11 Hilariously Expensive Direct To DVD Disasters
Morgan Freeman has basically made studios waste $95m on things nobody saw.
Nobody is trying to tell you that movies don't cost way too much money, but they generally get away with the obscene, unfeasible amounts of money because putting them in cinemas feels expensive and the general public generally spends enough in tickets to justify the expense. It's all part of the great movie swindle, but nothing is expensive as long as it's profitable.
But what about the financial black-holes where some unscrupulous producer ploughed millions of dollars into something that nobody had the good grace to admit was an absolute steaming pile that even Nicolas Cage would avoid? What happens when they make a miniscule amount back at the box office, or even worse are unceremoniously dumped before theatrical release because the studio has a sudden, catastrophic attack of self-awareness?
Well, those movies go straight to the DVD basement, the dungeon where former "sure things" go when they've ran out of steam, and where studios look on them like the ugly ex-girlfriends who almost ruined their lives. And there are some seriously, seriously expensive examples out there. Oddly enough, if you're looking to pull a Producers style con and make an absolute stinker, the winning formula seems to be hiring Morgan Freeman. Mr Dependable?
Not so much.
11. FoodFight!
Cost: $45m
How do you spend $45m on a film that looks like it cost ten bucks? Well, you hire someone like Threshold Entertainment, give a star vocal role to Charlie Sheen and then default on so many loans that the film ends up getting completed as low cost as possible and quietly dumped on DVD to get it out of the way.
Oh and make it Toy Story, but with brand icons. Et voila, you'll make $70k back on that truly astonishing budget.
Is It Any Good?
Absolutely not.