10 Great 21st Century Sci-Fi Films That Bombed At The Box Office

5. Cloud Atlas

Children Of Men
Warner Bros. Pictures

Cloud Atlas is perhaps the most divisive film on this list but also the most ambitious as it attempted to adapt David Mitchell's epic novel to the screen and while it grossed $130 million it was made on a budget which exceeded this.

Seemingly an unadaptable sprawling piece of science fiction literature which spans from the 19th century to "the fall" of humanity itself, the Wachowskis and Tom Tykwer did the impossible and made sense of the text on the big screen.

While arguably the material was better suited for a TV series which could have dived into each of the six narratives in more depth, this 2012 film is an incredible piece of filmmaking. Unfortunately the complex narrative and 172 minute runtime did little to win over anyone other than already loyal readers.

BUDGET: Somewhere between $102 - 146.7 million

BOX OFFICE: $130.5 million

Contributor

An avid cinephile, love Trainspotting (the film, not the hobby), like watching bad films ironically (The Room, Cats) and hate my over-reliance on brackets (they’re handy for a quick aside though).