Movies are a risky business. Even with huge blockbusters based on popular IPs and with a star-studded cast, success is never guaranteed, as proven by the many movies released during the 2020s that have flopped. Whether because of the COVID-19 pandemic and its aftermath or due to a lack of audience interest, the fact is that these films were financial failures all-around.
Some of these deserved much better, like Damien Chazelle‘s Babylon; while others received much backlash from audiences in many areas, like Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny. Whatever the case, these are movies that prove that any film can bomb at the box office, no matter how marketable it may seem.
Updated on October 5, 2023, by Diego Pineda Pacheco:
As the theater-going experience continues to slowly recuperate from the pandemic and the exponential growth of streaming, it’s worth taking a look back at the biggest movie flops of the 2020s and analyze why they failed. Traditional cinema is still very much alive, but it’s important to know what can make a film fail at the international box office.
15 ‘Snake Eyes: G.I. Joe Origins’ (2021)
Snake Eyes was the first G.I. Joe movie in eight years, so there was definitely a lot on its plate. Sadly, critics thought it missed the mark, and though fans thought that it was a step up from past installments, they were mostly split on it.
All in all, it was generally agreed that Snake Eyes was entertaining enough for fans of the franchise, but not enough to call it a genuinely great film. Unfortunately, its strong aspects weren’t enough to save its box office numbers. Snake Eyes made a meager $34.7 million, resulting in an all-around box office bomb that lost its studio well over $53 million, without even considering marketing costs.
Watch on Prime Video
14 ‘Renfield’ (2023)
It’s still too early to talk about the biggest movie flops of 2023, but there’s no room for doubt that Renfield will unfortunately be way up there. Despite the star power of Nicolas Cage and Nicholas Hoult, and being hailed as one of the most entertaining recent horror comedies, it failed to attract the interest of audiences.
Renfield made just a little over $26.7 million worldwide, with the vampire comedy losing nearly $60 million without considering publicity expenses. 2023 is proving to be a pretty financially good year for many movies, but Renfield was unfortunately not one of them.
Watch on Peacock
13 ‘Dolittle’ (2020)
Everyone was excited to see what Robert Downey Jr. would be up to after exiting the Marvel Cinematic Universe in Avengers: Endgame. The answer, sadly, was a remake of Dolittle that failed to impress either audiences or critics.
Even though Dolittle made $251.5 million, the movie was estimated to have lost Universal $66.7 million. Unfortunately, time hasn’t been much kinder to it, with audiences quickly forgetting this lackluster adaptation of a beloved IP, wondering whether a modernization was even necessary in the first place.
Watch on Peacock
12 ‘Babylon’ (2022)
Since his amazing sophomore feature, Whiplash, the young auteur Damien Chazelle has proved to be one of the freshest and most exciting voices in modern Hollywood. His most recent film, Babylon, a chaotic study of old American cinema, only further cemented him as an outstanding filmmaker.
If you have the stomach for such a relentless and energy-draining three-hour viewing experience, Babylon is a must-see. Sadly, not many viewers thought so, since Babylon only made $63.2 million worldwide, causing it to lose Paramount a tragic $87.4 million.
Watch on Paramount+
11 ‘The Last Duel’ (2021)
Being Matt Damon and Ben Affleck‘s first screenplay together since Good Will Hunting, and an action drama by the same Ridley Scott that has made so many outstanding ones, The Last Duel had high standards to meet. Unfortunately, audiences didn’t show up to find out whether it succeeded.
The Last Duel made $30 million, which was far from enough to save it from losing $99.2 million. It’s a shame, since most audiences and critics who did watch it thought that it was an outstanding period thriller with powerful performances and a strong creative voice.
10 ‘Black Adam’ (2022)
The DCEU has seen its fair share of financial ups and downs. Sadly, mostly downs. Black Adam was one of those failures, Dwayne Johnson‘s long-awaited yet controversial adaptation of DC’s iconic anti-hero.
Whether the hierarchy of power in the DC Universe did change or not is up for debate, but what isn’t is that Black Adam just made $390.3 million worldwide. It sounds fine, but it’s estimated that the DC film lost $100 million, making it an undeniable failure – in terms of numbers, at least.
Watch on Max
9 ‘Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny’ (2023)
When you think of the adventure movie genre, it’s most likely that you think of Indiana Jones. Harrison Ford‘s charming and daunting archaeologist has come to embody these kinds of movies, but when it came to Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny, many fans felt that it was far from being one of the best modern adventure films.
The movie didn’t fare too badly with critic or audience receptions, but it did badly enough that Indiana Jones 5 made only $381.4 million, less than all other installments in the franchise. Being one of the most expensive films ever made, it’s estimated that Dial of Destiny lost $100 million overall.
8 ‘West Side Story’ (2021)
Pre-2000s and post-2000s Steven Spielberg almost feel like two different directors. But thankfully, the filmmaker showed that he hadn’t lost his touch with his incredible return to form: A remake of the ’60s classic musical West Side Story.
The film was Spielberg’s first-ever venture into the musical genre, and he did such a phenomenal job that it felt like he had been doing this kind of movie all his life. His West Side Story received very positive feedback from critics and audiences alike, yet it proved to be a major flop, with the Spielberg film only making $74.8 million and losing an estimated $104.5 million.
Watch on Disney+
7 ‘Lightyear’ (2022)
Lightyear is a movie-within-a-movie, supposed to be the film that the Buzz Lightyear toy from Toy Story was based on. Since before it came out, it was a huge talking point on the Internet—often for all the wrong reasons.
There was definitely a lot to enjoy here, like the vibrant and colorful animation, the references and tributes to classic sci-fi cinema, and some fun characters. However, many people felt that it was a lower-tier Pixar spin-off, which was reflected in its international earnings of $218.7 million and loss of $106 million.
Watch on Disney+
6 ‘Amsterdam’ (2022)
A movie flop more controversial than most, Amsterdam is the latest work of infamously abusive and volatile filmmaker David O. Russell. It tells the story of three friends who, after witnessing a murder, become suspects themselves and uncover an outrageous plot in the process.
Despite its impressively stacked cast, Amsterdam only made $29.4 million and lost $108.4 million, becoming the biggest box office bomb of O. Russell’s career, on top of not doing well either in terms of critics’ or audiences’ opinions.
Watch on Max
5 ‘Chaos Walking’ (2021)
Based on Patrick Ness‘ bestselling sci-fi dystopian novel, Chaos Walking follows two unlikely companions’ adventure through the badlands of a mysterious planet, where everyone can see and hear everyone else’s thoughts.
If you had even forgotten that this movie existed despite the presence of stars of the stature of Tom Holland and Daisy Ridley, no one would blame you. After all, barely anyone saw the film, as proved by the fact that Chaos Walking made a mere $27 million internationally, not even a third of its budget, which represented $111.7 million in losses.
4 ‘Onward’ (2020)
At some point in the 2010s, the animation giant Pixar started heading in new directions with its movies. Some fans enjoyed this change of pace, while others weren’t quite so fond of it. This is visible in Onward, one of Pixar’s most emotional outings.
It had a fun and sweet brotherly dynamic between the two leads voiced by Tom Holland and Chris Pratt, but Onward‘s box office numbers were a disappointment, largely because it came out right before the outbreak of the pandemic. Onward only made $133.3 million, and it’s thought that it lost $130.2 million dollars, making it one of the biggest box office bombs in Pixar’s catalog.
Watch on Disney+
3 ‘Mulan’ (2020)
Disney’s practice of re-making their own animated classics has garnered mostly criticism over the years, yet rarely has public reception of these movies been as overwhelmingly negative as it was with 2020’s Mulan.
Though critics mostly praised the film for its impressive visuals and updated version of the story, fans weren’t nearly as impressed. The poor reception mixed with the massive impact of the pandemic caused Mulan to make just a little under $70 million dollars, a tiny fraction of its budget that caused it to lose $140.7 million.
Watch on Disney+
2 ‘Jungle Cruise’ (2021)
Dwayne Johnson hasn’t been doing great at the box office in the 2020s, a failure started by Jungle Cruise. Based on the popular ride at various Disney parks, it was hoping to have as much success as the legendary Pirates of the Caribbean franchise. Evidently, it didn’t.
Jungle Cruise made $210.3 million worldwide, which already looks bad enough, but it’s estimated that on top of that it lost the studio a whopping $150.2 million dollars, making it the biggest box office flop in Disney’s entire history.
Watch on Disney+
1 ‘Turning Red’ (2022)
One of Pixar’s latest experiments with different tones and styles than what audiences had gotten used to, Turning Red is the studio’s first feature directed by only a woman. A colorful and cheesy take on the coming-of-age genre, it’s one of Pixar’s most divisive movies.
The movie had a troubled release, making it one of the lowest-grossing Pixar movies of all time at $10.9 million worldwide. It’s very hard to analyze the numbers of movies like this one, but it’s estimated that it lost Pixar $167.4 million overall.
Watch on Disney+
