10 Recent Box Office Bombs EVERYONE Saw Coming
2. Mickey 17
Mickey 17, the new film from Parasite filmmaker Bong Joon Ho, is precisely the sort of wild blank check movie you get to make after directing a Best Picture-winning masterpiece.
A deeply weird, R-rated adaptation of a fairly niche sci-fi novel with an eye-watering $120 million budget? This thing never stood a chance of turning a profit.
Even accepting the credibility of the cast and crew, Bong Joon Ho is hardly a household name outside of cineaste circles, and Robert Pattinson isn't an inherent box office draw.
Also, the central concept didn't have a hook which could swiftly engage more casual moviegoers from a mere poster or trailer alone.
Then there's the fact that Bong and Warner Bros. reportedly battled over the film's final cut, causing enough delays that the film released almost two and a half years after shooting wrapped, during which period many reports were written about the movie's troubled post-production.
And finally, the critical reception was solid but certainly not spectacular, while the film's "B" CinemaScore indicates a fairly middling audience response.
That Mickey 17 has no hope in hell of grossing the approximately $300 million it'd need to be a sure-fire hit shouldn't be a surprise to anyone.
As such, Warner Bros. ultimately gave up on it in record time, sending the sci-fi black comedy to VOD just 18 days after it hit cinemas.