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10 Hollywood Passion Projects That Flopped at the Box Office

January 9, 2025
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10 Hollywood Passion Projects That Flopped at the Box Office

Hollywood is often viewed as an industry of passion. It’s where artists and dreamers come together to bring their creative visions to life. So many movies were passion projects of their respective filmmakers, whether it be the writers, producers, directors, or actors. These projects often start out as an idea, a spark that ignites a flame. The idea then spreads like wildfire within the artist, turning into a burning need to bring that story to the screen. This passion can be all-consuming; the filmmaker will traverse great obstacles and lengths to see their project to completion, sacrificing time, sometimes decades, and millions of dollars along the way.

Some of cinema’s greatest films were passion projects, such as Apocalypse Now, Avatar, and The Lord of the Rings. Passion is often contagious — but not all passion projects turn out to be successful. Maybe the film was poorly executed. Or maybe, despite the filmmaker’s obsession, the idea just wasn’t very good to begin with. Whatever the case, no amount of talent and fiery passion were able to save these ten passion projects from flopping at the box office.

10

‘The Fountain’ (2006)

Release Date

November 22, 2006

Runtime

97

Darren Aronofsky’s movies are known for their dark tones, dramatic stories, and surreal imagery, and The Fountain is no exception. An epic that blends fantasy, science fiction, drama, and romance, The Fountain consists of three storylines but focuses primarily on one man struggling with mortality, searching desperately for the thing that will save his dying wife. Aronofsky conceived the story in 2000, shortly after completing Requiem for a Dream. He originally planned to direct The Fountain on a $70 million budget with Brad Pitt and Cate Blanchett in the lead roles. But Pitt’s withdrawal and an escalating budget caused the film to be shut down.

Determined to bring his story to the big screen, Aronofsky rewrote the script. He was able to get production resumed with a $35 million budget, casting Hugh Jackman and Rachel Weisz to replace Pitt and Blanchett respectively. Aronofsky might have saved the production, but he couldn’t save his baby from mixed reviews and a poor box office performance of $16.5 million. The Fountain has, however, gained a cult following in the years since its release.

9

‘Under the Cherry Moon’ (1986)

Pop sensation Prince struck gold with his 1984 debut Purple Rain, a film that’s as iconic as its soundtrack. The film’s success, coupled with Prince’s rising stardom, caused Warner Bros. to hastily greenlight his next film, Under the Cherry Moon. Here, two brothers are planning to con a soon-to-be wealthy heiress, until one of them falls in love with her. Disagreements over the film’s direction resulted in Prince directing the movie himself, granting him full control over his passion project. But as his directorial debut has shown us, even Prince has his limitations.

Under the Cherry Moon was critically panned and tanked at the box office, grossing a meager $10 million against a $12 million budget. It has enjoyed a cult following, though, in the time since Prince’s death. Under the Cherry Moon’s soundtrack fared better than the movie itself. It sold over a million copies, becoming another platinum record on Prince’s wall of trophies.

An edit of Eddie Redmayne in The Theory of Everything, Cillian Murphy in Oppenheimer, Daniel Day-Lewis in Lincoln

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8

‘Beyond the Sea’ (2004)

Once upon a time, long before he destroyed his career and got himself canceled, Kevin Spacey was one of the most prominent and successful actors in Hollywood. He was also a big fan of singer Bobby Darin. Spacey worked with Bobby’s son, Dodd Darin, to create Beyond the Sea, a biopic that weaves Bobby Darin’s real life with fantasy sequences and fictionalized accounts.

Spacey signed on as co-writer, producer, and director of the film. He also cast himself as Bobby Darin, despite numerous people telling him that he was too old for the role. Spacey was 44 years old at the time, an age the real Darin never reached. He also used his own singing voice in the film. Beyond the Sea received mixed reviews, though some critics praised Spacey’s performance. He even earned a Golden Globe nomination for Best Actor. Beyond the Sea, however, sank at the box office, raking in $8.4 million against a budget of $25 million.

7

‘Swept Away’ (2002)

Guy Ritchie flicks tend to share some commonalities. An English setting, snarky humor, fast-paced action, quirky characters. But if you look at his filmography, there seems to be one movie that doesn’t belong. We’re talking about his 2002 film, Swept Away. A remake of the 1974 Italian film of the same name, Swept Away captures the romance between a spoiled socialite and a communist sailor, who are stranded together on a Mediterranean island.

Ritchie cast his wife at the time, superstar Madonna, in the lead role. It became a sort of passion project between the two. And it was a total failure, both critically and commercially. Swept Away grossed a pitiful one million dollars against a $10 million budget. Ritchie and Madonna’s marriage turned out to be a better collaboration than the film, though the pair did eventually divorce in 2008.

6

‘Horizon: An American Saga’ (2024)

Horizon: An American Saga is the first installment in what’s meant to be a series of Western epics by actor and filmmaker Kevin Costner. Set during the American Civil War, this film and its forthcoming sequels follow several characters navigating life in the Midwest. Costner conceived the idea for this series back in 1988, and it’s been stuck in developmental hell ever since. Horizon: An American Saga finally saw the light of day in 2024. But the film underperformed at the box office, grossing $38 million worldwide against a budget of $50 million.

Three sequels are currently in production. Chapter 2 premiered at the 81st Venice International Film Festival in August 2024. However, due to the underwhelming performance of Chapter 1, its release date has been indefinitely postponed. Production has also halted on the final two films in the series. Costner remains determined to see his passion project to completion, though even he seems doubtful about pulling it off.

5

‘Glitter’ (2001)

Glitter

Release Date

September 21, 2001

Runtime

104

Cast

Mariah Carey
, Max Beesley
, Da Brat
, Tia Texada
, Valarie Pettiford
, Ann Magnuson

Superstar Mariah Carey is widely recognized as an incredible singer and one of the best voices in music. But unfortunately for her, that talent does not extend into filmmaking. In the late ’90s, after catapulting to the top of the pop charts, Carey began working on a film called All That Glitters, a passion project that would eventually become Glitter. A semi-autobiographical story, Glitter follows a club dancer who aspires to become a singer and falls in love with a DJ during the 1980s. Carey also produced the soundtrack that accompanied the film.

Glitter was hit with bad press before it even premiered. News was swirling about Carey’s erratic behavior during production, and she was eventually hospitalized for “extreme exhaustion” and a “physical and emotional breakdown.” The soundtrack also came out on 9/11. The film itself released 10 days later to overwhelmingly negative reviews, particularly when it came to Carey’s performance.

Glitter bombed at the box office, grossing a meager $5.3 million against a budget of $22 million. Unfortunately for Mariah, not all that glitters is gold. But the film’s soundtrack did experience a resurgence in 2018, shooting to the top of the iTuens charts thanks to the social media campaign, #JusticeForGlitter.

4

‘The Alamo’ (1960)

John Wayne is famous for his performances in Western films. He’s a Hollywood icon, America’s own cinematic cowboy. Between 1926 and 1977, Wayne appeared in over 170 films, but until 1960, he had never directed a film himself. He decided to change that with his directorial debut, The Alamo, a passion project that Wayne had been interested in making since 1945. As its title suggests, the film is based on the Battle of the Alamo during the Texas Revolution.

To bring his vision to life, Wayne formed his own production company, Batjac Productions, and signed with United Artists to secure funding and distribution. In return, he agreed to star in The Alamo (he wasn’t planning to originally) as American folk hero Davy Crockett. Wayne also secured additional financing from wealthy Texans and invested about $1.5 million of his own money into the film. “A good investment,” he believed at the time. Oh, how wrong he was.

The Alamo was well-received and earned an Oscar nomination for Best Picture. It did fairly well in theaters, grossing $20 million at the time. But because of the film’s monumental cost, The Alamo is regarded as a flop that not even John Wayne or Davy Crockett could save. Wayne lost his personal investment and was forced to sell his rights to United Artists, so the company could make back its money.

3

‘After Earth’ (2013)

after-earth-teaser-poster-1.jpg

Release Date

May 30, 2013

Runtime

100minutes

Will Smith has endured some painful lows as an actor during his career, from 1999’s Wild Wild West, to slapping Chris Rock at the Oscars, to his 2013 box office bomb, After Earth. While watching the television series I Shouldn’t Be Alive, Smith came up with the idea for After Earth, where a father and son crash their car in some remote region. Over time, this idea morphed into a sci-fi story, set on Earth 1000 years after it had been abandoned by humanity, and would serve as the first installment in a trilogy.

For some reason, Smith tapped M. Night Shyamalan, who had just bombed the box office with The Last Airbender, to direct his film. He also cast himself and his son, Jaden, in the lead roles. But After Earth wasn’t the father-son accomplishment that Smith had dreamed of. The film was critically panned and was a box office disappointment, grossing $243.8 million against a budget of $130 million. Any plans to develop this movie into a franchise quickly crashed and burned.

After Earth‘s failure caused Smith to take a year-and-a-half break from acting. Jaden, meanwhile, hasn’t appeared in any movies since. Maybe he’s taking a really, really long break from acting? In 2015, Will Smith called After Earth “the most painful failure in his career” and expressed regret over leading his son into the film — although that might have changed after the infamous Slap at the Oscars.

2

‘Megalopolis’ (2024)

Legendary director Francis Ford Coppola has been working on his passion project and sci-fi epic Megalopolis for a long time. A very, very long time. Coppola first conceived the idea for Megalopolis in 1977 while filming another longtime passion project of his, Apocalypse Now. Set in a re-imagined modern America, Megalopolis follows an architect with the ability to control time, who faces opposition as he tries to rebuild Manhattan into a utopia after a devastating disaster destroys the city. The story essentially places the ancient Roman Empire in a futuristic New York, merging the two to create the story’s world.

For decades, Megalopolis was stuck in developmental hell for various reasons. One of the problems was that Coppola didn’t think he could find a production studio that would dish out the necessary funds to bring his vision to life. So, after many years of contemplation, Coppola decided to sell off a portion of his wine empire and use that money to produce Megalopolis himself – approximately $120 million.

After nearly 50 years of setbacks, Coppola completed Megalopolis, which was finally released in 2024. And unfortunately for the famed director, the film received mixed reviews for its convoluted and overstuffed story and flopped at the box office. It grossed $13.9 million against a budget between $120–136 million. Poor Francis. Imagine waiting 50 years to create something, and you’re met with that.

Idris Elba and Tilda Swinton in Three Thousand Years of Longing

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1

‘Battlefield Earth’ (2000)

battlefield-earth-poster.jpg

Battlefield Earth

Release Date

May 12, 2000

Infamous in the world of cinema, Battlefield Earth follows a rebellion against aliens who have ruled Earth for 1,000 years. The film is based on the sci-fi novel of the same name by Scientology founder L. Ron Hubbard, so you know things are going to get weird. When the book was first published in 1982, Hubbard sent an autographed copy of Battlefield Earth to none other than John Travolta, hoping that his fellow Scientologist would one day turn his book into a movie. And once Travolta latched onto this idea, he never let go.

After his career comeback in the mid-1990s, Travolta used his rebounding influence to turn Hubbard’s dream into a reality. Battlefield Earth was produced by Travolta, who also made himself the film’s star, and was finally released in 2000. And to the surprise of no one (except for maybe Travolta) Battlefield Earth was a critical and commercial disaster. It grossed $29.7 million against a budget of $73–$103 million, losing the equivalent of $130 million in 2024. Battlefield Earth didn’t just bomb at the box office; it bankrupted Franchise Pictures, one of the studios that produced the movie.


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