Matt O’Connor
It’s no secret that Hollywood has been through some challenging times over the last few years. Moviegoers have become much more picky about what they’re willing to go see, especially with ticket prices being much higher than they once were. Theaters across the country have been struggling to make meaningful sales with customers relying on the advent of streaming to watch their movies rather than on the big screen. While there have been numerous films that ended up being successful at the box office, they are often overshadowed by the ones that fail to stick the landing. From budget blowouts to commercial crash outs, these are the biggest box office flops of the 2020s.
Wishful Thinking
Disney has become notorious for their fluctuating track record when it comes to their efforts at the box office throughout the decade. While the company will sometimes put out a smash hit that shatters records left and right, other times they put out a stinker that fails in every category. Things really took a turn for the worst in 2020 during the Covid-19 pandemic. After putting out smash hit after smash hit the year prior, the turn of the decade threw a wrench into the company’s plans. With most movie theaters closed down, Disney was unable to release that year’s films traditionally. Instead, they were forced to dump them onto Disney + and make their money back through streaming. But even with the pandemic slowing down, Disney’s box office reputation would continue to stumble.
2023 in particular was an overall terrible year in regards to Disney’s box office success, with films like ”Haunted Mansion” and ”The Little Mermaid” failing to meet expectations. This whole fiasco was ironic since 2023 marked the company’s 100 year anniversary. To commemorate the historic occasion, Disney released “Wish”, a film that failed both critically and commercially. With a $200 million dollar budget, Wish only made $253 million worldwide, losing Disney over $131 million dollars overall. Audiences panned the film for being bland and lacking the same dynamic energy that the studios previous animated films had, and that the callbacks to the company’s history felt forced and took attention away from the story the film was trying to tell. Despite putting themselves back on track with global smash hits like “Inside Out 2”, the stain left by Disney’s box office blunders in 2023 and the embarrassing failure of wish will never be forgotten in the eyes of many of their fans.
In A Flash
There’s typically one film genre that defines the idea of a blockbuster at any given time. Western films were huge from the forties to the sixties. Sci-Fi took off and the massive success stories of Star Wars and Star Trek. But now, the superhero movie is Hollywood’s biggest cash cow. The characters that originated within comic books have now been lifted off of the page and into the mainstream thanks to the films that they’ve appeared in. Batman, Superman, and Spider-Man are icons of pop culture all over the world, and their films make up a large part of their worldwide appeal. But it wasn’t just the big names that got movies of their own. Before the 2008 film, the appeal of Iron Man was limited to those who actively followed the comic book scene, but his cinematic debut led to him becoming a household name. But not all superhero films are created equal when it comes to their box office success. Especially recently, the common consensus is that audiences have grown bored with superhero films. This lack of interest has led to a series of big budget superhero films underperforming and failing to meet expectations.
With Marvel and DC being the biggest names in terms of the superhero genre, both companies have had many films that haven’t been financially or critically successful. One of the most infamous examples of this was “The Flash”. Originally announced for a 2016 release, the film found itself riddled with production issues and numerous delays. When the film finally hit theaters in June of 2023, it was hit with a wave of disapproval from fans and critics alike. With an estimated $300 million dollar budget, the film only managed to earn $271 million worldwide. As of now, The Flash is the biggest box office flop for a superhero movie in history with the film losing Warner Bros. Discovery and DC over $200 million. As for why it flopped, there were several reasons. One of the most controversial aspects of the film with the behind the scenes antics of the film’s main star, Ezra Miller. The actor has been in hot water for choking and throwing a woman in Iceland, repeated reports of harassment, and arrests for public disturbances and disorderly conduct. Another primary reason for the film’s negative reception was the film’s underwhelming visual effects. Many of the action scenes throughout the movie featured uncanny CGI that was generally considered to be sloppy. Superhero fatigue is a problem Hollywood continues to face, and the pitiful box office run of The Flash only fans the flames of the genre’s oscillating quality.
Sequels And Shortfalls
At the box office, films in popular franchises tend to be much more successful than standalone films. But not even some of the biggest names in cinematic history are immune from a box office flop. In December of 2021, “The Matrix Resurrections” was released simultaneously in theaters and on HBO Max (Now known as Max). As the next installment of the popular Matrix series, the film reunited many of the core cast members from the previous films and was directed by Lana Wachowski, one half of the Wachowski sibling duo and one of the creators of the franchise. Even though the film was positively received for the most part, it still fell short financially. On a budget of $190 million, the movie only grossed $157,3 million. Unlike other films that flopped, The Matrix Resurrections was a victim of circumstances. The movie was released during a time where movie theaters were still recovering from the effects of the pandemic, and many people chose to watch the film by streaming it rather than going to see it in person.
Something similar happened a few years later in June of 2023 during the box office run of “Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny”. As the final installment of the beloved franchise, Harrison Ford dawned his fedora to play the titular archaeologist and adventurer one final time. Unfortunately, the final hurrah for the series was very underwhelming. On an absurd budget of over $300 million dollars, the film only barely managed to earn back its budget by making over $383 million. Overall, the film lost to Disney over $146 million dollars. Unlike the Matrix, this film was exclusively released in theaters, and the general audience response was mostly negative. Most of the blame was directed towards the poor advertising for the film that failed to properly market it to people who weren’t familiar with the series. In addition, this was the first time the franchise had a feature film since “Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull” back in 2008. With Indy’s underwhelming exit and the underwhelming return of The Matrix, it’s been proven that anticipated sequels aren’t always guaranteed to make the big bucks.
Cinematic Chaos
We’ve seen superhero slop, soulless products, and underwhelming sequels. What can be worse than all of that? For the longest time, movies and TV shows based off of video games were almost universally considered to be horrendous. But recent examples like the “Sonic The Hedgehog” film franchise and “The Last Of Us” TV show have proven that it is possible to make an adaptation of a video game that audiences enjoy. “Borderlands” is not one of those examples. Based on the video game series of the same name, the film has been panned as one of the worst box office flops of the decade. Despite featuring a cast of beloved celebrities like Jamie Lee Curtis and Jack Black, the movie made a pitiful $31 million dollars against a budget of somewhere between $110 and $120 million.
As well as its commercial failure, Borderlands was negatively received almost across the board. Critics called the film bland and lifeless, while fans of the games were unsatisfied with how the film utilized the source material. The film released during a heated time for movies with box office titans like “Deadpool and Wolverine” raking in over a billion dollars. On top of that, Borderlands is a game series that’s rather niche in the grand scheme of things. The franchise began in 2009, and it continues to have a dedicated and passionate fan base. But even if the biggest die hard Borderlands fans were making jabs at the film left and right. With a pathetic box office run and negative media attention around every corner, Borderlands might just take the title for the biggest box office flop released during the 2020’s.
