8 Movies That Bombed So Hard They BANKRUPTED Their Studios

In the years before World War Two, Frank Capra had earned himself the title of Hollywood legend and three Academy Awards for Best Director.

After returning from the war, he founded the production company Liberty Films in 1945 along with three other former servicemen. The very first film of the new company was to be It’s A Wonderful Life.

Unfortunately, while the Christmas classic actually did reasonably well at the box office, it was nowhere near successful enough to recoup its production costs of $2.3 million and the fledging studio found itself facing financial ruin barely a year into its existence. It was quickly swallowed up by Paramount, who locked Capra and his friends into multi-picture contracts with their studio.

Liberty Films would only go on to release one more film under its label, 1948’s State of the Union, before finally being dissolved in 1951.

Capra later wrote of this failed venture that its purpose was to, “(1) influence the course of Hollywood films, (2) make four former Army officers independently rich, and (3) virtually prove fatal to my professional career.”.

Ouch. Truly his own worst critic.