A lot of Hollywood bombs have detonated in movie theaters in the last 20 years, but some
of these high-profile failures were made even more embarrassing because of the movies that
beat them at the box office.
Here are some big movies that went head-to-head at the theaters - with the major release losing
hard.
The Lone Ranger vs. Despicable Me 2
The director of Pirates of the Caribbean and Disney teaming up again for another Johnny
Depp vehicle?
Sounds like a clear win.
But according to The Hollywood Reporter, problems with The Lone Ranger production set in almost
immediately, as the budget started to balloon.
With a weak script, a 149-minute running time, and a Depp performance that some reportedly
found racist, Lone Ranger bombed hard.
It premiered the same weekend as Despicable Me 2, and despite Ranger costing almost three
times as much to make, the animated film beat it by more than $50 million.
Disney ended up losing $150 million, and the dream of the Lone Ranger franchise was over
before it really even started.
Scream vs. Beavis and Butt-Head Do America
Scream was a surprisingly insightful takedown of teen slasher films that went on to create
its own franchise and inspire the Scary Movie films - but it didn't start huge.
In fact, it debuted in fourth place over its opening weekend, beat out by the overall weekend
winner Beavis and Butt-Head Do America, which grossed over $20 million.
Scream's $6 million opening weekend didn't scream success, but after getting very favorable
reviews and generating good word of mouth, the movie ended up grossing $103 million domestically.
"I'll send you a copy."
John Carter vs. The Lorax
Finding Nemo director Andrew Stanton was thrilled to get a chance to bring his favorite sci-fi
book series to the big screen with his 2012 film John Carter, which combined romance and
deep space action.
The film had high hopes, and Disney was ready to make it a franchise.
But with a $250 million budget on a property that most modern filmgoers aren't familiar
with, it wasn't surprising when rumors of impending failure started spreading.
According to Vulture, John Carter's first trailers were met with tepid reactions, which
translated to some pretty weak ticket sales.
On opening weekend, it was beat out by The Lorax, which was in its second week in theaters
and had only received mediocre reviews.
Lorax beat Carter by $8 million, and in the end, Disney lost $200 million.
The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift vs. Nacho Libre
You might not have many fond memories of the comedy disappointment known as Nacho Libre,
but the filmmakers behind it will always get to brag that they beat a Fast and the Furious
film.
Tokyo Drift, the third entry of the high-intensity action series, nearly stalled out.
Featuring basically none of the main characters from the first two movies and set in an entirely
new location, audiences seemed to be losing interest in fast cars doing impossible things
on city streets.
Tokyo Drift and Nacho Libre opened head to head and the action franchise was fully expected
to beat the relatively low-budget comedy.
But Nacho Libre came out on top by a $5 million margin - although they both still lost to
Pixar's Cars in its second week.
Inferno vs. Boo!
A Madea Halloween
Tom Hanks and Ron Howard were probably not thrilled to lose out to a Madea movie.
The duo suffered from a greatly diminished box office for their second Robert Langdon
film, Angels & Demons, which grossed $133 million domestically compared to the $217
million haul enjoyed by its predecessor The Da Vinci Code.
Unfortunately, the third film, Inferno, did even worse.
It opened in second place at $17 million on a weekend with no competition except the second
week of Boo!
A Madea Halloween.
In the end, Tyler Perry in drag easily outgrossed America's dad, Tom Hanks.
"Ahh!"
Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery vs. Breakdown
Though he'd already had a hit with Wayne's World, Austin Powers: International Man of
Mystery showed the world that Mike Myers didn't need to rely on his previous success with
SNL to stay relevant.
That being said, Powers was far from an instant smash.
On its opening weekend, the Myers movie lost to the Kurt Russell thriller Breakdown.
While Breakdown hasn't really stood the test of time, it beat Austin Powers by about $3
million when they both debuted.
The satirical British spy went on to do fine at the box office, and then exploded on home
video.
Austin Powers became a cult favorite and the sequel opened at almost $55 million, quite
a bit higher than the original's $9 million.
"Yeah baby!
Yeah!"