The Biggest Box Office Bombs of the Past Decade

What do “Avengers: Endgame” and the movies in this gallery have in common?

Absolutely nothing.

To date, “Endgame” holds the record for highest-grossing movie worldwide at $2.8 billion. This astronomical figure triumphs over the biggest box office bombs of the past decade, some of which lost over $100 million.

GOBankingRates analyzed hundreds of widely-released films — meaning at least 2,000 theaters showed the film in its lifetime — to determine the biggest movie losses of the past decade. Using data from Box Office Mojo, researchers then evaluated losses in terms of domestic gross and worldwide gross to the production budget. Films had to lose money both domestically and worldwide to be included. The total loss figure comes from subtracting the film’s worldwide gross from its budget.

Here are some of our findings:

• Biggest total loss: “Mars Needs Moms” (2011) is the biggest box office failure on this list, with a net loss of $111,007,242.
• Biggest domestic loss: However, according to our researchers, “47 Ronin” suffered the biggest domestic loss in comparison to its production budget, totaling more than $136 million. On the other hand, its total loss when taking into account foreign box office numbers was only around $23 million.
• Biggest budgets: “King Arthur: Legend of the Sword” and “47 Ronin” are tied for the biggest-budget films on this list at $175 million.
• Lowest budget: The lowest production budget on this list belongs to “Rules Don’t Apply” at $25 million. If you don’t know what that movie is, perhaps that’s why it couldn’t clear such a low bar.
• Remake pitfalls: Several movies on this list attempted to reimagine or revitalize popular media of the past, including “Robin Hood,” “Conan the Barbarian” and “The Legend of Hercules.” A pitfall to avoid when you’re pitching your own script?
• Most bombs in a studio: Universal Pictures has the dubious honor of distributing the most films on this list: six. The next lucky striker is Warner Brothers at five.

Check out more of the biggest bombs of the past decade.

Last updated: March 26, 2021

• Production budget: $120,000,000
• Domestic gross: $30,212,620
• Foreign gross: $18,456,287
• Total loss: $71,331,093

• Production budget: $150,000,000
• Domestic gross: $61,979,680
• Foreign gross: $77,810,085
• Total loss: $10,210,235

• Production budget: $100,000,000
• Domestic gross: $35,053,660
• Foreign gross: $59,828,889
• Total loss: $5,117,451

• Production budget: $150,000,000
• Domestic gross: $21,392,758
• Foreign gross: $17,600,000
• Total loss: $111,007,242

• Production budget: $90,000,000
• Domestic gross: $21,295,021
• Foreign gross: $27,500,000
• Total loss: $41,204,979

• Production budget: $70,000,000
• Domestic gross: $25,124,966
• Foreign gross: $31,258,790
• Total loss: $13,616,244

• Production budget: $75,000,000
• Domestic gross: $38,518,613
• Foreign gross: $20,900,000
• Total loss: $15,581,387

• Production budget: $50,000,000
• Domestic gross: $13,414,714
• Foreign gross: $22,211,811
• Total loss: $14,373,475

• Production budget: $70,000,000
• Domestic gross: $36,931,089
• Foreign gross: $20,788,004
• Total loss: $12,280,907

• Production budget: $130,000,000
• Domestic gross: $33,618,855
• Foreign gross: $44,705,365
• Total loss: $51,675,780

• Production budget: $175,000,000
• Domestic gross: $38,362,475
• Foreign gross: $113,421,364
• Total loss: $23,216,161

• Production budget: $35,000,000
• Domestic gross: $7,385,015
• Foreign gross: $6,400,000
• Total loss: $21,214,985

• Production budget: $70,000,000
• Domestic gross: $8,462,027
• Foreign gross: $10,200,000
• Total loss: $51,337,973

• Production budget: $60,000,000
• Domestic gross: $12,600,231
• Foreign gross: $18,525,000
• Total loss: $28,874,769

• Production budget: $70,000,000
• Domestic gross: $18,848,538
• Foreign gross: $42,430,914
• Total loss: $8,720,548

• Production budget: $150,000,000
• Domestic gross: $35,088,320
• Foreign gross: $93,300,000
• Total loss: $21,611,680

• Production budget: $70,000,000
• Domestic gross: $8,005,980
• Foreign gross: $11,646,077
• Total loss: $50,347,943

• Production budget: $100,000,000
• Domestic gross: $25,020,758
• Foreign gross: $68,900,000
• Total loss: $6,079,242

• Production budget: $50,000,000
• Domestic gross: $20,810,036
• Foreign gross: $4,225,914
• Total loss: $24,964,050

• Production budget: $25,000,000
• Domestic gross: $3,652,206
• Foreign gross: $233,136
• Total loss: $21,114,658

• Production budget: $100,000,000
• Domestic gross: $26,410,477
• Foreign gross: $67,650,834
• Total loss: $5,938,689

• Production budget: $90,000,000
• Domestic gross: $8,224,288
• Foreign gross: $4,224,388
• Total loss: $77,551,324

• Production budget: $175,000,000
• Domestic gross: $39,175,066
• Foreign gross: $109,500,000
• Total loss: $26,324,934

• Production budget: $68,000,000
• Domestic gross: $24,449,754
• Foreign gross: $30,554,136
• Total loss: $12,996,110

• Production budget: $100,000,000
• Domestic gross: $15,951,040
• Foreign gross: $67,706,100
• Total loss: $16,342,860

• Production budget: $100,000,000
• Domestic gross: $30,824,628
• Foreign gross: $53,955,918
• Total loss: $15,219,454

• Production budget: $35,000,000
• Domestic gross: $6,115,825
• Foreign gross: $0
• Total loss: $28,884,175

• Production budget: $100,000,000
• Domestic gross: $16,649,539 
• Foreign gross: $9,916,171 
• Total loss: $73,434,290

• Production budget: $75,000,000
• Domestic gross: $1,115,008 
• Foreign gross: $15,234,295 
• Total loss: $58,650,697)

• Production budget:$95,000,000
• Domestic gross: $27,166,770 
• Foreign gross:$46,668,668 
• Total loss: $21,164,562

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Methodology: GOBankingRates determined the biggest box office bombs of the past decade by analyzing films released widely, meaning they have at least 2,000 theaters showing the film in its lifetime, and evaluating the film’s losses in terms of (1) domestic gross to production budget and (2) worldwide gross (domestic plus foreign) to production budget. These two factors were scored and then ranked; movies that lost money domestically, but managed a profit worldwide were excluded; films had to lose money both domestically and worldwide. Marketing budgets were not factored in due to their more limited availability. All box office and production budget data for years 2010 – 2018 was sourced from Box Office Mojo on Aug. 9, 2019 and for 2019 on March 15, 2021. Since the year 2021 is not over yet, no movies were included from this year and since 2020 was so greatly impacted by the COVID pandemic that year is excluded as well.

Last updated: Mar. 19, 2021