The Biggest Box Office Bomb for Each Year of the 2010s

The 2010s produced some of the biggest box office bombs in cinematic history. During this decade, Hollywood pumped out movies with astronomical budgets. Production studios sunk hundreds of millions of dollars into these movie, trying to turn them into the greatest spectacles possible. But sometimes, the gamble just doesn’t pay off.

Box office numbers might fall below expectations — sometimes way below expectations — turning these films into box office bombs rather than smash hits. Maybe the movie was a critical disaster that didn’t attract audiences. Or maybe its commercial failure is a result of uncontrollable external events and poor timing. Whatever the case may be, here are the biggest box office bombs for each year of the 2010s.

10

2010: ‘How Do You Know’

How Do You Know centers on a softball player who’s caught in a love triangle between two men. It features an A-list cast that includes Reese Witherspoon, Owen Wilson, Paul Rudd, and Jack Nicholson in his last movie role.

But even this impressive cast couldn’t save this film form critical and commercial disaster. How Do You Know had a whopping budget for a rom-com: $120 million. And it didn’t even break $50 million at the box office, resulting in a loss of about $150 million when adjusted for inflation.

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9

2011: ‘Mars Needs Moms’

Mars Needs Moms

Release Date

March 11, 2011

Runtime

98 Minutes

Director

Simon Wells

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Mars Needs Moms is an animated movie that follows a nine-year-old boy who attempts to rescue his mother after she’s abducted by Martians. It was given a tremendous budget of $150 million — and it only grossed a pathetic $39 million worldwide. That’s a loss of roughly $201 million when adjusted for inflation.

Although Disney distributed the film, it was ImageMovers Digital that produced it. And Mars Needs Moms was the studio’s last animated film; its doors shuttered when the movie flopped.

8

2012: ‘John Carter’

John Carter

Release Date

March 9, 2012

Runtime

132 minutes

John Carter was teed up to be the next big Disney franchise. Based on the popular Barsoom sci-fi novels, it was meant to be the first in a series of films about a Civil War veteran who’s transported to the thriving world of Mars.

With a staggering budget of $300 million, John Carter is one of the most expensive movies ever made. And it suffered a jaw-dropping loss at the box office — an estimated $274 million when adjusted for inflation. John Carter isn’t just the biggest flop of the 2010s. It’s regarded as the biggest box office bomb in cinematic history. Yikes.

7

2013: ‘The Lone Ranger’

The Lone Ranger has appeared in various forms of media since its debut as a 1930s radio show. The masked cowboy has appeared in novels., comic books, television shows, movies. And in 2013, Disney tried bringing the Lone Range back to the big screen for modern audiences. And the result was an abysmal failure.

The Lone Ranger was condemned for its offensive whitewashing (Johnny Depp was cast as a Native American), its overly long running time, and its bloated story. The film lost upwards of $256 million, making it one of the biggest box-office flops in history. Suffice to say, Disney never followed through with their plans for a franchise.

6

2014: ‘Seventh Son’

Seventh Son

Release Date

December 12, 2014

Runtime

102 minutes

Director

Sergei Bodrov

Writers

Charles Leavitt, Matt Greenberg

Producers

Basil Iwanyk, Brent O’Connor, Jon Jashni, Lionel Wigram, Maguy R. Cohen, Thomas Tull

Do you remember a 2014 movie called Seventh Son? No? Well, that’s probably because it was a box office flop. Loosely based on Joseph Delaney’s 2004 novel The Spook’s Apprentice, Seventh Son centers on a young man’s adventures as he becomes apprentice to a roving witch hunter known as the Spook. It starred some big names, like Jeff Bridges, Alicia Vikander, Kit Harington, and Julianne Moore.

Things started looking grim for Seventh Son when its release date kept getting pushed back. But even that couldn’t delay the inevitable. Seventh Son bombed at the box office, losing about $114 million when adjusted for inflation.

5

2015: ‘Tomorrowland’

Disney struck gold when they adapted one of their most famous theme park rides, Pirates of the Caribbean, into a commercially and critically successful blockbuster. So they did it again, convinced that they had discovered a formula for success. 2015’s Tomorrowland is one of those attempts — but the formula didn’t work.

Based on one of the themed lands from the Disney Parks, Tomorrowland transports a young science enthusiast and a brilliant inventor to an alternate dimension known as Tomorrowland. Tomorrowland grossed $209 million worldwide against a $190 million budget, losing upwards of $199 million when adjusted for inflation.

4

2016: ‘Monster Trucks’

Monster Trucks is a family film from Nickelodeon, combining live-action with animation. It follows a young junkyard employee who finds a creature living in his truck. Hence, the title, Monster Trucks.

If it sounds lame, then don’t worry. You’re not the only one who thought so. Monster Trucks was a monster flop, critically and commercially, grossing less than $65 million against a production budget of $125 million. In 2025 terms, that’s a loss of roughly $161 million.

3

2017: ‘King Arthur: Legend of the Sword’

Everyone knows the story of King Arthur and his legendary sword, Excalibur. King Arthur: Legend of the Sword tried putting a fresh spin on this classic tale, making it more of a modern action film than an old-school fantasy epic. Producers brought in director Guy Ritche to try and make this happen.

Legend of the Sword was filmed in typical Guy Ritchie fashion with energetic, fast-paced shots, an over-the-top feel, and graphic violence. Unfortunately, this take didn’t work for audiences, though its leading star, Charlie Hunnam, blamed miscasting for the movie’s failure. Whatever the reason, the film lost upwards of $197 million when adjusted for inflation, scrapping the studio’s plans for a six-film franchise.

2

2018: ‘Mortal Engines’

Mortal Engines

Release Date

December 14, 2018

Runtime

128 Minutes

Director

Christian Rivers

Based on the young adult novel of the same name, Mortal Engines is a steampunk action film. The film rights were purchased by Peter Jackson, the legendary filmmaker behind the The Lord of the Rings trilogy. But Jackson and his team weren’t able to repeat the success from their previous franchise.

While Mortal Engines was praised for its impressive visual effects, the film was criticized for its narrative and execution. The film wound up bombing at the box office, losing $219 million when adjusted for inflation.

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1

2019: ‘Dark Phoenix’

Dark Phoenix was an installment that many X-Men fans were excited about. After the mess that was X-Men 3: The Last Stand, fans were ready for a good movie about Jean Grey’s (Sophie Turner) transformation into the Phoenix, one of the most powerful and iconic characters in the Marvel universe.

Unfortunately, this movie turned out to be no better than X-Men 3. Dark Phoenix crashed and burned at the box office, losing upwards of $167 million when adjusted for inflation. This film ended the rebooted X-Men franchise, which had just been revived eight years earlier. There hasn’t been an X-Men movie since, though Marvel is planning to introduce these characters into their cinematic universe.