Based on the 1960s TV series with the same name, the rights to “The Man From U.N.C.L.E.” were procured by producer John Davis way back in 1994. The Warner Bros. release with director Guy Ritchie premiered in August 2015, more than two decades later.
With Ritchie (Sherlock) at the helm as director and co-writer, hopeful optimism for a cool new retro-spy flick soared and then flopped. While the film delivers visually (as one would expect from a Ritchie endeavor), the Cold-War era spy thriller that saves the world from a secret international crime syndicate did not nestle itself into a niche clever enough for critics. And, up against “Austin Powers” (yet another 60s spy action-thriller comedy), there was tough competition. The movie lost $83 million dollars. With a budget of $75 million and a box office gross of $109.8 million, “The Man From U.N.C.L.E.” is considered a flop.
(2005) Estimated loss: $80 million
Baby Geniuses and Superbabies: Baby Geniuses 2 (2004)
"Baby Geniuses" was a 1999 comedy film about a bunch of babies that are, you guessed it, extremely smart. While most people would agree that it's hard to ruin a film about cute babies, the studio behind "Baby Geniuses" managed to do just that. The film received overwhelmingly negative reviews, but despite the poor ratings, the film managed to make a decent amount of money, a $36.5 million box office income.
The success of the original "Baby Geniuses" prompted the studios to make a sequel, "Superbabies: Baby Geniuses 2." The sequel also ended up being considered one of the worst films of all time. Fortunately, this one was a box-office failure. It only made $9.4 million against a $20 million budget, which meant that the string of horrible films had come to an end.
Estimated loss: $1.1 million
Basic Instinct 2 (2006)
Now, "Basic Instinct" is just one of those films you don’t mess with. It’s iconic, sexy, and thrilling for a reason, and this is most likely due to the decade it was released in. Sure, they might have brought Sharon Stone back for the sequel and perhaps even her little white mini dress, but more than 20 years later, it just wasn't the same. The film flopped at the box office, making only $38.6 million of the originally invested $70 million.
You know it’s Golden Raspberry-worthy when the director of the original film scoffed at the new script and flat-out refused to direct a film that was going to be somewhat sacrilegious. With reviews like “ludicrous” and “predictable”, it should’ve been instinctual to know not to resurrect a film from another time.
Estimated loss: $31.4 million
The Room (2003)
Some of you might not need an introduction to "The Room". It’s widely considered to be the worst film ever made, full of convoluted plotlines, incredibly bad editing, horrible music, and some of the worst acting displays you’ve ever seen. While many believed that "The Room" was a parody, it was actually a completely serious film made by and starring the mysterious Tommy Wiseau.
The film is so bad it sort of circles back to being good. The initial box office opening raked in less than $ 2,000 against a $6 million budget. Later, however, the film has gained a cult following since its abysmal release and is now one of the most popular bad films of all time. Many theaters in the United States have an annual theatrical showing of the film, and it’s always sold out with roaring and laughing fans.
Estimated loss: $5.9 million
Ben-Hur (2016)
Forbes referred to this film as "the summer's most predictable miss/catastrophe". Apparently, there weren't high hopes for this movie from the get-go, so its performance wasn't exactly surprising. The 2016 remake of Ben-Hur received generally negative reviews from all major movie critics. In fact, the only "accolades" it received included a Yoga Award, and an EDA Special Mention Award for "Sequel or Remake That Shouldn't Have Been Made" and "Worst Remake", respectively.
The film failed to attract the religious audience, the young audience, or any audience for that matter. It was listed by many publications as one of the biggest box office bombs of summer 2016, and one of the biggest flops of that year. The 1959’s Ben-Hur was an Oscar-winning smash, and remains beloved 'til this day, especially because the modern redo was so poorly executed.