10 Major Blockbusters You Knew Were Doomed Before Release

The films that made you wonder - why didn't they cut out the middle man and set a pile of money ablaze?

By Scott Campbell /

For an industry that seems to be taking increasingly less risks, Hollywood sure does like to spend hundreds of millions of dollars on properties that are by no means guaranteed to be successful. In this era of franchise filmmaking, movie studios are increasingly hedging their bets on mega-budget blockbusters in the hope it can lead to a lucrative string of feature films and merchandising spin-offs. When it works, it works well. The Marvel Cinematic Universe, the X-Men series, Pirates of the Caribbean, Transformers and both cinematic incarnations of Spider-Man are just a few of the franchises that have consistently generated solid returns over a series of summer tent-poles, regardless of quality. Based on a recognisable property with a built-in fanbase, these movies will always earn big bucks at the box office. However, Hollywood will never stop looking for the next great franchise and will run the risk of huge financial losses in an attempt to create it. With that in mind, this article will take a look at 10 major blockbusters that were always destined to fail. Some of these movies are ambitious projects that were plagued by bad publicity, while others just never seemed like great ideas to start with. The common thread that unites them is that their box office failure could have been predicted from a mile away. Do you agree with the article? Did any of these blockbusters ever have a real chance of success? Are there any other movies that you would have included? As always, sound off in the comments below.