I'm reminded of Stallone's Demolition Man and Judge Dredd. They're my favorite films Sly's ever done, but IIRC, they both failed at the box office.
Your Favorite "Box-Office Flops"
- Thread starter BigJake
- Start date
^^^
Judge Dredd failed, but Demolition Man did all right: $159 million worldwide against a $57 million production budget.
Judge Dredd failed, but Demolition Man did all right: $159 million worldwide against a $57 million production budget.
Just watched last week for the first time since Bush the Elder was President.
This show needs a cult following.
Obviously...
I really, really enjoyed Starship Troopers since first viewing in the theater.
However, while it certainly underperformed relative to expectations (or hopes), it's hard for me to consider it a "flop", since it earned back its budget and then some at the box office.
It made about half its budget's worth domestically, and a slightly larger amount overseas, so there's no chance in hell that it broke even from ticket sales alone.
"No chance in hell"?!? Well, we're not privy to the Hollywood accounting involved, or at least I'm not, so however doubtful it might seem that it made back to the penny the "marketing" and all the other bells and whistles on top of its estimated budget, I certainly can't agree to that level of certainty about it.
For the record, we're talking about a 1997 film that had a box office return of $121,214,377, and an estimated budget of $105 million [link]. Sure it underperformed relative to hopes and expectations, but I'm not calling it a flop in the sense of a bomb. You're free to do so, of course.
My top two flops that I absolutely love would be Sucker Punch and Prometheus. Both of these movies are loathed by so many people to which I just shrug my shoulders. To each their own.
Also I would have to add Scott Pilgrim from the OP's list. Great freakin day I love that movie so much.
Also I would have to add Scott Pilgrim from the OP's list. Great freakin day I love that movie so much.
I've read a few articles on the subject.
Budget covers only the production costs, I believe. Studios also tend to spend dozens of millions of dollars on marketing, plus the domestic and overseas distribution costs (which are substantial), countless additional fees (MPAA takes a decent cut, among others), etc.so however doubtful it might seem that it made back to the penny the "marketing" and all the other bells and whistles on top of its estimated budget, I certainly can't agree to that level of certainty about it.
For the record, we're talking about a 1997 film that had a box office return of $121,214,377, and an estimated budget of $105 million
This is why I can say with a high degree of certainty that Starship Troopers initially lost Sony a lot of money. Home video and TV rights probably made it profitable in the end, though.
Haven't we all.
With the split of box office revenue between the studio and the theatres a worldwide gross of just over the production budget makes it a flop. Same goes for John Carter ($284 million worldwide against a $250 million production budget), which lost a ton of money unfortunately.
Looking at the numbers for 1997, it's interesting that Starship Troopers did a little better box office than Austin Powers, which only came into its own on home video but eventually spawned two sequels. But it jibes with my own experience, I saw it in the theater but could hardly find anyone to talk about it with till the next year.
Austin Powers did much better than Starship Troopers theatrically in terms of return on budget.
Good point, it was a low budget production. Still I'm not sure the sequel would have made if the home video had mediocre numbers similar to the theatrical release.
I've only ever seen Starship Troopers described as a box-office disappointment, and never as a flop or bomb. 
But in a world in which there were only hits and flops, it would obviously be a flop.
But in a world in which there were only hits and flops, it would obviously be a flop.
There are degrees to everything. Starship Troopers isn't among the biggest bombs, but it still qualifies as a flop. A big budget film that equals or only slightly betters its production budget in worldwide box office is a flop, while one that grosses around 1.5X to 2X its production budget underperformed but didn't flop outright.
^ Guestimates such as those are the best us poor schlubs who don't have access to the actual balance sheets can do.
^^^
Yep, one can only make macro observations in general terms, not knowing the granular details of each film's finances, but there are general rules of thumb that are usually right.
Yep, one can only make macro observations in general terms, not knowing the granular details of each film's finances, but there are general rules of thumb that are usually right.
