11 Movies Too Big To Fail (That Did Anyway)

The bigger they are, the harder they flop.

By Niall Gray /

Each year we see the release of several massive blockbusters, and the film industry is one that simply refuses to stop growing.

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Titles with budgets bigger than the average human earns in their lifetime are becoming more and more commonplace, and for the most part, they turn a profit for studios, thus fuelling the circle into repeating.

But there's a dark place where all those films that didn't succeed live, just out of sight and swept under the metaphorical rug in the hopes that we'll forget just how badly they fell apart.

The biggest failures are those that seemed as though they'd be the next big thing. All-star casts, stellar source material and big studio backing are all reasons to believe that a movie is destined for success, and it's all the more baffling when they simply miss the mark.

In one way or another, the following titles all failed somehow - whether financially, critically or otherwise - and the reasons for which are as varied as the movies themselves.

The fact is, we've seen many untouchable franchises fall foul of their audiences, or studios that can usually do no wrong bet big on movies that turned out to be duds.

11. Around The World In 80 Days

Adapted from the classic Jules Verne novel of the same name, 2004 saw the release of this family adventure starring Steve Coogan and Jackie Chan.

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Even with two big names in starring roles, the movie doubled down by casting countless other familiar faces as supporting characters: Jim Broadbent, Kathy Bates, Arnold Schwarzenegger, John Cleese and Luke and Owen Wilson, to name but a few.

Given the pedigree of the cast as well as the well-loved narrative, you'd be forgiven for assuming that Around the World in 80 Days was a raging success... but you'd still be wrong.

Bearing little more than a passing resemblance to Jules Verne's novel, the film didn't really deliver on Coogan's comedic chops or on Chan's action experience, instead settling for a run-of-the-mill adventure film that failed to grab the attention of children and had very little to offer adults.

Fans of the original story were baffled by the choice to cast Chan as the traditionally French character Passepartout, but all is revealed when a secondary storyline involving a secret society of martial arts masters is shoehorned into Fogg's journey.

Earning $72 million worldwide against an estimated budget of $140 million was par for the course, really.

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