10 Signs An Upcoming Film Is Going To Bomb HARD

10. Delays, Delays, Delays

Though there are certainly acceptable reasons for a movie to be delayed - especially in 2020 of all years - it's almost never a good sign when a film gets continually pushed back.

If nothing else, it suggests that the studio hasn't got faith in the film's box office potential, particularly its ability to compete with movies releasing within the same period.

In extreme cases this can result in a movie not finally being released until two or even three years after it was shot, as happened most recently with The New Mutants, which hit screens almost three years after principal photography wrapped.

To the surprise of nobody, The New Mutants was neither a good film nor a box office success, and yet further proof that films which languish for years are generally troubled projects which the studio doesn't know what to do with.

There are rare examples to the contrary - such as Mad Max: Fury Road spending two-and-a-half years in post-production before releasing to rave reviews - yet this is otherwise one of the most reliable predictors of an incoming dud.

After all, does a single living soul expect that the upcoming fantasy blockbuster Chaos Walking - which began shooting in August 2017 - will be anything less than a $100 million box office catastrophe, pandemic or not?