19 Movies That Bombed And Killed The Studios That Made Them

[@Looper]

Do you think any of these movies deserved more success?

[@ciscolobo1]

The golden compass absolutely did, but thanks to a particularly prominent religious group.. who thought it was going against their religion in particular, it bombed because they encouraged anyone of their faith to boycott it. 🤦‍♂️

@@ciscolobo1 cultists

[@WarioSaysSo]

I still to this day can't grasp how "Titan E.A." was not a massive hit (?) It is a masterpiece with a great & very dark story we had not seen before. It had interesting characters, great action scenes and was overall a great looking movie.

[@DrtyALGreen]

Eddie and the Cruisers is actually awesome with a great soundtrack...I recommend a watch for sure.

[@jayluck8047]

I played “NY City Song” (the finger picking version from (EATC II) for my grade twelve solo. What an annoying set of chord changes; but I love it all the same. It’s the one campfire song that nobody remembers hearing before.

[@Sketchborne]

Ouch, I love Titan AE, The Rocker, & liked Golden Compass. Then again, I love John Carter.

[@Syncrotron9001]

The device Gune makes in his dreams is the "Globe of Science and Innovation" which is a real place.

[@IanM-id8or]

I haven't seen the others listed, but I also loved John Carter. Where it went wrong was that it wasn't marketed properly - they should have called it "John Carter of Mars Chapter 1 - A Princess of Mars" - then people would have known what it was. Also, they should have actually advertised it

[@Amaranthine1000]

I liked Golden Compass too and Titan AE not so much John Carter though. I always hoped for a sequel to Golden Compass but alas I have to satisfy myself with the TV series instead.

[@LadyBeyondTheWall]

I loved Golden Compass and John Carter too! But they really screwed up marketing Carter. When I watched it I just decided to watch something random one day, had absolutely no idea what it was even about. I ended up loving it and as I was watching it, I had remembered seeing vague commercials for it but none of it remotely portrayed what I was actually watching. So weird. It could have done so much better.

[@j2art]

I think John Carter is a great movie. To go along with what someone else commented, Disney didnt market for it. Something that wasn't mentioned in the video is that Disney also set out to sabotage Titan AE. They didnt want Fox Animation to succeed so they rereleased Little Mermaid into theaters when titan AE came out. Just one of the things they did.

[@Fibonacci64]

”The Right Stuff” is great. A bit too long, of course, over three hours. I loved ”One From The Heart”, groundbreaking, and there’s no mentioning of the fantastic soundtrack by Tom Waits with support by Crystal Gayle. Lives on, for sure.

[@ryanstauffer119]

I love "Looney Tunes Back in Action". It's how I got introduced to Looney Tunes. I actually love it more than "Space Jam". For years, I have wanted a sequel to that film. It's one of those films that I watched everyday as a kid.

[@lorenclarke7815]

"Out of my way, fancy boy. I'm commadering this here clown car." is one of all time favorite movie quotes.

[@blazewinchester1309]

It's a Wonderful Life looks so WEIRD COLORIZED 😱😱

[@corq]

Agreed!

[@ulfaman8927]

I can not understand why cutthroat island bombed so hard? I loved it when it was released and can still watch it with joy

[@victoriasalter1701]

Heaven’s Gate also had real animal cruelty involved in the filmmaking.

[@SpeedyEric1]

Including a horse exploding, which is in the film.

[@khatdubell]

"in 1996 warner brothers proved it could blend live action and animation" ...guess we're just gonna ignore roger rabbit that came out almost a decade earlier? Not to mention that isn't even the first to do it. Blending live action and animation was done in the 1900's. I think it was called "alice" something or other (No, not alice in wonderland)

[@crystalshaw8744]

The Right Stuff was my ish. Plain and simple.

[@CGossRunnn]

Saw the Golden Compass in theaters and disappointed it never got sequels. I really liked it

[@Akira625]

Ugh, the colorization on It's A Wonderful Life is awful. Why didn't Looper just show the original?

[@markthomas6236]

I love what you do

[@Crosswalker.]

I had Titan AE and Final Fantasy on VHS and loved them 😊 watched them numerous times...

[@indianaCurtis]

Erm.... New Line is still around it's been a warner bros subsidiary since the 90s or so...that being said y'all should do a video of movies that flopped so hard they ALMOST killed Major Studios! Cheers!

[@OfficialDiRT]

Eddie and the Cruisers is a classic with an amazing soundtrack.

[@bruce4623]

I actually have 6 of the movies mentioned in the video 😆 Cutthroat Island, Titian A.E., Final Fantasy Spirits Within, Battlefield Earth, Gods and Generals, The Golden Compass.. They forgot " *SKY CAPTAIN and the WORLD of TOMORROW* ", that company didn't survive after the movie was released.

[@thebluestig2654]

Robert Zemeckis didn't have anything to do with the creation of Motion Capture animation. Videogame studios were using it for years before it was ever used in movies.

[@jayluck8047]

Too be fair, FF The Spirit Within came out the same weekend as the first Fast and Furious movie. It didn’t stand a chance once word of mouth got out about how one sucked, and one was awesome.

[@thebluestig2654]

The real reason for the failure of Spirits Within is because of FF7 fanatics. The movie wasn't FF7, so to them it automatically sucked without them ever seeing it.

[@GeorgieB1965]

I actually tried reading the novel "Battlefield Earth", long before the movie was even thought of. Only got a 1/6 of the way through the 800+ page novel before I gave up on it. That novel is great if you got insomnia.

[@wesdoobner7521]

I read the novel and it was pretty good. Didn't watch the movie because the aliens were supposed to be 8 foot ape like creatures, not John Travolta with dreadlocks.

[@willnoiles2001]

‘Right Stuff’ was released in 1982, but the distributor The Ladd Company folded in 1997. How can one attribute a film from 15 years earlier to the company’s demise? That’s really stretching things.

[@corq]

Thank you for calling this out!

[@ZackaryAsAlways]

Raise the Titanic was my version of the James Cameron. The film sparked my interest in the Titanic. I think the movie for so much

[@IanAnthonyMartin]

As a space enthusiast, I've never understood the appeal of the book or movie The Right Stuff. Good to know that the rest of the potential audience largely agreed with me.

[@Bobsk3]

Why are you using the colored version of It’s a Wonderful Life? Looks weird and disrespectful to one of the greatest classic (Christmas) movies!

[@nairbvel]

Part of the problem with "The Golden Compass" was that it was seriously Bowdlerized from the original books, and the fans familiar with the original books made sure to (properly) complain about to anyoone listening. If they'd actually produced a film adaptation of the book, instead of trying to rewrite the books, it's quite possible the entire trilogy would've been made and brought in a profit.

[@dhenderson1810]

Fans of books never like the movie, no matter what it is. Fans of "books" are often intellectual snobs who look down on the movie catering to the masses. Book fans treat all the books they read like it is the Bible and not a dot or dash can be added or removed, no matter mind-mumbling boring the book is.

[@paullastnamehere3295]

Gonna have to make a separate list for when Disney (Marvel, Lucas Films, and/or Pixar) shuts down. All of their movies continue to bomb. Loosing over a billion in theater revenue in a single year is not a good business strategy.

[@dhenderson1810]

Doesn't help when an "anti-Disney" campaign is being run on KZbin and social media by people wanting to take down a tall poppy to feel less inadequate about themselves. Other studios make flops but only Disney is attacked, because it is rich and successful.

[@paullastnamehere3295]

@@dhenderson1810 Multiple Disney executives, including Bob Iger, have said they are pushing an ESG/DEI agenda. This is shown in their current movies and shows. They have even stated themselves they have gone into older movies and injected ESG/DEI agenda items into the movies and shows then published them on Disney+ and physical media. Disney used to be family orientated. Now they are injecting the ESG/DEI agenda into everything. Disney is taking a hit because the majority of their fan base doesn't want the ESG/DEI agenda thrown into their face especially when they change original characters and story lines. If you want to support Disney and their ESG/DEI agenda that is being funded by people like George Soros, that is your right. KZbinrs that point these things out, and other things, are informing the public on what is going on. People are making their own minds up whether or not to support companies like Disney and there are a lot of people not happy with the direction that Disney has chosen. In other words, Disney isn't producing the same material that made them so famous. They are producing material to boost their ESG/DEI score. The executives themselves are saying this and it shows in their movies and shows. They want the minority fan base even if it doesn't make them money.

[@machupikachu1085]

@@dhenderson1810 Disney did it to themselves. And they deserve it.

[@mrsk812]

Wow, The Right Stuff is my all time favorite movie!

[@andrewmurray1550]

how can a movie with Mrs Fletcher, 22:57, Grand Moff Tarkin 23:22 and Madeline Hayes 22:56 surely can't go wrong :)

[@VideoAssaultSaturday]

It's a wonderful life is literally a classic, what a shame... how ridiculous!

[@ThatGuyNorm]

I must be the only person who enjoyed Cutthroat Island and Battlefield Earth. 😂

[@corq]

Commenter above you, agrees. There's at least two of you ;-)

[@AlexBabbage]

I will never understand why Looney Tunes Back In Action failed. It's a great movie.

[@americansuperdad5769]

Loved Titan A.E.

[@CappyLarou]

ummm, Eddie and the Cruisers was a huge movie with a huge chart topping song, learn your history

[@corq]

God I remember how often MTV cycled Eddie and the cruisers music videos, it was good movie, and perfect for it's time.

[@Ninewave1]

It's A Wonderful Life in color is wrong

[@KenMasters.]

Christmas films aren't the same without Christmas colors.

[@dhenderson1810]

​@@KenMasters. I was bored at "It's A Wonderful Life", as it spent too long on building up to the ultimate premise and not long enough on George reflecting on how life would be if he was never born. Spent too long on the love story.

[@Monkey_Boy9602]

I had a friend tho was into the hype around "FF: TSW", and we *had* to see it because "this was the future of Cinema"! I was severely disappointed because I thought it would be a theatrical sequel to the video game, Final Fantasy VII, and there was no Cloud, Barrett, Tifa, Yuffie, Vincent, Red XIII, Cid- there weren't even any chocobos! So we saw "Kiss of the Dragon" directly afterwards, since I wanted to see that on the first place. Seeing Jet Li embed a poolball into a henchman's forehead was just the pallette cleanser I needed!

[@thebluestig2654]

This is the real problem why Spirits Within failed, FF7 fans who had their first, and sometimes ONLY interaction with the FF games in FF7. Why did you assume that the movie was going to have ANYTHING to do with FF7 when FF8, FF9, and FF10 were ALL released before the movie was and every single one of the "sequels" had NOTHING to do with FF7 at all? None of the FF games up to that point were linked, they were all different stories, all different characters, from 1 all the way to 10.

[@Monkey_Boy9602]

@@thebluestig2654 I was an idiot. FFVII was indeed the only one I'd played up to that point and I only played it because my roommate bought it. So, naturally I assumed that it was like every other game, using the same core characters for each sequel. I had moved out before the 8th game was released, so I never saw the following games, nor did I seek out older ones because I no longer had a NES, and I wasn't really into turn-based RPGs anyway until years later. I only got into that one because I'd watched him playing it and I thought the graphics- and especially those summons- were sick! That's why when I saw the trailers for the movie, I was confused, but I figured that it was at least set in the same world. I was hoping that we'd get cameos and have elements from the game I'd played. It wasn't until after we saw the movie that I had it made clear. My friend explained that each game was basically "the final fantasy" for each group of characters, which helped me understand what was going on. I started playing the games again with FFXIII before going back and playing the others that I missed. I actually own "FF: TSW" in 4K now, and enjoy it quite a bit more than I did my first go round.

[@markjahnke5130]

Best in black and white for its a wonderful life.

[@lurkerrekrul]

Battlefield Earth - My friend thinks this is a good movie because he says the special effects are good. There's no accounting for taste.

[@mikesmotorsportsgamingrevi4814]

I'm surprised by The Looney Tunes back in Action as I went to see that in theaters with my family I was probably around 9 or 10 years old and we enjoyed every minute of it and if I'd have been older I would have gone back to see it again I couldn't wait to add it to my movie collection years later I also prefer this movie to Space Jam I've just never been big into sports

[@ross-carlson]

Shocking that The Right Stuff was a flop as its absolutely one of the greatest movies of all time.

[@kalgrove6426]

I once tried to watch Battlefield Earth and couldn't make it 30mints in 😂

[@petergibson7287]

Raise the Titanic as awesome and i watched it over and over, and then read the book; I don't get why it bombed. Battlefield Earth was also excellent and I've read that book too. I don't understand the hate it gets; it's very good science fiction.

[@corq]

Upvoted for RTT, nooooooottttt so sure about Battlefield Earth, but tastes vary, so I support your love of the film ; - ) Overbudget/under-earning movies aren't the same as "bad movies."

[@batmous]

As much as it pains me to say this, but the 2009 "Astro Boy" movie also managed to bankrupt its own animation studio Imagi; not even a McDonald's Happy Meal promotion managed to save its box office chances

[@raydunn8262]

Thank you 1. The Right Stuff: Yawn. Best for insomnia. 2. I wonder if Battleship Earth could help in deprogramming from Sciencetology

[@waynefarmer3044]

It's a wonderful life Masters of the universe Superman Battlefield earth We're all great classic movies.

[@everettbateman4741]

I liked Eddie and the Cruisers. I think Michael Pare was underrated as an actor.

[@BadCompanyBravo]

The music in the background of 3:54 I know it’s finna be good video

[@corq]

The Right Stuff won 4 oscars, this should tell you how weird hollywood economics are. It's an incredible film. Seems like the producers went for broke, but righteously. Some things are worth doing, even if not profitable.

[@laserblast92]

Disney has lost more money during the past 2 years then most of these studios combined!

[@shipdit8421]

How can you be 6 days behind schedule 5 days into filming?? Lmao remarkable

[@lmoore3567]

The Golden Compass was a TERRIBLE movie, especially when held up against the books. And it's a fatal mistake to try to remove the most important aspect of the story when creating the movie adaptation. Everyone who had read the novels knew that there was no way the studio could faithfully follow the narrative after butchering it so badly in the first film. Looper, you should know exactly why that film failed. "For some reason...." Give me a break 🙄

[@KenMasters.]

The Golden Compass is best described as being the bad opposite of Narnia. Narnia was a successful film with a Godly message. Golden Compass was an unsuccessful film with a godless message.

[@Pyrok007]

The rocker was hilarious

[@masudashizue777]

"It's a Wonderful Life" might have done better if shot in color. B&W films always looked dark and depressing.

[@goresnet]

Was that Eddie Izzard in that last clip?

[@mikesands4681]

Earning 2 million on 2.3 million isnt exactly a bomb. Wonderful life

[@aliceosako792]

Curiously, _Heaven's Gate_ is based - very, very loosely - on the so-called 'Johnson County War', a real conflict between farmers and ranchers in Wyoming from 1889 to 1893. The film barely resembles the actual events.

[@richardharris8867]

Heart Like a Wheel is a really good movie.

[@davidjackson2524]

Isn't that film about a female drag racer? I think it stars Bonnie Bedelia, who we know as John McClane's wife in Die Hard 1 and 2

[@richardharris8867]

Yes and her portrayal of the racer is outstanding@@davidjackson2524

I loved Mars needs Moms screw the haters

[@BlackKoshka23]

But I liked Cutthroat Island!

[@cherezabotterman9433]

There is a call of duty infinat worefair zombies easter eg in the first move shown. But its not in the move but its creator. Wiliam Wiler. The character Willerd Wiler in cod infinit warfair zombies is based off of William Wiler

[@dcpunisher4781]

Honestly, Battlefield Earth isn't that bad. I saw here for free on KZbin back in September...and I was honestly entertained. Of course the huge plot holes like the still-functioning Fighter Jets that have been sitting in a garage for hundreds or thousands of years are just funny to laugh at now, but I honestly wonder if people back in 2000 or 2001 were just too uptight and that's why they hated on this movie so bad. It's a Bad movie, but in the 70's way of "Bad". As in, "This is one BAD motherf*cka!"

[@masudashizue777]

You couldn't pay me to see some of these films.

[@anthonyporcellini3150]

Never heard of Eddie and the Cruisers??? apparently no one in the making of this video was in New Jersey during the 80's!!

[@steverichardson8080]

You guys missed Waterworld and its bankrupting of Carolco

[@TheRealRedAce]

Some were great, some weren't. Cutthroat Island deserved much better. Battlefield Earth didn't.

[@1988nProud]

The golden compass at the time of its making gave me hope for hollywood becuase i couldnt comprehand them starting this given a specific scene in book 3. Its aftermath confirms it, n in todays world i see no hope, for somethong like that to ever grace the screens. I would say the scene but yt algorithm n shadowposting is annoying😢

[@heavyecho1]

The BBC / HBO did a pretty good job and included the scene you are referring to. Although they finished it, the last part was shortened due that bout of the sniffles in 2020 / 2021 that if I named it would probably get me stop my post being seen.

[@JacobIkafrezon]

It might not be a theatrical movie but didn't High Guardian Spice destroy Crunchyroll Studios?

[@FOSSMANJosh]

Loney tunes back in action was Space jam

[@FOSSMANJosh]

Was better than space jam

[@adamduffy311]

It’s a Wonderful Life isn’t ON UK TV’s Over Christmas try a Christmas Carol or The Ten Commandment or Zulu ?.

[@rosario508]

Holy crap I saw Raise the Titanic in theaters when I was a kid!!! I completely forgot about it Edit: It’s pronounced ZO-TROPE!!! Not ZO-EE-TROPE!!!

[@Zxorcon]

the sad part about Battlefield Earth.. the movie was better than the book!!

[@danbeaudet6718]

The 'silo' scenes in Battlefield Earth, were filmed at a military base, where my brother was working, in Montreal. Too bad the movie sucks big time...

[@blackamerican40]

Cimino not Tramino!!

[@sharkyshark6760]

I loved gods and generals amazing movie

[@liberalman8319]

That movie sucked

[@x-movieclips]

BATTLEFIED EART WAS A GREAT and fucnny movie

[@Monkey_Boy9602]

I mean, it has hootin' and hollerin' CAVEMEN FLYING HARRIER JETS!!!! What more could you possibly need in a movie?! "Piece of cake!" 😂

[@srbrant5391]

The narrator’s voice needs WD-40.

[@corq]

LOL!

[@ryanmonty9542]

Why isnt any disney move on here????? THey lost BILLIONS!!

[@slackerman9758]

Battlefield Earth was such garbage.

[@TheBastardWombatKing]

Kapra korn

[@B818Champ]

Gods and Generals was best movie on the list

[@liberalman8319]

I rather face a firing squad than watch that snooze fest 😴.

[@TolleyBatten]

Battlefield earth is a brilliant sci fi book but an absolute crap film

[@vonc5]

I guess you have to be be 50 to care about these movies

[@corq]

I'mma take your comment as sincere, for the sake of others reading this. So modern movies will probably have lower budgets (adjusted for inflation, mind you) due to advances in special effects and computer animations that we won't even be able to notice with the human eye. "Modern" movies, may never make this list. The reason this list seems to flag on "old movies" is the disproportionate amount of money spent trying to achieve audience-pleasing effects, hoping with fingers crossed, that the studio would make it back at the box office. Often, the release timing is *everything* ...and then shiat happens. I hate to use the word "synergy" because it makes me cringe, but a lot of *successful* movies are successful due to timing and good luck. This list has an amazing wealth of really good movies that simply exceeded budget, and couldn't recoup, while modern movies special effects are just more cost effective now. In case you were just trollling for GenX'ers? I get you, but there are concrete reasons why these movies are mostly great, but failed financially. "Released to video" often made up the box office revenue loss at least in the 90's, but because they were sold to other producers for VHS/DVD/Streaming, they money made doesn't count toward the "success" metric of the movies' original release. See also: Lies, DAMN lies, and "statitistics". Statistically spealing and with hindsight, these movies were successful, but they weren't successful "enough" in their first year of release, so the production company sells off the rights prematurely, and a later generation of movie watchers discover that SAME movie, and elevates a title to "cult classic". Example: I still object to the Right Stuff being in this list, because it was HUGE, and also a great movie. But yeh it was crazy over-budget. Citation: I am a giant Rutger Hauer fan. He'd made EPIC action films that have amazing cult movie status, but were absolute Box office bombs. Many were shlocky, but my gawd those films were FUN, and had EPIC rental sales. It's literally movie studio "accounting" that makes or breaks good films. It's kind of why you're seeing the objections in the comments. A good movie's budget can be expensive, but the metrics of a movie's success is tracked only by the first few weeks of release, and doesn't compensate for market factors at the time. It also doesn't compensate for good "critically good" a movie really is. "It's a wonderful life" is a stone cold example of this.

[@lemmyhead8578]

Gods and Generals is not at all historically accurate.

[@JasonHalversonjaydog]

Surprised not to see "Zyzzyzx road" which obly made $30 and is the lowest grossing movie ever according to google