It’s the biggest year in North American box office grosses, topping 2015 and probably to be topped by 2017, but there have been some major flops this year. Bear in mind with this list that while the worldwide total may be more than the production budget, that doesn’t mean a profit was made, as a lot of people take percentages of the gross and the marketing cost about as much as the production itself.
'Benghazi,' 'Wonderland,' 'Santa Claus'
Michael Bay attempted to expand his horizons after four “Transformers” films and made “13 Hours: The Secret Soldiers of Benghazi” starring Jim Halpert before making the fifth “Transformers,” which will be released next year.
“13 Hours” cost $50m to produce and made just $69.4m at the worldwide box office. It flopped because it appealed to men, but so did the NFL playoffs it was opening against.
“Alice in Wonderland” grossed over $1 billion, so it’s no surprise Disney decided to make a sequel six years down the line. But “Alice Through the Looking Glass” and its $170m price-tag were plagued by the news that Johnny Depp was an abusive husband a week before the Film was released and grossed $299.5m worldwide. “Hunger Games” rip-off “Divergent” failed to replicate its success even worse this time around, as “Allegiant” cost $110m to make and grossed $179.2m worldwide, flopping because it opened against “Batman v Superman.”
Belated sequel “Bad Santa 2” was such a flop that it failed to even recoup its budget.
It cost $26m to produce and made only $22.7m back. This is probably because it’s been over a decade since the original, which was only a moderate success even back then. Another belated comedy sequel that flopped was “Zoolander 2,” which cost $50m and made just $56m after a hefty marketing campaign.
The Bible, BP, slavery
Biblical epic remake “Ben-Hur” also failed to make back its budget.
After costing $100m to produce and a similar amount to market, its flop returns were a paltry $94m. BP-bashing drama “Deepwater Horizon” with Mark Wahlberg came back just shy of its production budget, costing $122m to produce with tax breaks, and making a worldwide total of $118.6m.
Matthew McConaughey-starring Oscar bait slavery drama “Free State of Jones” might have been a mild, “12 Years a Slave”-style success had it been received well by critics, but it received quite a critical battering, and therefore made only $25m on its $49m budget.
“Gods of Egypt” with Gerard Butler flopped, costing $140m and making back only $150m.
Who ya gonna call?
The new female-driven “Ghostbusters” made just $229m on a $144m budget, which wasn’t enough to launch the franchise Sony was hoping for. Despite this decent return, it’s being considered a flop because Sony invested a ton in it and a $100m-ish return just wouldn’t cut it. Its chances of success were probably hurt by all the haters.
“Jane Got a Gun” flopped spectacularly. It cost $25m and took years to get off the ground, finally being released to just $3m at the box office. “Keeping Up With the Joneses” cost $25m and made just $28.8m. Animation “Kubo and the Two Strings” cost the very specific amount $57.8m and made $69.9m. “Max Steel” cost $20m and made $6.3m. “Morgan” cost just $8m, but made just $8.8m (the marketing cost $20m). “Pride and Prejudice and Zombies” cost $28m and made a little over half that: $16.4m.
