3. Sylvester Stallone's Greed - Rocky V
The Failure: With a budget of $42 million, Rocky V grossed just $119.9 million, far less than half of what the previous Rocky film grossed, and critics rated it at just 27% on Rotten Tomatoes. It was also nominated for 7 Razzies, including Worst Picture, Worst Director and both Worst Screenplay and Worst Actor for Sylvester Stallone.
The Excuse: In an interview about the franchise a few years ago, Stallone confessed in making Rocky V that, "I'm greedy - what can I tell you? It was a mistake because the audience didn't want to see the downside of the character. They wanted him to remain on top. I should have known that. I fell into a sense of self-parody."
The Truth: Though it's admirable to see Stallone admitting that he only did it for the money, it's a bit of a cop-out, is it not? The real reason it flopped, ironically, isn't because it was just Sly going through the motions of the formula that defined the series, but because it
didn't, instead deviating into Rocky's downtrodden state and focusing on street fighting. Furthermore, many were dissatisfied with Stallone not directing the movie, as well as his lack of creative input in post-production. It wasn't so much greed as it was laziness, then...