the losses on these movies were out of
this world
welcome to watchmojo.com or you care a
story you fight for this list we'll be
going over the science fiction movies
which flopped at the box office and are
considered failures these can still be
good movies and some of them technically
garnered more box office revenue than
their budgets but the studio still took
a significant financial and reputational
loss if you like what you're hearing be
sure to check out the full song at the
link below
[Music]
number ten JOHN CARTER given that its
source material was written by the man
who created Tarzan it's surprising that
it took so long for an adaptation of
this pulp sci-fi story even so the books
were quite influential on numerous other
stories throughout the 20th century
maybe that's why audience has found the
plot relatively formulaic even if its
source material helped create the
formula whatever the reason John
Carter's struggled to recoup its
production budget of 263 million dollars
only making 284 million worldwide when
you factor in advertising John Carter
ended up being one of the most expensive
movies ever made and Disney lost money
on it
number 9 Gemini man Will Smith has
always been a big name at the box office
but even he can't save everything Gemini
man follows an assassin pursued by a
younger clone of himself that sounds
like a generic action movie from the 90s
that's because that's how long ago the
script for this one was shopped around
waiting for technology to reach the
point it could be properly made and
although the effects are indeed fairly
impressive the tired premise didn't draw
people in particularly domestically
where Gemini man grossed an unimpressive
48 million dollars its overall earnings
of 173 million were better but against a
budget of 138 million the movie still
faced losses we guess it was its own
worst enemy number 8 annihilation
this sci-fi horror film follows a team
of scientists who investigate an area
whose plants and animals have been
infected by alien influence volunteering
for this it's not exactly something you
do if your life isn't
perfect harmony although well received
by critics audiences were less
enthusiastic they clearly put their
money where their mouths were - since
annihilation barely made back its forty
million dollar budget by earning 43
million worldwide and with additional
costs factored in it's definitely not a
success like that the movie was
distributed partially online
internationally on Netflix a month after
its release and although this probably
didn't hurt it's gross too much it
probably didn't help either and I'm fine
going oh man you just need to decide
number seven dune based on the
influential sci-fi novel of the same
name
dune may have featured an all-star cast
and been helmed by a well-known director
the legendary David Lynch but audiences
and critics alike soundly rejected the
movie with most finding it an
incomprehensible mess I remember the
first step in avoiding a trap is knowing
of its existence and even fans of the
book left scratching their heads
you carry my unborn sister in your womb
dunes 40 million dollar price tag was a
bit too steep since its earnings fell
shy by about 10 million despite
everyone's best efforts and a later cult
following neither the spice nor the
profits managed to flow they defend the
spice ad as to their relationship with
the spice
Oh No number six Jupiter ascending
the Wachowski Tsar no stranger to sci-fi
epics but this original outing of theirs
failed to live up to their other work
following a young woman who discovers
she is the heir to an intergalactic
Empire and her attempts to save earth
Jupiter ascending has been roundly
criticized for its lame dialog
disjointed plot and campy acting and
those criticisms translated to a poor
performance at the box office 176
million dollars went into its budget and
after a paltry 47 million in domestic
earnings the film only ascended to 183
million dollars in its worldwide gross I
create and destroy number 5 mortal
engines maced on the book series of the
same name
mortal engines is set in a
post-apocalyptic world with huge
motorised cities and follows a
conspiracy in Mobile London they didn't
know what they plane with fire
director Peter Jackson has been lauded
for his previous book to screen
adaptations well some of them but this
is easily the most costly in losses with
a budget estimated between 100 and 150
million plus post-production and
marketing cost mortal engines pol din 83
million dollars of the box office this
is my fault
this lost the studio many tens of
millions and made the film not just one
of the biggest sci fi box-office bombs
but a giant fail of any genre and the
great game of survival this is checkmate
number four Blade Runner although this
cyberpunk detective film about a hunter
of androids has since been hailed as a
masterpiece and as one of the best
sci-fi movies ever made its initial
reception was much more lukewarm I want
you to go put the machine on it and if
the machine doesn't work
with many audiences disliking it's
relatively slow and thoughtful pace its
box office returns barely exceeded its
30 million dollar budget
painful to than fear isn't it sadly its
sequel Blade Runner 2049 would follow in
its footsteps 35 years later and become
another flop with many of the same box
office issues despite critical praise
all those potential profits lost in time
bank his number three Battlefield Earth
an adaptation of a book by Scientology
creator l ron Hubbard was always going
to be a risky proposition and it turned
out that the financial risk was not
worth the reward what do you know about
God's we have seen God's Battlefield
Earth follows a group of humans
rebelling against alien overlords in the
future yet it's generic premise has
rarely been received quite so poorly
with critics lambasted the film's hammy
acting and preponderance of Dutch angle
camera shots
it was hardly surprising that it failed
to recoup its 73 million dollar budget
only managing to earn 29 million at the
box office
everything you humans knew is here and
you can look at anything you want
because there's nothing that will help
you this legendary bomb even led to the
collapse of its production company
although falsely overstating the budget
to investors was also a prime factor
number two supernova it's never a good
sign when a director disowns a movie and
has to have their name removed from the
credits bigness place up
despite a decent cast and effect
supernova is yet another spaceship
encounters evil force leading to lots of
death movie which was all too common in
the 90s audiences were evidently tired
of them too since the film only earned
just shy of 15 million in theaters
that's what's called in the business not
so good considering it's 90 million
dollar budget supernova proved as
explosive as its namesake but not in the
cool way
before we get to our top pick here are a
few more sci-fi clunkers who made the
honorable mention where's the girl
nice to be working with you hotshot you
better hope I don't make it back before
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notifications number one The Adventures
of Pluto Nash this is your all timer
right here The Adventures of Pluto Nash
is an infamous film about a nightclub
owner on the moon who fights against the
Mafia you have to shoot around your boy
it's easier to shoot
now there's a pitch critically panned
and the subject of mockery since its
release Pluto Nash is also one of the
biggest bombs in box office history
making only around seven million against
its hundred million dollar budget well
the big budgets influence can definitely
be seen on screen with the special
effects the writing and the acting we're
simply not up to snuff
welcome to flop city population Pluto
Nash it's been real games oh do you
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patience irritation