As a rule, it is easy to foretell which films will become box office disasters. Such films often come with drama surrounding them, or receive bad reception before their actual release. It does not matter if the film was directed by a prominent director or had celebrated actors or if it was a highly rated part of a movie series. Such films tend to fail to impress the audience. Following are the 10 box office abandon that had high hopes in 2024 but were unable to impress the audience.
The Biggest Box Office Disappointments of 2024:
10. Fly Me To The Moon
Budget: $100 million
Box Office: $42 million
Fly Me to the Moon is a mix of a historical drama, and romance comedy and is based loosely on Apollo 11. The film was premiered by Scarlett Johansson and Channing Tatum. Until its test screenings which provided positive feedback, it was supposed to be released on Apple TV+. Even with the impressive chemistry between the lead actors, the unbalance throughout the movie’s tone, and inspiring storytelling made an appearance in the film resulting in less-than-expected box office sales.
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9. Harold and The Purple Crayon
Budget: $40 million
Box Office: $32 million
The film is an adaptation of a famous 1955 children’s novel, this time starring Zachary Levi as Harold, and following him into adulthood. It was also released alongside Inside Out Part 2 and Deadpool & Wolverine making it have an insufficient amount of attention. Its marketing strategy was weak along with its negative reviews as a whole made this nostalgic project to be forgotten after its underwhelming release.
8. Here
Budget: $45 million
Box Office: $13 million
Robert Zemeckis directs this Tom Hanks and Robin Wright film which is about how the history of one place changes over a single decade, which is a big undertaking as Ryan Seacrest puts it. It was a bare-bones approach when it comes to storytelling and so did not conform to the average filmgoers sensibilities, which means that the movie did not have the most appealing premise. Right after its release its assessed score on Rotten Tomatoes was at 59% and it soon found its way out of theaters.
7. Argylle
Budget: N/A
Box Office: N/A
Argylle has an impressive cast with Stars like Bryce Dallas Howard and Henry Cavill being a part of it, making it a standalone addition to the Kingsman franchise. Viewers were butt hurt due to the runaway mix of comedy and action alongside the excessive length of the movie. This was a plausible reason why the reviews were so diverse when it came to positivity, low expectations were the norm from the start and all it could deliver was a below-average show time.
6. Borderlands
Budget: $120 million
Box Office: $33 million
We’ve all heard the stereotype that films based on games tend to fail within the industry, Borderlands is a fine example of how that stereotype holds true. It started pushing the narrative of alienating game fans when films featuring Lilith, played by Cate Blanchett, broke off from the original story plot that it was meant to follow. There was praise to be seen when it comes to Blanchett’s acting. On every level possible Borderland was a huge letdown, with a rating of 10% on Rotten Tomatoes and utter failure to do well at the box office.
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5. Kraven the Hunter
Budget: $100 million
Box Office: $59 million
Kraven the Hunter had the unfortunate circumstance of being the last film in the Spider-Man Sony Universe alongside a rough start. With an Aaron Taylor-Johnson performance and a more serious tone, the film’s special effects with the execution of the narrative come out lackluster. One can understand the negativity critics had towards the film and as the last film of the SSU, it surely underperformed at the box office.
4. Megalopolis
Budget: $136 million
Box Office: $13 million
Coppola is known for his impressive films and during his peak, he created a film called Megalopolis over a few decades. After reading the description alone, one would surely expect the film to be unlike any other and each detail was sure to intimidate people but unfortunately, such an amazing vision faced numerous obstacles and the much darker films failed to pan out. Even the box office run of megalopolis backfired making it one of the top contenders for the worst film made.
3. The Crow
Budget: $50 million
Box Office: $24 million
Bill Skarsgard is known to undertake a variety of challenging arts and he did the same with the movie Crow, a highly anticipated movie after watching Eric Draven in a charming role. However, the realism of the film was unique but didn’t sit right with fans. Critics initially assumed the emotional intensity portrayed in the film would dominate at the box office but all other aspects fell short on par analytics.
2. Joker: Folie à Deux
Budget: N/A
Box Office: N/A
Joker achieved such remarkable success in 2019 that it set the stage for great anticipation for its follow-up. Things were bound to get gigantic, with Joaquin Phoenix returning with his Oscar-winning performance and Lady Gaga replacing him with a Harley Quinn character. On the other hand, The film’s musical aspects were an entirely different genre than the original gritty one. The disappointment in the film’s box office run stemmed from the harsh early reviews and painfully lukewarm audience reactions.
1. Madame Web
Budget: N/A
Box Office: N/A
The Sony Spider-Man Universe was supposed to broaden its reach by Madame Web but it happened to be the biggest blunder instead. Dakota Johnson stars in a film that removes the Spider-Women and other native girls as a primary selling point and instead sells a bland story. Also, the campy nature of the movie brought scorn from both critics and audiences, which is why it disappeared from theaters shortly after its release.
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Key Takeaways
The reasons for the collapse of the box office in 2024 are mostly the same as before: incompetence in marketing, production, and popularity management of existing IPs fully missed or just did not meet the audience’s expectations. Films like Megalopolis and Joker: Folie à Deux took aggressive creative steps, however Borderlands and Harold and the Purple Crayon failed due to a lack of creativity.
Audiences today expect much more from movies be it novel ways of storytelling, good adaptations, or quality production. Hence, these flops act as warning signs for the industry as Hollywood continues to deal with these issues.
