10 'Next Big Thing' Movies That Completely Flopped

8. Mortal Engines

Mortal Engines
Universal

Before superheroes well and truly took over the cinematic landscape, one of the most reliable sources of box-office success Hollywood constantly returned to was the realm of book adaptations. Twilight and The Hunger Games proved that young adult novels - and the fanbase attached to them - were practically an excuse to print money, and a whole bunch of these were put into production to... varying degrees of success.

In the mid 2010s these mostly went away and the major hitters wrapped up their stories, but Mortal Engines was an attempt to tap back into that luxurious well. With Peter Jackson on board as a producer and $150 million ready to be spent, Universal had high hopes for this would-be franchise, but things soured when the reviews hit.

After receiving a kicking from critics, Mortal Engines went on to become one of the biggest box-office bombs of the 2010s, dashing the studio's franchise plans and proving that the age of big-budget young adult adaptations might be well and truly over.

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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.