There's something Hollywood needs to learn. While the age-old adage that you have to spend money to make money is true, their interpretation (you have to spend obscene amounts of money to hopefully make money) is a little off the mark. Some of the biggest box office bombs of all time only got their status because so much money was sunk into them that to break even they needed to be the next Avatar. It's realising that that means The Nut Job, that squirrel animated comedy that seemingly blended into the background, made enough at the box office to immediately warrant a sequel. The film cost a quarter as much as some on this list, meaning the slightly off putting, cheaper animation style didn't matter because so many fewer tickets needed to be sold. Unfortunately, the film wasn't any good. Pandering to anybody but the youngest kids and boasting a genuinely unlikeable lead, it was panned by critics and no doubt did little to win parents over. The most painful moment is the end credits, which feature the cast of colourful animals dancing to Gangnam Style. At least when Dreamworks made pop culture references they were sort of relevant. Odds are a sequel will get a higher budget, but it's very unlikely it'll be as successful as the first.
