10 Box Office Flops That Threw Away Stupid Amounts Of Money
2. The 13th Warrior - $129.2 million
Budget: $100 million Box Office: $61.7 million
The only film on this list from before the new millennium (just), itd be easy to chalk up The 13th Warriors failure down to coming out hot on the heels of The Sixth Sense, a film that was only beaten by the unmatchable hype of Star Wars Episode I. But to do that gives the film too much of a free pass.
As Keanu Reeves in 47 Ronin recently reaffirmed, American takes on a certainly non-American story are a shaky proposition. Doomed to look pandering in the native setting and alien to US audiences, theres minimal appeal. And why you'd make things worse by thinking Antonio Banderas was a suitable Arab is beyond me. But to blame that still gives the film too much of a free pass.
The production was an utter mess. Based on a book by Michael Jurassic Park Crichton (one of the films main selling points), the writer ended up taking over from original director John McTiernan after test audiences hated the film and the budget subsequently spiraled. Oh troubled productions, you strike again.
Did it deserve to flop? No matter how poor the film, it marked a then-low-point in John McTiernans career. If it had done a little better maybe we could have avoided Rollerball (a film that could have made the list if it werent for its more sensible budget).