Given the critical respect/financial disrespect of the wonderful, geek-friendly romantic comedy Scott Pilgrim vs. The World, here’s a list of my top 10 financial disasters that should have been anything but:
10. The Adventures of Baron Munchausen (dir. Terry Gilliam)
Released on March 10, 1989. Here we follow the tale of the Baron, off to round up his crew of heroes so that he can return to save a small town that’s under attack by the Turkish Sultan — or something like that. The film is a fantastical children’s tale with all of these ridiculous elements put together. The studio didn’t like the Gilliam-ness, and Gilliam didn’t like the studio-ness (a common tale in the auteur’s long career). The film’s budget was $47M. Its domestic gross was $8M.
9. EDtv (dir. Ron Howard)
Released on March 26, 1999. Who knew that a romantic comedy starring Matthew McConaughey could flop? This is one of those movies that I enjoyed immensely when it first came out. It is funny and cute when it needs to be. Even though people like to call it the poor man’s Truman Show — which it technically is — I still love it. The film’s budget was $80M and its domestic gross was $22M.
8. Swept Away (dir. Guy Ritchie)
Released on October 11, 2002. I know this is a film that was pretty much panned by critics, and it definitely isn’t any Lock Stock and Two Smoking Barrels or Snatch, but I liked it. I personally found Cast Away to be an overall boring movie, but once you insert this love story with having the two people left on this island alone I was loving it. I loved how the stuck up rich blonde girl and the working seaman got along over all the time together on the island and they go from a relationship of needing each other to actually wanting each other. Then eventually when a shift in the importance of one to the other happens, we see the true nature of people. The film’s budget was $10M and the film’s domestic gross was $600,000.
7. Hudson Hawk (dir. Michael Lehman)
Released on May 24, 1991. Bruce Willis plays this charismatic thief who loves swing music. I know that this movie is overall a bad movie, but it’s one of those bad movies that I love to watch and if you love movies you will be with me laughing ear to ear at the ridiculousness of the film. Every time I see it on TV I have to stop and watch it and see things like Willis and his partner, played by Danny Aiello, rob an art house while singing Swing on a Star. It’s fantastic stupidness. The film’s budget was $65M and the domestic gross was $17M.
6. A Good Year (dir. Ridley Scott)
Released on November 10, 2006. Russel Crowe and Marion Cotillard fall in love in France. It’s two opposites who keep bumping into each other end up falling in love. Romantic comedies, when done well, are one of my favorite kinds of movies to watch. Crowe is so likable that even through the first half of the movie when he’s being an annoying prick to everyone you like him. The film’s budget was $35M and its domestic gross was $7M.
5. Speed Racer (Andy & Larry Wachowski)
Released on May 9, 2008. This still remains one of my favorite movies from 2008 to watch. It blew me away in the theater and every time I sit down to watch it in stunning 1080p I have to spend an extra 30 minutes scraping my jaw off the ground. The film dazzles you in every way it can visually and how closely it resembles the cartoony style that it needed to allow the fun action that is involved. The film’s budget was $120M and its domestic gross was $44M.
4. Grindhouse (dir. Robert Rodriguez & Quentin Tarantino)
Released on April 6, 2007. One of the best genre films that I’ve seen in my lifetime. Zombie and Slasher films have been redefined thanks to Rodriguez and Tarantino. Unfortunately the double-feature run time of just over three-hours messed up it’s chances of being a pre-summer box office hit that it wanted to be. However, I would prefer to sit through this movie twice over any day. The film’s budget was $67M and its domestic gross was $25M.
3. Man on the Moon (dir. Milos Forman)
Released on December 22, 1999. This is one of those movies which proved that no matter how silly Jim Carrey is, he’s the acting genius of our time. He can translate his slapstick comedy into brilliant drama at the snap of a finger. Playing the role of the brilliantly misunderstood comedian Andy Kaufman he changes from prankster to crazy from moment to moment perfectly in this movie. The film’s budget was $82M and the domestic gross was $35M.
2. The Iron Giant (dir. Brad Bird)
Released on August 3, 1999. For those of you there that believe that Brad Bird started out with The Incredibles need to go back and do some more animated-related history work. This feature is one of the most brilliant 2d animations to be released. The film’s budget was $70M and the domestic gross was $23M.
1. Zodiac (dir. David Fincher)
Released on March 2, 2007. This is, to date, David Fincher‘s best film (in my opinion). His filmmaking technique has finally reached its peak with this film that tells a comic artist’s perspective of the infamous Zodiac killings in San Francisco. Using all the information at hand he’s allowed to put together his theories and even though, like real life, we never see a man go to jail we definitely get an answer to the question of who did it in a way that you would never expect on screen. It can switch from deadly frightening to brilliantly truthful at any moment. It’s one of my all time favorite movies. The film’s budget was $65 and its domestic gross was $33M.
What are your favorite films that bombed?