A successful movie is one that results in a good profit. For this to happen, the revenue generated through ticket sales alone must surpass the production budget by a big margin. Our focus here is on 2017 movies which were a total loss to say the least. Here are the biggest movie flops of 2017.
1. The Ottoman Lieutenant (Cost: $40 million, Earnings: $240,000)
Hollywood’s first production giving a Turkish perspective on the Armenian genocide happens to be one of the biggest movie flops of 2017. The Ottoman Lieutenant featuring Josh Hartnett and Michiel Huisman failed to impress after its much anticipated March 10th 2017 release. The film managed to make $240,000 only in the domestic box office after costing $40 million. Many movie critics attest this flop to the film’s controversial outlook and lack of artistic merit. The film which is a classical romance is set in Van, a Turkish city which acts as a scene of violence/bloodshed between Armenians and Turks.
2. All I See Is You (Cost: $30 million, Earnings: $208,000)
2017 may just be the worst year for Blake Lively’s acting career. All I see Is You which debuted on 27th October 2017 has made a measly $208,000 only after blowing a $30 million production budget. The movie scores 30% according to movie review site rottentomatoes.com. Critics blame the movie’s poor performance to failing to match its premise. The movie hints intriguing questions but later dissolves them and ultimately fails to connect. The movie is described by many as a stylish but empty psychodrama.
3. Collide (Cost: 21.5 million, Earnings: $4 million)
Felicity Jones and Nicholas Hoult’s film Collide was set to be a flop way before the release, so it shouldn’t come as a surprise the movie is on this list. Relativity Media, the original production company for the movie went bankrupt before the initial movie release date (October 2015). Collide ended up being taken over by another studio (Open Road Films) and was eventually released on 24th February 2017 after the release date was pushed twice. Critics claim the delayed release setup the movie for failure. Other reasons for the movie’s failure include poor marketing, lack of pre-release reviews as well as a bad final release date. Collide was released alongside Get Out which enjoyed a $33 million debut that weekend compared to Collide’s 1.5 million.
4. A Cure for Wellness (Cost: $40 million, Earnings: $26 million)
Many movie fans expected Director Gore Verbinski to make a movie that rivals ”The Ring”, his 2002 horror hit. A Cure for Wellness turned out to be his biggest flop with worldwide revenue amounting to $26 million on a $40 million budget. The February 2017 movie starring Dane DeHaan earned just $8 million in the U.S., and $18 million in foreign box office. The movie’s flop can be attributed to poor marketing and a bad release date according to movie critics. The movie was set to be released on 23 September 2016 but was pushed back to 17th February 2016, the same week Disney began producing Avengers 3. Fox and Regency are also guilty of using deceptive marketing techniques, i.e., promoting the movie using controversial and phony ”fake news” articles something which sparked mass outrage and ultimately hurt the movie’s debut.
5. King Arthur; Legend of the Sword (Cost: $275 million, Earnings $130 million)
Guy Richie’s medieval action flick also makes it to this list for having an impressive cast and marketing budget but failing miserably. Legend of the Sword had a great cast that included Jude Law, Charlie Hunnam, and Eric Bana as well as a $100 million marketing budget. It cost a whopping $175 million to make the movie and it was expected to be one of the summer’s biggest blockbusters. Movie critics, as well as industry experts, attribute the flop to many factors ranging from audience apathy to poor studio planning. First and foremost, the movie was in the development stage for 6 years which is a long time. The movie’s theme also changed a couple of times. What’s more is the movie struggled to attract starry names. Notable actors like Colin Farrell, James McAvoy and Idris Elba all turned down roles leaving Jude Law as the only A-list actor in the cast.
6. The Promise (Cost: $90, Earnings: $8 million)
The Promise has to be on this list for making a record $82 million loss. The film stars Oscar Isaac and Christian Bale in an Armenian genocide drama. Critics attribute the flop to a number of things. The Promise was a pet project of Kirk Kerkorian, a renowned billionaire who wanted to bring an Armenian genocide film to the big screen. Unfortunately, Kirk Kerkorian died in 2015. Survival Pictures took over financing and production but failed to bring out the same vision as Kirk Kerkorian. According to many critics, the movie flopped for wasting a powerful real-life story and outstanding cast on a love triangle which fails to engage audiences. The movie also received 70,000+ negative reviews and votes on IMDB among other sites on the first day of screening which impacted negatively on earnings from the onset.