3. Green Lantern (2011) Budget: $200m/Total Gross: $219m
No doubt jealous of the continued success of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, DC went all-out to prove that one of their characters outside the 'Big Two' of Superman and Batman could headline a movie. Things didn't exactly go to plan; a hero is only as good as their villain, and unfortunately for Green Lantern the villain was a cloud. An undoubtedly risky proposition, an epic space opera featuring an intergalactic police force was always going to be a tough sell to casual audiences. Director Martin Campbell, who had managed to both update Zorro for modern audiences and reboot James Bond twice, seemed like a safe pair of hands. Ryan Reynolds was cast as the lead despite the shaky quality of his previous comic book movies (Blade Trinity and X-Men Origins: Wolverine, that's you) and surrounded by a a stellar cast that included Peter Sarsgaard, Tim Robbins, Geoffrey Rush and Michael Clarke Duncan. While Green Lantern should be applauded for having such lofty ambitions, in the end it descends into another CGI-heavy assault on the senses. I know this can't be avoided when dealing with aliens from across the galaxy and a hero that can create whatever he wants with a power ring, but it should at least be entertaining. Things aren't helped by a leaden script that leans too heavily on exposition to create the world of the Green Lantern Corps. The movie grossed a solid $53.1m in its domestic opening weekend, but saw a steep decline in the ensuing weeks and only made $103m internationally, a very poor number for a superhero movie. Despite solid buzz and a generally enthusiastic response from the fan community, Green Lantern just didn't connect with casual audiences and sent DC back to the drawing board with their secondary character.