10 Insanely Hyped Movies That Flopped HARD
Box office bombs of megaton proportions.
It happens everywhere to some studio. All the hype, budget and A-list talent in the world doesn't amount to big bucks when the box office bean counters are done tallying up the gate receipts of their latest "sure-fire" hit. These things can help make a hit movie, sure, but they don't guarantee success.
There have been films with the biggest stars attached which have launched to much fanfare, only to flop harder than King Kong under a barrage of aeroplane fire. In certain cases, these atomic box office bombs have even belonged to some of the biggest franchises in pop culture history. Complacency doesn't pay in this industry.
When a movie of this magnitude capitulates, the shockwaves rock Hollywood - careers suffer irreparable damage and studios collapse, in extreme cases.
Often you can smell a flop a mile away. From the trailers to the poster campaign, everything feels off from the get-go, but there have also been times when all signs pointed to a movie succeeding, only for the punters to give it a wide berth...
10. The Lone Ranger
The Mouse House and box office bomb rarely appear in the same sentence, unless we're talking about 2013's The Lone Ranger, a big-budget Western that passed by like a tumbleweed.
Hopes were high for this glitzy revival of a vintage hero. Director Gore Verbinski, producer Jerry Bruckheimer and star Johnny Depp proved a dream team when they united for the Pirates of the Carribean movies, so Disney had reasons to be confident ahead of release.
The Lone Ranger was tipped to have a similar impact to the Pirates series, but alarm bells sounded when its production ran into trouble, costs spiralled out of control and the studio threatened to pull the plug before Verbinski had the final cut in the can.
The film landed to scathing reviews and was roundly ignored by audiences, leaving Disney with a financial black eye. Once the numbers had been crunched, The Lone Ranger's spectacular misfire cost the studio almost $100 million.
There was only one hi ho silver lining to speak of: it earned a couple of Oscar nominations for make-up and visual effects at the 2014 Academy Awards.