Fox
- Some of the biggest summer movie flops recently have been superhero movies, despite the genre’s otherwise impressive success at the box office.
- They include this summer’s "Dark Phoenix" and 2015’s "Fantastic Four" reboot.
- Some movies, like "The Happytime Murders," are just outright disasters commercially and critically. Others, like "Solo: A Star Wars Story," require context to understand just how disappointing they were.
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At a time when it feels like superhero and Disney movies rule the box office, it’s easy to forget that plenty have also been flops.
Some of the biggest theatrical bombs in recent years were superhero movies, from the recent "X-Men" movie, "Dark Phoenix," to 2015’s misguided "Fantastic Four" reboot.
And Disney has had its fair share of misses. While the company drops enough hits to make up for that, it’s released some absolute duds. They include 2016’s "Alice in Wonderland" sequel, "Alice Through the Looking Glass," and 2012’s big-budget failure, "John Carter."
We looked back at the last 10 years to gather some of the biggest summer flops. They range from hopeful blockbusters like "Solo: A Star Wars Story" to just plain critical and commercial disasters like "The Happytime Murders."
Below are 12 summer movie flops from the last 10 years:
"Dark Phoenix" (2019)
Fox
Domestic box office: $65.8 million
Worldwide box office: $252.3 million
Production budget: $200 million
"Dark Phoenix" is the lowest-grossing movie in the "X-Men" franchise. It failed to crack even $100 million domestically, and barely scraped together enough cash to earn back its production budget. The movie puts a disappointing cap on Fox’s "X-Men" series before Disney and Marvel Studios take over.
"Solo: A Star Wars Story" (2018)
Disney/Lucasfilm
Domestic box office: $213.8 million
Worldwide box office: $392.9 million
Production budget: $275 million
By Disney "Star Wars" standards, "Solo: A Star Wars Story" is an utter disappointment. "Solo" was ravaged by behind-the-scenes turmoil, and director Ron Howard replaced Phil Lord and Chris Miller late into production. The prequel is the only movie during the Disney era, which started in 2015 with "The Force Awakens," that hasn’t cracked $1 billion worldwide, and the first that potentially lost Disney money.
"The Happytime Murders" (2018)
STX Entertainment
Domestic box office: $20.7 million
Worldwide box office: $27.5 million
Production budget: $40 million
"The Happytime Murders," a R-rated puppet movie starring Melissa McCarthy, was a bomb critically and commercially. The movie was one of the worst reviewed of 2018 with a 23% critic score on Rotten Tomatoes, and it didn’t even make back its $40 million production budget.
See the rest of the story at Business Insider
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Source: Business Insider – tclark@businessinsider.com (Travis Clark)