20 Biggest Summer Box Office Bombs Of All Time

Budget: $250 million (marketing: $150 million)

Box office: $260.5 million

Loss: $160+ million

As with so many other entries on this list, the actual cost of The Lone Ranger can only be guessed at. However, with a budget of at least $215 million and, in all likelihood, considerably more, Gore Verbinski’s 2013 misfire is a box office flop of almost unprecedented scope.

Verbinski, Johnny Depp and legendary producer Jerry Bruckheimer were considered something of a dream team after the obscene success of the Pirates Of The Caribbean franchise. However, their decision to reimagine the 1930s radios show and 1950s television series as a big budget spectacular backfired spectacularly.

Starring Armie Hammer as the titular hero and Depp as sidekick Tonto, The Lone Ranger suffered from negative publicity long before the movie opened. Disney temporarily pulled the plug in 2011 in an effort to review and reduce a spiralling budget, and lukewarm reviews on its eventual release and controversy over Depp playing a Native American character doomed the film to financial failure.

Disney released a statement a few weeks after The Lone Ranger opened predicting a $160-190 million write-off, so whether this film or John Carter lost more money is open to debate. Regardless, with Marvel, Pixar and Star Wars all residing under its roof, the Mouse House won’t be going bankrupt any time soon.