Top 5 Most Expensive Movie Flops

By Caitlyn Ng

In life, not all things are fair. There will be occasions when someone does good but is punished unfairly. Similarly, no matter how much money is put into the making of a movie, it does not guarantee that the movie will do exceptionally well at the box-office. There are some movies that come into the scene with a small, minimal budget (the famous Blair Witch Project is one) and became successful, while others have bloated budgets before making it onto the screens, only to perform poorly after that (do I hear a John Carter?).

What is the secret to success in Hollywood? More babe-licious bombshells in skimpy outfits; more fight sequences with oily, half naked gladiators; stunning CGI or a thought-provoking plot? It may a few of these; it may be all of these and perhaps in the next few movie flops – there may not have been enough of either the requirements.

Do take note that unless officially acknowledged by studios, figures of losses are usually rough estimates at best. This is mostly due to Hollywood accounting practices that typically manipulate profits or keep information on costs a secret in order to avoid profit-sharing agreements. So with that in mind - from perfectly public records - some of the most expensive movies that tanked!

5) Mars Needs Moms (2011): $139 million (~ RM458 million)

"Mom needs a little space", so goes the tagline on the movie poster. Unfortunately, the movie goers will be needing more than "a little space" from this box office bomb coming in at number five on the list. It tells the tale of a nine year old boy named Milo who finally understands the importance of family, especially gaining a deeper appreciation for his mom when she is kidnapped by aliens from Mars and he has to rescue her.

The movie tanked based on a lot of factors; one was that it garnered a whole lot of negative criticism on its storyline, and most notably that of the poor motion capture technology used to make the movie. Another was that it was released on the same week as Battle: Los Angeles which had more hype with the general movie-goers. With a total revenue of only $39 million against its total production cost of $175 million, the movie made a total loss (inflation adjusted) of $139 million (approximately RM458 million).

4) Sahara (2005): $143 million (~ RM473 million)

With a setting in the harsh beauty of the desert and having lots of action and comedy, the movie Sahara did reasonably well in the financial perspective with a total of $119.3 million in revenue. However, because of its enormously large production cost which was at $241 million (there were even rumours of bribes made to the Moroccan government), it managed to garner a substantial loss of $143 million after adjustment for inflation (approximately RM473 million). The storyline opens in 1895 when Dirk Pitt, who is a master explorer, of the National Underwater and Marine Agency meets WHO doctors and together they set out on an adventure to seek out a lost Civil War battleship known as the "Ship of Death" in the deserts of West Africa, all while eluding a cold-blooded dictator.

But what made it flop so badly it ended up on number four of this list? For one thing, it became a popular example of how a Hollywood movie can cost so much to make but fails, in due part to it receiving mixed to negative reviews, with one critic commenting that it was a "mindless adventure flick with a preposterous plot".

3) The Adventures of Pluto Nash (2002): $144 million (~ RM477 million)

With comedian Eddie Murphy acting as the titular character, it probably should have been well-received by the public since he had previously made a few other movie hits such as Dr. Dolittle as well as being the voice for main characters in Mulan and Shrek. It is the year 2080 for the movie and mankind has now inhabited the moon; one in particular, called Pluto Nash (who owns a successful nightclub), and his band of friends run into trouble and adventure when they decide to investigate a mysterious man called Rex Crater.

With a total revenue of only $7.1 million against its total production cost of $120 million, the movie made a total loss (inflation adjusted) of $144 million (approximately RM458 million) to place it on the third spot. What contributed to its failure was that the majority of critics lambasted the movie for its acting, dialogue, lack of humour and crude special effects.

2) The Alamo (2004): $145 million (~ RM480 million)

This historical drama that was supposed to detail the 1835 - 1836 Texas revolution before, during, and after the famous siege of the Alamo (the site where the dead bodies of Texan defenders and Mexican attackers are strewn all over) turned out to be one of the biggest flops in the history of movies. Even though the movie tried to maintain as many historical accuracies as possible and remain true to the events that occurred during the revolution, critics were of the general opinion that the movie was "too conventional and uninvolving to be memorable, with the build-up to battle being prolonged and talky".

This was a pity since it had all the backings of a classic tale of heroic defiance: where 183 Texans were besieged in an abandoned mission outside San Antonio by a Mexican army of nearly 2,000 men. With such mixed reviews though, it was doomed to fail, with only $25.8 million in revenue against its expensive production costs of $145 million, causing it to have a net loss of $145 million (approximately RM480 million)!

1) Cutthroat Island (1995): $146 million (~ RM483 million)

We have now arrived a the most expensive movie failures in the history of film making, with a total net loss of almost half a billion ringgit after the figures have been adjusted to reflect inflation. Believe it or not, a film that was produced in 1995 is the one that takes the cake, even making it into the Guinness Book of World Records for the biggest box office flop of all time; allow me to introduce to you, Cutthroat Island! The plot is set in 1668 when a female pirate and her companion tries their best to find a hidden island using three pieces of a map in order to get to a huge stash of gold. Their plans are foiled time and again by the lady's uncle who is intent on getting the gold for himself, and also by the corrupt Governor Ainslee.

The movie was fraught with problems from day one; with a notoriously troubled and chaotic production involving multiple rewrites, a recasting process that many famous actors turned down and the production company (Carolco) being already in ruin. All of that led to a total net loss of $146 million as the movie only managed to bring in a total revenue of $18 million as opposed to its total production costs of $115 million (approximately RM483 million).

So there you have it – the top 5 movies that flopped in the box office.

* Caitlyn Ng is an Investigative Journalist of SaveMoney.my, an online consumer advice portal which aims to help Malaysians save money through smart (and most of the time painless) savings in their daily banking, technology, and lifestyle spending habits.