The 24 Biggest Flops of 2024

 

Critics and cinema pundits continue to insist that the film business is in trouble because the comic book movie bubble has burst  and that fans suffer from superhero fatigue. The thing is, this theory fails to account for the dozens of high-profile bombs from various other genres year after year. The truth is that Hollywood seems determined to bank on titanic productions with no discernible audience (musicals about supervillains, for instance) -- or that alienate the respective audiences who would've shown up had they not been conditioned to expect to be insulted by the very thing that studios want them to spend hard-earned money on. The following films are merely the latest examples of Hollywood offerings that movie buffs either elected to watch in the comfort of their own respective homes or simply bypassed altogether.

 

24. Arthur the King

Loss: $2 million

While Arthur the King is a heart-warming story based on true events, headliner Mark Wahlberg has seemingly lost his ability to fill theaters. 

23. Miller's Girl

Loss: $4 million

22. Cuckoo

Loss: $4 million

21. The Watchers

Loss: $5 million

It seems the apple sometimes falls very far from the tree, as super director M. Night Shyamalan's daughter Ishana's directorial debut failed to capture the interest of horror fans.

20. Back to Black

Loss: $6 million

Hiring the director of Fifty Shades of Grey for Amy Winehouse's biopic may not have been the wisest decision, as borne out by the film's low critical scores -- and paltry ticket sales.

19. Abigail

Loss: $8 million

18. Lisa Frankenstein

Loss: $9 million

17. Monkey Man

Loss: $9 million

The $10 million that Universal shelled out to acquire star Dev Patel's directorial debut, combined with the $16 million they spent on TV promo, on top of its $10 million budget made Monkey Man a losing proposition.

16. I.S.S.

Loss: $11 million

15. Kinds of Kindness

Loss: $13 million

Greek filmmaker Yorgos Lanthimos' resume is littered with weird films, which may explain the poor box-office reception for his latest offering.

14. Civil War

Loss: $13 million

A combined production budget and P&A of $70 ensured that writer/director Alex Garland's latest release failed to break even.

13. The American Society of Magical Negroes

Loss: $14 million

12. Drive Away Dolls

Loss: $18 million

11. Challengers

Loss: $20 million

Audience interest proved to be too little to overcome the combined production and marketing budgets for what essentially amounts to a big screen Lifetime movie.

10. The Lord of the : RingsThe War of the Rohirrim

Loss: $21 million

In hindsight, centering the first middle-earth movie in a decade around a previously unnamed character -- and without the guidance of LOTR co-writer/director Peter Jackson's -- may not have been the best idea. The jerky animation doesn't exactly help matters either. Seeing the writing on the wall after its dismal opening, the studio opted to make The War of the Rohirrim available for streaming a mere 14 days after its theatrical debut.   

9. The Bikeriders

Loss: $28 million

This star-studded biker bio drummed up so little business that it was sent to streaming a mere 18 days after its theatrical debut.

8. The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare

Loss: $48 million

In keeping with his aping cinematic sampler Quentin Tarantino's style, writer/director Guy Ritchie applies his schtick to WWII (not unlike Inglorious Basterds) for this military caper loosely based on true events. The problem is that audiences seemed to have grown tired of his act years ago.

7. The Fall Guy

Loss: $130 million

While the film adaptation of 1980s television series The Fall Guy provides plenty of cinematic spectacle, its goofiness, combined with the fact that the plot makes much less sense than the source material's premise, is likely what turned moviegoers off. And spending a reported $220-$230 million on production and marketing made it a less-than-worthy gamble.

6. Fly Me to the Moon

Loss: $85 million

5. Madame Web

Loss: $92 million

Surprise, surprise. A film about a woman who will meet Spider-Man decades in the future failed to interest comic book movie fans.

4. Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga

Loss: $95 million

Unsurprisingly, a Mad Max movie that only features Max in a cameo incurred even greater losses than its predecessor, which relegated the titular hero to a sidekick role.

3. IF

Loss: $91 million

When it comes to family entertainment, Judith Grimes is apparently no match for Garfield, as the orange tabby gobbled up moviegoers' money like it was lasagna and left IF in his dust.

2. Joker Folie a Deux

Loss: $197 million

Perhaps it should've gone without saying but, apparently, very few moviegoers wanted to see a musical about comic book villains. Go figure.

1. Argylle

Loss: $240 million