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A box-office bomb, or box-office disaster, is a film that is unprofitable or considered highly unsuccessful during its theatrical run. Although any film for which the production, marketing, and distribution costs combined exceed the revenue after release has technically "bombed", the term is more frequently used for major studio releases that were highly anticipated, extensively marketed and expensive to produce that ultimately failed commercially.


Causes


Negative word of mouth

With the advent of
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platforms such as
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and
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in the 2000s, word of mouth regarding new films is easily spread and has had a marked effect on box office performance. A film's ability or failure to attract positive or negative commentary can strongly impact its performance at the box office, especially on the opening weekend.


External circumstances

Occasionally, films may underperform because of issues largely unrelated to the content of the film, such as the timing of the film's release. This was one of the reasons given for the commercial failure of '' Intolerance'', D. W. Griffith's follow-up to ''
The Birth of a Nation ''The Birth of a Nation'', originally called ''The Clansman'', is a 1915 American silent epic drama film directed by D. W. Griffith and starring Lillian Gish. The screenplay is adapted from Thomas Dixon Jr.'s 1905 novel and play ''The Clan ...
''. Owing to production delays, the film was not released until late 1916, when the widespread antiwar sentiment it reflected had started to shift in favor of
American entry into World War I American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, p ...
. Another example is the 2015 critically panned docudrama about FIFA entitled ''
United Passions ''United Passions'' (French: ''United Passions: La Légende du football'', literally ''United Passions: The Legend of Football'', also known as ''United Passions: The Birth of the World Cup'') is a 2014 English-language French drama film. It is a ...
'', which may have been adversely affected by bad publicity relating to a corruption scandal. It was released in theaters in the United States at the same time FIFA's leaders were under investigation for fraud and corruption, combined with general indifference to
Association football Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is ...
, and the film grossed only $918 at the US box office in its opening weekend. Sometimes, a film's performance may be adversely affected by national crisis or a disaster, such as the
September 11 attacks The September 11 attacks, commonly known as 9/11, were four coordinated suicide terrorist attacks carried out by al-Qaeda against the United States on Tuesday, September 11, 2001. That morning, nineteen terrorists hijacked four commer ...
in 2001, Hurricane Harvey in 2017, and the
COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by a virus, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The first known case was identified in Wuhan, China, in December 2019. The disease quickly ...
pandemic.


High production costs

In evaluating box-office gross numbers, it is important to keep in mind that not all that money is returned to the film studio. Some of the gross is kept by the film exhibitors and the film distributor. The scratch formula for making a rough estimate of a studio's portion of the gross is that the studio usually gets half. A large budget can cause a film to fail financially, even when it performs reasonably well at the box office; 1980's '' Heaven's Gate'', for example, exceeded its planned production schedule by three months, causing its budget to inflate from $12 million to $44 million. The film only earned $3.5 million at the box office. For the 2005 film '' Sahara'', its budget ballooned to $281.2 million for production, distribution, and other expenses. The film earned $119 million in theaters and $202.9 million overall with television and other subsidies included, resulting in a net loss of $78.3 million. In 2012, Disney reported losses of $200 million on '' John Carter.'' The film had made a considerable $234 million worldwide, but this was short of its $250 million budget plus worldwide advertising. The 2007 film ''
The Golden Compass ''Northern Lights'' (titled ''The Golden Compass'' in North America and some other countries) is a young-adult fantasy novel by Philip Pullman, published in 1995 by Scholastic UK. Set in a parallel universe, it follows the journey of Lyra Be ...
'' had a production budget of $200 million. To be able to fund the film,
New Line Cinema New Line Cinema is an American film production studio owned by Warner Bros. Discovery and is a film label of Warner Bros. It was founded in 1967 by Robert Shaye as an independent film distribution company; later becoming a film studio after ...
had to sell all of the film's international distribution rights to various film distributors around the world. The film underperformed domestically, but was an international success; however, New Line did not have a cut of the international box office. These events were major factors in New Line becoming a division of
Warner Bros. Pictures Warner Bros. Pictures is an American film production and distribution company of the Warner Bros. Pictures Group division of Warner Bros. Entertainment (both ultimately owned by Warner Bros. Discovery). The studio is the flagship producer of ...
.


Recovery

Films that are initially viewed as "flops" may recover income elsewhere. Several films have underperformed in their countries of origin, but have been sufficiently successful internationally to recoup losses or even become financial successes. Films may also recover money through international distribution, sales to
television syndication Broadcast syndication is the practice of leasing the right to broadcasting television shows and radio programs to multiple television stations and radio stations, without going through a broadcast network. It is common in the United States wher ...
, distribution outside of cinemas, and releases on
home media Home media refers to media used for recording, copying, delivery, and playback of various types of entertainment and information in the home. Forms of home media include: * Home video * Magnetic tape * Phonograph record A phonograph record ( ...
. The 1995 post-apocalyptic action film ''
Waterworld ''Waterworld'' is a 1995 American post-apocalyptic action film directed by Kevin Reynolds and co-written by Peter Rader and David Twohy. It was based on Rader's original 1986 screenplay and stars Kevin Costner, who also produced it with Char ...
'' was the most expensive film ever made at the time undergoing significant production difficulties. While it performed relatively well in the US box office, it did not initially turn a profit and became known as a box office flop. However, international box office takings and video sales led it to turn a profit. Other films have succeeded long after cinema release by becoming cult films or being re-evaluated over time. High-profile films fitting this description include ''
Vertigo Vertigo is a condition where a person has the sensation of movement or of surrounding objects moving when they are not. Often it feels like a spinning or swaying movement. This may be associated with nausea, vomiting, sweating, or difficulties w ...
,'' ''
Blade Runner ''Blade Runner'' is a 1982 science fiction film directed by Ridley Scott, and written by Hampton Fancher and David Peoples. Starring Harrison Ford, Rutger Hauer, Sean Young, and Edward James Olmos, it is an adaptation of Philip K. Dick' ...
'', '' The Wizard of Oz'', ''
It's a Wonderful Life ''It's a Wonderful Life'' is a 1946 American Christmas fantasy drama film produced and directed by Frank Capra, based on the short story and booklet ''The Greatest Gift'', which Philip Van Doren Stern self-published in 1943 and is in turn loos ...
'', '' Citizen Kane'', ''
Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory ''Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory'' is a 1971 American musical fantasy film directed by Mel Stuart and starring Gene Wilder as Willy Wonka. It is an adaptation of the 1964 novel '' Charlie and the Chocolate Factory'' by Roald Dahl. The fi ...
'' and ''
The Shawshank Redemption ''The Shawshank Redemption'' is a 1994 American drama film written and directed by Frank Darabont, based on the 1982 Stephen King novella ''Rita Hayworth and Shawshank Redemption''. It tells the story of banker Andy Dufresne (Tim Robbins), w ...
'', each of which initially lost money at the box office, but have since become popular.


Studio failure

It is common for a single film's lackluster performance to push its studio in financial losses. However, in extreme cases, a bomb may push its studio into bankruptcy or closure. Examples of this include
United Artists United Artists Corporation (UA), currently doing business as United Artists Digital Studios, is an American digital production company. Founded in 1919 by D. W. Griffith, Charlie Chaplin, Mary Pickford, and Douglas Fairbanks, the stud ...
('' Heaven's Gate'') and
Carolco Pictures Carolco Pictures, Inc. was an American independent film studio that existed from 1976 to 1995, founded by Mario Kassar and Andrew G. Vajna. Kassar and Vajna ran Carolco together until 1989, when Vajna left to form Cinergi Pictures. Carolco h ...
(''
Cutthroat Island ''Cutthroat Island'' is a 1995 adventure swashbuckler film directed by Renny Harlin and written by Robert King and Marc Norman from a story by Michael Frost Beckner, James Gorman, Bruce A. Evans and Raynold Gideon. It stars Geena Davis, Matt ...
''). ''
The Golden Compass ''Northern Lights'' (titled ''The Golden Compass'' in North America and some other countries) is a young-adult fantasy novel by Philip Pullman, published in 1995 by Scholastic UK. Set in a parallel universe, it follows the journey of Lyra Be ...
'' was a success at the international box office and grossed $372 million worldwide; however, its underperformance at the box office in North America was seen as a significant factor in influencing
Warner Bros. Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. (commonly known as Warner Bros. or abbreviated as WB) is an American film and entertainment studio headquartered at the Warner Bros. Studios complex in Burbank, California, and a subsidiary of Warner Bros. D ...
' decision to take direct control of
New Line Cinema New Line Cinema is an American film production studio owned by Warner Bros. Discovery and is a film label of Warner Bros. It was founded in 1967 by Robert Shaye as an independent film distribution company; later becoming a film studio after ...
. In 2001, Square Pictures, a division of
Square In Euclidean geometry, a square is a regular quadrilateral, which means that it has four equal sides and four equal angles (90- degree angles, π/2 radian angles, or right angles). It can also be defined as a rectangle with two equal-length a ...
, released its only film, '' Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within''. It received mixed reviews from critics and failed to recover its $145 million cost. Following the film's struggles, Square Pictures did not make any more films. They are now a consolidated subsidiary of Square Enix as
Visual Works (formerly Visual Works and Image Arts), is a Japan-based CGI animation studio dedicated towards creating video game cut scenes and full-length feature films for Square Enix. Square Enix Image Studio Division was founded as Visual Works as the C ...
. In 2011, ''
Mars Needs Moms ''Mars Needs Moms'' is a 2011 American 3D computer-animated science fiction film co-written and directed by Simon Wells, produced by ImageMovers Digital and released by Walt Disney Pictures. Based on the Berkeley Breathed book of the same ti ...
'' was the last film released by ImageMovers Digital before
Disney The Walt Disney Company, commonly known as Disney (), is an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios complex in Burbank, California. Disney was originally founded on October ...
's stake got absorbed by ImageMovers to a loss of nearly $140 million – the largest box-office bomb of all time in nominal dollar terms. Despite this loss, the decision to close the production company had been made a year prior to the film's release.


Independent films

The 2006 independent movie ''
Zyzzyx Road ''Zyzzyx Road'' ( ), also called ''Zyzzyx Rd.'', is a 2006 American thriller film written, produced and directed by John Penney and starring Katherine Heigl, Leo Grillo, and Tom Sizemore. The film gained notoriety from its gross ticket sales ...
'' made just $30 at the US box office. With a budget of $1.2 million and starring Tom Sizemore and
Katherine Heigl Katherine Marie Heigl ( ; born November 24, 1978) is an American actress and former fashion model. She played Dr. Izzie Stevens on the ABC television medical drama ''Grey's Anatomy'' from 2005 to 2010, a role that brought her recognition and ...
, its tiny revenue is due to its limited box-office release – just six days in a single theater in
Dallas Dallas () is the List of municipalities in Texas, third largest city in Texas and the largest city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the List of metropolitan statistical areas, fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States at 7.5 ...
for the purpose of meeting
Screen Actors Guild The Screen Actors Guild (SAG) was an American labor union which represented over 100,000 film and television principal and background performers worldwide. On March 30, 2012, the union leadership announced that the SAG membership voted to m ...
requirements – rather than its ability to attract viewers. According to co-star Leo Grillo, it sold six tickets, two of which were to cast members. Previously, the 2000 British film '' Offending Angels'' had become notorious for taking in less than £100 (~$150) at the box office. It had a £70,000 (~$105,000) budget but was panned by critics including the
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...
, who called it a "truly awful pile of garbage", and ''
Total Film ''Total Film'' is a British film magazine published 13 times a year (published monthly and a summer issue is added every year since issue 91, 2004, which is published between July and August issue) by Future Publishing. The magazine was launched ...
'', who called it "irredeemable". In 2011, the film '' The Worst Movie Ever!'' opened to just $11 at the US box office. It played in only one theater.


Box-office flop

While terms like box-office flop (also box-office failure) and box-office bomb are sometimes used interchangeably, they are not same. A box-office bomb is technically worse than box-office flop.


See also

*
List of biggest box-office bombs In the film and media industry, if a film released in theatres fails to break even by a large amount, it is considered a box office bomb (or box office flop), thus losing money for the distributor, studio, and/or production company that invest ...
*
List of films considered the worst The films listed below have been cited by a variety of notable critics in varying media sources as being among the worst films ever made. Examples of such sources include Metacritic, Roger Ebert's list of most-hated films, ''The Golden Turkey ...
* List of films considered the best


References


External links


GetBack.com: Biggest Film Flops and Fiascoes

Biggest Box-Office Bombs of All Time – Inside Movies Blog
{{DEFAULTSORT:Box Office Bomb Bomb Film and video terminology