Biggest Box Office Bombs Of 2016

2016 was year of record-breaking movies, however it was also a year of abysmal box office performances, and not even established directors (Ang Lee, Steven Spielberg), A-list stars (Mark Wahlberg, Brad Pitt, Chris Hemsworth), or Disney, which set a new record with over $7 billion in ticket sales, managed to end the year without some blemishes.  

Deepwater Horizon

2016 saw the release of two Peter Berg movies starring Mark Wahlberg, the first of which, Deepwater Horizon, managed to be as much of a box office disaster as the story in which it is based on. With a production budget set somewhere near the $110 to $120 million, Deepwater Horizon grossed $118 million worldwide, a far cry from the $180 to $190 it needed to break-even.

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadow

The second installment in the new franchise centered in the heroes in a half shell grossed $245 million in theaters worldwide. The June release cost $135 million to produce before adding the expensive marketing campaign, and as such, it lost at least roughly $75 million.

Incidentally, the $245 million the movie made is about half as much as what the first movie did back in 2014, which was $493 Million on a $10 million shorter budget.

Ghostbusters

Loudly hated by pretty much everyone with internet access from the word go, Paul Feig's reimagining of the classic and much beloved supernatural comedy featuring female leads did managed to almost double its $144 million production budget by grossing $229 million worldwide, however, insiders say that the studios involved (Village Roadshow, Sony Pictures,…) stand to lose something like $70 million since the project needed to reach at the very least $300 million to break even.

Allied

The Robert Zemeckis directed WWII spy drama starring Brad Pitt and Marion Cotillard was unable to find many allies in critics and audiences alike. The Thanksgiving release cost $85 million to produce and at the time of writing grossed just $80 million worldwide. Adding marketing costs, the film stands to lose somewhere between $75 million to $90 million.

The BFG

Steven Spielberg's adaptation of Roald Dahl's book The BFG had everything going for it to be a box office success, unfortunately, that was not the case. The $140 million project had a major director behind it, positive reviews, and a great release date (the 4th of July break), however, due to the heavy and costly marketing campaign, Disney, Participant Media, and Spielberg's Amblin Entertainment have reportedly lost between $90 million to $100 million on the film.

Gods of Egypt

Plagued with controversy since it was announced, Alex Proyas' very white fantasy epic set in old Egypt did managed to gross $10 million over its jaw dropping $140 million production budget, however, taking marketing and other factors (theaters) into account, the pricey flick is reported to have lost at least $90 million.

The Huntsman: Winter's War

Despite having a star-heavy cast with Chris Hemsworth, Emily Blunt, Jessica Chastain, and Charlize Theron, the sequel and spinoff to the 2012 Snow White and the Huntsman failed to live-up to its box office expectation due to marketing costs (again). The Huntsman: Winter's War grossed $164 million on a $115 million production budget, and analysts say it lost north of $75 million.

The Finest Hours'

Back in March, Disney chairman Bob Iger reported to investors that the studio had taken a $75 million slap in the face from its historical drama starring Chris Pine, The Finest Hours. The U.S. Coast Guard flick cost $80 million to produce and grossed a paltry $52 million in theaters worldwide.

Billy Lynn's Long Halftime Walk

With Life of Pi grossing over $600 million in theaters worldwide back in 2012, Fox was eager to see what Ang Lee had up his sleeve for his next project. Well, what Lee had was the drama Billy Lynn's Long Halftime Walk, which didn't even managed to break even on its $40 million production budget. The high frame-rate drama didn't have a heavy marketing campaign, however, according to insiders, since the project is likely to do very little business on other venues (home entertainment/TV) Billy Lynn stands to lose about $40 million or more.

Alice Through the Looking Glass

Saying Alice Through the Looking Glass underperformed at the box office is selling its epic failure short. The sequel to Tim Burton's Alice in Wonderland, which incidentally grossed over $1 billion worldwide, cost $170 million to produce and peaked at $299 million in theaters worldwide. The May release not only lost at least $70 million, but made it loud and clear that audiences are done with this world (for now at least).

The Divergent Series: Allegiant

The Divergent franchise is this year's unfortunate poster child for the law of diminishing returns. The first movie, Divergent (2014), was a small success for Lionsgate, therefore when it came time for the sequel, the studio ramped up the production budget to the would-be successor to the then fading The Hunger Games only to see a miniscule bump in the box office.

The affair with the YA property ended this year with Allegiant, which cost $110 million to produce and grossed a measly $179 million in theaters worldwide, meaning Lionsgate lost roughly $50 million after taking into consideration the marketing campaign.

Now, the studio has pulled the plug on any future theatrical releases and has opted to end the franchise on television.

Rules Don't Apply

Warren Beatty's passion project, which he spent years and years developing, bombed so hard at the box office that it must have been hard for Beatty to explain what happened to its sixteenth producers and financiers, which included Steven Mnuchin, Donald Trump's pick for Treasury Secretary. In the end, hampered by not having a worldwide release, Rules Don't Apply grossed a meager $3.6 million in the USA, a long way away from its $25 million production budget.

Ben-Hur

Timur Bekmambetov's biblical epic Ben-Hur was a bomb of truly biblical proportions. Costing upwards of $110 million to produce, and a reportedly $120 to market, Ben-Hur only managed to scrape $94 million worldwide, making it one of the biggest flops of the year.

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