The critics didn’t hate it, Oprah graced the big screen for the first time in, like, 20 years, it was based on the celebrated and adored children’s literary classic by Madeleine L’Engle, yet, somehow it only grossed its production budget. And for goodness sake, Disney backed it! The children’s film production leviathan lavished upwards of $60 million on TV ads, marketing, and other promos. Sadly, they would not recover those costs.
Overall, Disney and feel-good themes predominate the fantastically visual production directed by Sundance Film Festival award-winner Ava DuVernay. And overcoming evil, light over darkness, and the goodness of mankind preserving universal harmony, is exactly what you’d expect from Mrs. Which (Ms. Winfrey). The film disappointed hopeful expectations at the box office with a gross of $132.7 million. The budget is nearly a carbon copy at $130 million. Estimated loss registers at $86-$186 million.
Estimated loss: $86 -186 million
John Carter (2012)
Adjusted for inflation, John Carter lost up to $214 million. Director Andrew Staton (Pixar) based it on an obscure sci-fi novel by Edgar Rice Burroughs called "A Princess of Mars." Surprisingly, it takes place in Barsoom, not Mars. (Don’t call it Mars. Disney reportedly wanted to distance itself from its other flop Mars Needs Moms and shortened the original title from “John Carter of Mars” to just John Carter). Stanton, its eminent director, it seems, is the main culprit for the insane budget because of his film-scrapping, reshoots, and edits.
The Hollywood Reporter called it “a rather charming pastiche,” but reviews were definitely mixed. John Carter needed more than stellar reviews to save it. Unfortunately, the box office run ended at just over $73 million. Gross ticket sales were a tad higher at $284.1 million, but that didn’t erase the loss which was reported to be $130 - $214 million.
Estimated loss: $122-$200 million
Ghostbusters: Answer the Call (2016)
The original "Ghostbusters," which was released in 1984, was No. 1 at the box office for 7 weeks straight! It launched a hit song, a sequel, an iconic cartoon, and even its own holiday. The 2016 reboot had some extremely large shoes to fill, and evidently, it could not. The studio estimated that the movie would need to gross, at least, $300 million to break even on the investment. In the end; however, Sony suffered a grim $75 million loss.
The cast included Melissa McCarthy, Kristen Wiig, Leslie Jones, Kate McKinnon, and Chris Hemsworth, but even they weren't able to retrieve as much as half of the impact that the classic movie had. One take on the movie's less-than-ideal reception was the fact that the new, female-led installment wasn't exactly appealing to men, and apparently, there wasn't a strong enough female following to fill up the theaters.
Estimated loss: $75 million
Green Lantern (2011)
Before he solidified his character as the bad-boy Marvel superhero, Deadpool, Ryan Reynolds portrayed the DC Comics superhero, Green Lantern. He starred along with some other big A-list actors such as Angela Bassett, Peter Sarsgaard, Mark Strong, and his wife (whom he met on-set), Blake Lively.
Released in the summer of 2011, "Green Lantern" received generally negative reviews for its inconsistent tone, its portrayal of villains, and its mediocre use of CGI. Its execution was just poor. The project's production budget was a generous $230 million, but after its underperformance at the box office, it grossed only $219 million worldwide. Accounting for the production costs, which included costly 3D conversion, and marketing expenses, it cost Warner Bros. a painful $98 million. Consequently, any plans for a sequel were canceled.
Estimated loss: $98 million
American Anthem (1986)
You'd think that a sports drama film would make a decent amount of money, or at least get average reviews and ratings, but this was not the case with "American Anthem." The film starred Janet Jones, wife of the legendary Hall of Fame ice hockey player, Wayne Gretzky. It also stars the Olympic gymnast and gold medalist, Mitchell Gaylord. Critics called it the worst film of 1986.
American Anthem lost a few million dollars in the box office, and currently holds a 0% rating on Rotten Tomatoes. Audiences have been far more favorable of this film and bestowed it with a 65% rating based on over 1,300 user reviews. Gaylord himself went on to have an excellent sports career and was named the seventh-best US gymnast of all time in 2007. It seems that he learned his lesson, as he never appeared in a Hollywood film again.