The Top 3 Biggest Box Office Disasters of All Time - Sitcoms Online Message Boards

Brian Damage · 09-02-2006, 05:56 PM

Heaven's Gate

The movie's unprecedented $40 million cost and extremely poor performance at the box office ($3,484,331 gross in the United States) are generally believed to have sent United Artists into bankruptcy and eventually led to its purchase by MGM.

Heaven's Gate (1980) is a big-budget western movie, depicting a fictionalized account of the Johnson County War between land barons and European immigrants in 1890s Wyoming.

Brian Damage · 09-02-2006, 06:00 PM

Cutthroat Island

The budget approached 100 million dollars and the total US gross was approximately 10 million dollars. It was a contributing factor to the demise of the movie's production company, Carolco Pictures and Davis as a bankable star.

Morgan Adams (Geena Davis) and her learned slave, William Shaw (Matthew Modine), are on a quest to recover the three portions of a treasure map. The treasure is hidden on a mysterious Cutthroat island.

Brian Damage · 09-02-2006, 06:05 PM

Treasure Planet

Treasure Planet was a major box office bomb, one of the biggest in movie history. Its box-office gross of $109 million worldwide was well short of its estimated $140 million production cost even before the box-office cut was deducted (the studio typically receives about half of the box office gross). Additionally, the film had spent an estimated $40 million for marketing, making the total loss over $125 million, the largest in the history of film.

Critics argue that Treasure Planet destroyed Disney's animation studio, in the same way that Heaven's Gate destroyed United Artists or Cutthroat Island ruined Carolco. Within 18 months of the film's release, Disney had laid off thousands of animators, closed its Florida animation studio, cancelled production on one movie (A Few Good Ghosts) and burned off two others with little promotion (Brother Bear and Home on the Range), leaving it with no traditional cel-animated films in production. The remaining artists were all retrained in computer animation techniques for future films, in accordance with a management belief that audiences no longer wanted to see 2D animation.

The film is a science-fiction retelling of Robert Louis Stevenson's adventure novel Treasure Island.

Ireneparalegal · 09-02-2006, 06:17 PM

Where's Waterworld? 3 hours of pure boredom.

TJL · 09-02-2006, 06:41 PM

"Heaven's Gate" isn't a bad movie. Granted, it's wy too long, but it had a good story.

"Cutthroat Island" is horrible. Geena Davis has never recovered from that one.

Janice · 09-02-2006, 09:31 PM

I know Gigli didn't lose a zillion dollars, but that movie was just terrible. It made me want to kill myself. I'm exaggerating, but not too much, lol.

Brian Damage · 09-02-2006, 09:33 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ireneparalegal

Where's Waterworld? 3 hours of pure boredom.

While Waterworld was one of the most expensive movies ever made, it did excellent in foreign markets and the studio actually broke even.

TJL · 09-02-2006, 09:35 PM

According to the IMDB, "The Adventures of Pluto Nash" starring Eddie Murphy is the biggest financial disaster of any movie to date, with "a budget of $100 million and a total US gross of $4.41 million (total loss, $95.59 million)."

Ouch.

Janice · 09-02-2006, 09:37 PM

I remember The Postman with Kevin Costner crashed and burned at the box office, but I enjoyed it.

TJL · 09-02-2006, 09:41 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Janice

I remember The Postman with Kevin Costner crashed and burned at the box office, but I enjoyed it.

Yeah, the Postman was a big critical and box office bomb, but I liked it too.

Brian Damage · 09-02-2006, 09:44 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by TJL

According to the IMDB, "The Adventures of Pluto Nash" starring Eddie Murphy is the biggest financial disaster of any movie to date, with "a budget of $100 million and a total US gross of $4.41 million (total loss, $95.59 million)."

Ouch.

Actually, Treasure Planet has it beat, it lossed a total of $125 million. It's budget was at 140 million and marketing was over 40 million.

TJL · 09-02-2006, 09:51 PM

I'm going to go out on a limb here and call "Superman Returns" a bomb. It cost somewhere between 250 and 300 mil to make (if you factor in advertizing and promotion) and it barely made 200 million here in the United States. It made some money overseas, but overall, it didn't rake in the big dough like they wanted it to.

TJL · 09-02-2006, 09:54 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Brian Damage

Actually, Treasure Planet has it beat, it lossed a total of $125 million. It's budget was at 140 million and marketing was over 40 million.

You're right. But at least Treasure Planet had some box office business. NO ONE saw Pluto Nash.

Brian Damage · 09-02-2006, 09:54 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by TJL

I'm going to go out on a limb here and call "Superman Returns" a bomb. It cost somewhere between 250 and 300 mil to make (if you factor in advertizing and promotion) and it barely made 200 million here in the United States. It made some money overseas, but overall, it didn't rake in the big dough like they wanted it to.

I agree, Superman Returns made nowhere near what they had anticipated.

Ireneparalegal · 09-02-2006, 09:57 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by TJL

You're right. But at least Treasure Planet had some box office business. NO ONE saw Pluto Nash.

Excuse me, but what was Pluto Nash???? Serious!

09-02-2006, 05:56 PM	#1
Brian Damage I'm Rich Bitch Forum Icon Join Date: Feb 03, 2002 Location: What Ain't No Country I Ever Heard Of...They Speak English in What? Posts: 63,107	The Top 3 Biggest Box Office Disasters of All Time Heaven's Gate The movie's unprecedented $40 million cost and extremely poor performance at the box office ($3,484,331 gross in the United States) are generally believed to have sent United Artists into bankruptcy and eventually led to its purchase by MGM. Heaven's Gate (1980) is a big-budget western movie, depicting a fictionalized account of the Johnson County War between land barons and European immigrants in 1890s Wyoming. Attached Images
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09-02-2006, 06:00 PM	#2
Brian Damage I'm Rich Bitch Forum Icon Join Date: Feb 03, 2002 Location: What Ain't No Country I Ever Heard Of...They Speak English in What? Posts: 63,107	Cutthroat Island The budget approached 100 million dollars and the total US gross was approximately 10 million dollars. It was a contributing factor to the demise of the movie's production company, Carolco Pictures and Davis as a bankable star. Morgan Adams (Geena Davis) and her learned slave, William Shaw (Matthew Modine), are on a quest to recover the three portions of a treasure map. The treasure is hidden on a mysterious Cutthroat island. Attached Images

09-02-2006, 06:05 PM	#3
Brian Damage I'm Rich Bitch Forum Icon Join Date: Feb 03, 2002 Location: What Ain't No Country I Ever Heard Of...They Speak English in What? Posts: 63,107	The All time biggest money loser of all time Treasure Planet Treasure Planet was a major box office bomb, one of the biggest in movie history. Its box-office gross of $109 million worldwide was well short of its estimated $140 million production cost even before the box-office cut was deducted (the studio typically receives about half of the box office gross). Additionally, the film had spent an estimated $40 million for marketing, making the total loss over $125 million, the largest in the history of film. Critics argue that Treasure Planet destroyed Disney's animation studio, in the same way that Heaven's Gate destroyed United Artists or Cutthroat Island ruined Carolco. Within 18 months of the film's release, Disney had laid off thousands of animators, closed its Florida animation studio, cancelled production on one movie (A Few Good Ghosts) and burned off two others with little promotion (Brother Bear and Home on the Range), leaving it with no traditional cel-animated films in production. The remaining artists were all retrained in computer animation techniques for future films, in accordance with a management belief that audiences no longer wanted to see 2D animation. The film is a science-fiction retelling of Robert Louis Stevenson's adventure novel Treasure Island. Attached Images

09-02-2006, 06:17 PM	#4
Ireneparalegal LEGAL SPICE ;) Forum Legend Join Date: Jul 25, 2005 Location: OXNARD, CA - WHERE THE DALLAS COWBOYS TRAIN & PRACTICE Posts: 38,691	Where's Waterworld? 3 hours of pure boredom.
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09-02-2006, 06:41 PM	#5
TJL Suburbanite Extrordinaire Forum Star Join Date: Dec 29, 2001 Location: New Jersey - the cradle of civilization Posts: 16,588	"Heaven's Gate" isn't a bad movie. Granted, it's wy too long, but it had a good story. "Cutthroat Island" is horrible. Geena Davis has never recovered from that one.
	__________________ "I think I'll stroll up to the front to see how the shooting's going..." - Capt. Benjamin Franklin "Hawkeye" Pierce Read my blogs! http://centralparkamisguide.com/ http://dvdcriticscorner.com Visit me on Facebook!http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=641138880 Hey, I do the tweet thing too! http://twitter.com/TomLevier My shop of handmade items! http://www.etsy.com/shop/ColdGarageCreations

09-02-2006, 09:31 PM	#6
Janice Retired Admin - Hollywood Swingin' Forum Legend Join Date: Aug 03, 2001 Location: Beantown Posts: 36,388	I know Gigli didn't lose a zillion dollars, but that movie was just terrible. It made me want to kill myself. I'm exaggerating, but not too much, lol.

09-02-2006, 09:35 PM	#8
TJL Suburbanite Extrordinaire Forum Star Join Date: Dec 29, 2001 Location: New Jersey - the cradle of civilization Posts: 16,588	According to the IMDB, "The Adventures of Pluto Nash" starring Eddie Murphy is the biggest financial disaster of any movie to date, with "a budget of $100 million and a total US gross of $4.41 million (total loss, $95.59 million)." Ouch.

09-02-2006, 09:37 PM	#9
Janice Retired Admin - Hollywood Swingin' Forum Legend Join Date: Aug 03, 2001 Location: Beantown Posts: 36,388	I remember The Postman with Kevin Costner crashed and burned at the box office, but I enjoyed it.

09-02-2006, 09:51 PM	#12
TJL Suburbanite Extrordinaire Forum Star Join Date: Dec 29, 2001 Location: New Jersey - the cradle of civilization Posts: 16,588	I'm going to go out on a limb here and call "Superman Returns" a bomb. It cost somewhere between 250 and 300 mil to make (if you factor in advertizing and promotion) and it barely made 200 million here in the United States. It made some money overseas, but overall, it didn't rake in the big dough like they wanted it to.