6. The Previous Video Game Flopped - Lara Croft Tomb Raider: The Cradle of Life
The Failure: The sequel to the risible original movie sees Angelina Jolie vastly overqualified to play video game heroine Lara Croft, in a venture that made $156.5 million against a $95 million budget, while scooping 24% with critics. Jolie also received a Razzie nomination for Worst Actress.
The Excuse: Paramount blamed the movie's disappointing box office on the mediocre sales and reception of the Tomb Raider video game released around a month before the movie, Tomb Raider: The Angel of Darkness. Rushed to the shelves in order to heighten the movie's brand awareness, it was slated by critics for essentially being an incomplete, glitch-riddled, broken game.
The Truth: Though Paramount are totally on the money about the game, it's unlikely that this should really have dented the box office. Firstly, the vast majority of people who go see video game movies are
not gamers - just look at the Resident Evil series - and secondly, the franchise's fans aren't going to care about how bad the last game was if the movie manages to catch their eye and remind them of what was truly awesome about the game series. That the movie didn't manage to do this is its own fault and nothing else's.