ran 3 hours. 3000 miles to Graceland--was an action film. Wyatt Earp another epic that ran close to or over 3 hours. He made way too many long epics after Dances with Wolves and I think people just got tired of him in them. He was at least smart enough to start doing romantic dramas again. Unfortunately, he also stared in the 2008 bomb "Swing Vote." To be fair, Eddie Murphy was in "Meet Dave" which only did 11million in the US and cost 60 million to make.
Re: Biggest Hollywood bombs of the last 25 years
Another thing that hurt Wyatt Earp was that it came AFTER Tombstone, a greatly superior film, also about Wyatt Earp.
Interestingly enough, Tombstone went into pre-production around 1989/90-ish, and the producers wanted Kurt Russell for the lead. The studio balked, and asked for Costner. Costner was cast, and then had creative issues with TPTB, and left to "go do the story right - his way". Russell was asked again, and accepted, and the film was made (with Russell ghost directing), and the film was a BO success, and widely critically acclaimed, and is still considered to be one of the great modern westerns today.
Costner's Wyatt Earp ended up being made, coming in late, after the release of Tombstone, and was seen as a 'capitalizing' film on the success & popularity of Tombstone, and the film was a total flop because of it. Critics weren't kind, and audiences were non-existent.
I think it's just ironic that Costner sat back, with his enormous ego, and ended up loosing the goose that laid the golden egg. Russell lost the goose, and it came back to him anyway.
And on the subject of Kurt Russell being he's on this list twice with Soldier & 3000 Miles to Graceland, he's one of those guys that give critics heartburn as an actor. Russell is a brilliant actor imo, all the more ironic someone born as a "Disney product". Russell showed he was a great action lead in Escape From NY, lead one of the great sci-fi films ever in The Thing '82, and was revered in Silkwood I believe it was, with Meryl Streep. Then the cat goes in and does Big Trouble In Little China. Then Overboard. Then eventually lands a classic role in Backdraft. Then turns around and does Captain Ron. He does Tombstone, and follows it up with Stargate.
This kind of stuff is why he'll always be a mixed bag as an actor. He's got the ability to be a great legendary talent, and he is, but it seems he actually enjoys being in a shitty movie here and there just to keep him honest. 
Re: Biggest Hollywood bombs of the last 25 years
Planet of the Apes (2001) -
You're right about that film. The trouble was they didn't have the screen writer that they had back in the days of the original production of Planet of the Apes. That man was Rod Serling, creator of the Twilight Zone. I feel it was his innovative writing that made the film what it had become. lolo
