How NOT To Make A Comic Book Movie (Why These 10 Failed)
6. Choosing A Subject No-One Cares About - Jonah Hex (2010)
Two years after Marvel Studios launched with Iron Man and the Incredible Hulk, DC gave one of its characters a shot with Jonah Hex in 2010. The film starred Josh Brolin as the titular character, John Malkovich, Megan Fox, Michael Fassbender, Will Arnett, and Michael Shannon, so it had a great cast.
Why would a movie about a comic book character with an all-star cast fail completely? The main problem with Jonah Hex is that he's not a popular character outside of comics. Even in the world of comics, he's niche, and there aren't that many people clamoring to see him adapted to the silver screen.
The same could have been said of Blade when his first movie dropped in 1998, but the biggest difference between those two films is that where Blade was good, Jonah Hex was disturbingly awful. The acting in this movie wasn't the problem, as everyone involved gave it their all, but there really wasn't much to work with.
The movie is weirdly short, coming in at only 81 minutes (with credits), so it seems rushed and incomplete. The plot jumps around from point to point in a way that leaves the audience wondering what the hell they are watching, and ultimately, the film was so bad, DC opted to reboot it.
Jonah Hex was a disastrous box office bomb as well, having made just shy of $11 million on a budget of nearly $50 million.