2019 has surely become the year of box offices with no shortage of successful films being released and making a truckload of money. But with box office successes, there have also been movies that did not make much money against their budget. While some flopped due to negative reviews, others are due to their inability to connect with audiences.
Here are some of the movies that didn’t quite make it in the box office in 2019:
1. Godzilla: King Of The Monsters
Budget: $200M
Worldwide Gross: $385M
It is a rule of thumb in the movie industry that for the film to break even, it would need to gross 2.5 times it’s budget as it excludes marketing costs. Grossing to over $385 million, Godzilla: King of the Monsters failed to break even under the $500M – 600M level.
The film gross in to a disappointing $49 million in its domestic opening weekend, and things didn’t look good from thereon. In its second weekend, it nosedived 67% with $15.5 million of sales only. The international markets didn’t do much to make the situation better either. Because of the disappointing performance, the studio is expected to lose $60 – 70 million.
2. Men In Black: International
Budget: $110 million
Worldwide gross: $253 million.
Despite its big-name casts (Chris Hemsworth, Tessa Thompson) and a popular franchise, this film was not a hit with critics and audiences. It debuted at a brutal Rotten Tomatoes score at 22% with critics branding it as “forgettable plot, filled with lackluster action, while praising the chemistry and performances of the cast. Fans also criticizing the absence of Will Smith and Tommy Lee Jones, the original actors of the Men In Black franchise.
The negative word of mouth made potential audiences stayed at home. It grossed a worldwide $253 million under a break-even gross of $300 million, the lowest-grossing and worst-reviewed of the Men In Black franchise. The studio is expected to lose $50 –$80 million. Yikes!
3. Uglydolls
This film nearly put STX Entertainment, the studio that made and distributed this, out of business. Made with a budget of $40 Million, it performed poorly at the box office, failing to make back it’s budget at only $31 million. While it may resonate with very young audiences, the low numbers indicated that even families stayed away from this film.
What made it even worst is this film was rushed into production, with the casting of actors who were more talented in singing rather than acting. Many families see it as an ad for toy company Uglydolls. With over $40 million spent on marketing, the film proved to be a big, ugly loss for STX with an estimated loss of over $60 million.
4. Tolkien
Tolkien grossed only $7 million against a $20 million budget, which is why this movie is part of the list. Starring Nicholas Hoult as the lead, this film on J.R.R Tolkien failed with both critics and audiences. Critics trashed the film’s lack of imagination with factual errors present throughout. The irony is that the writer has a lot of imagination, but this film is lacking in that. It is the first flop of Fox Searchlight after it was fully absorbed by Walt Disney in March 2019.
5. Dark Phoenix
Dark Phoenix is perhaps the biggest offender in this list. The film had already been filled with issues before its release on June 7th, with (very) extensive reshoots being done on the third act after negative test screenings. Even after reshoots were done, the screenings didn’t fare better.
The release date kept getting pushed back (a bad sign) from 2 November 2018 to 14 February 2019 before settling on 7 June 2019. Business Insider described the film as doomed from the start, with “X-Men” being dropped from the title. When it premiered on 7 June, flopped it did with very, very hard grossing to the lowest opening weekend of any X-Men film at $47 million. The film nosedived in the following weekends, setting a record 72% drop in its second weekend. Critics and audiences trashed the anti-climactic, disappointing conclusion of the X-Men series with cringy lines being singled out.
As a result, the film grossed to over $252 million ($65.8 domestic, $186.5 international) against a $200 million production budget (not including marketing and promotion) the lowest-grossing X Men film ever. The film is the last produced by 20th Century Fox under Disney, losing the studio $100 – $120 million. Due to Fox being acquired by Disney in March 2019, Disney did not escape the fire. It reported a $170 million loss in its 3rd quarter, with Dark Phoenix being singled out for the cause.
What are your least favourite movie of 2019 so far? Let us know at the comments!
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