10 More Movies So Awful They Were Pulled From Cinemas

4. Jem And The Holograms

Jem and the Holograms
Universal Pictures

After Hasbro achieved success with live-action adaptations of their biggest properties such as G.I. Joe and Transformers, Universal Pictures wanted in on the action, signing a six-film contract with the studio in 2010. After producing adaptations of both Battleship and Ouija, only the latter of which was a viable franchise moving forward, all eyes were on the studio to see which other famous property would be made next.

Out of everything though, nobody expected Jem and the Holograms to be next in line for a big-screen adaptation. In better hands, the property's blend of music and fantasy could have resulted in a charming surprise hit, but from the get go it was clear the studio didn't have much faith in the project, allotting a tiny $5 million budget (which it didn't end up recouping) for director Jon M. Chu to work with.

The end result was criticised for squandering what little potential it had, immediately going down as one of the worst films of 2015. After a dreadful opening weekend, Universal couldn't wait to get the movie off their hands, and pulled it completely after two weeks of release.

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Josh has over 11 years of experience as a published writer, having worked nine of those years as a full-time content producer at WhatCulture. In that period he has created hundreds of articles, videos and podcast episodes for multiple WhatCulture channels, specialising in gaming, horror and film & TV. He now primarily works as a senior content producer and presenter on WhatCulture Gaming where he co-hosts the WhatCulture Gaming Podcast, a top 3 UK most listened to gaming podcast that he co-created in 2018. Over the years he has reviewed several high-profile gaming releases, covered industry events with on-site reporting, opined on breaking news, and even kicked off his interviewing career by chatting to childhood hero, Tommy Wiseau.