Deadly demons, sucky spider-heroes, warrior women of the wastelands, and one really good dog are just a few of the film subjects that have flopped so far in 2024. But did they all deserve it?
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00:00Deadly demons, sucky spider heroes, warrior women of the wastelands, and one really good
00:06dog are just a few of the film's subjects that have flopped so far in 2024.
00:11But did they all deserve it?
00:13Arthur the King, starring Mark Wahlberg and Simu Liu, is based on Michael Lindnerd's 2016
00:18memoir, Arthur, the Dog Who Crossed the Jungle to Find a Home.
00:22In the film, adventure racer Michael Light embarks on a 435-mile journey with a street
00:28dog named Arthur.
00:29The film did well with critics, earning a 70% Fresh rating on Rotten Tomatoes, with
00:34reviews praising the narrative and Wahlberg's acting.
00:37Unfortunately, critical acclaim doesn't always earn a ton of money.
00:40The film cost around $19 million to make, but only brought in about $40.8 million, just
00:46a little above its break-even point.
00:48Some estimates place the box office total at even less, but either way, movie math suggests
00:53it likely lost money.
00:54Regardless, Arthur the King is worth watching, but be prepared to shed a tear or two as the
00:59film masterfully tugs at the heartstrings.
01:02The Omen franchise kicked off in 1976 with The Omen, which was followed by three sequels.
01:08The franchise pretty much ended with Omen 4, The Awakening, in 1991, though it was followed
01:13by a television series and a 2006 remake.
01:16The first Omen is the latest addition to the franchise, but this time, it's a prequel which
01:20fills in the backstory, all the way back to the Satanic Conspiracy and the birth of Damian,
01:25the Antichrist.
01:26Both fans and critics agreed it was an excellent addition to the series, scoring an 81% Fresh
01:31rating on Rotten Tomatoes.
01:33But audiences stayed away from theaters, possibly since the franchise had been all but dead
01:38by 2024.
01:39The first Omen earned only $53.8 million off a production budget of $30 million, not hitting
01:45its break-even point.
01:46It's surprising that such a well-made movie failed at the box office, but thanks to streaming
01:50services, it found a new life.
01:52The first Omen landed in the top ten titles across numerous streaming platforms upon its
01:57debut.
01:59Based on true events that occurred during a cold wave that hit North America in 1994,
02:03Ordinary Angel stars Hilary Swank as Sharon, a hairdresser who brings an entire community
02:07together to help a widowed father save his daughter's life.
02:11It's definitely a feel-good movie and was a huge success with critics and moviegoers,
02:15earning an 84% Fresh rating on Rotten Tomatoes, as well as a remarkably high audience score
02:20of 99%.
02:21Still, that didn't translate into financial success.
02:24The film reportedly cost $13 million to produce, but only made $20.5 million at the box office,
02:31not reaching its break-even point.
02:33One of the main reasons the film likely flopped was that it was perceived and marketed as
02:37a faith-based movie.
02:38"...make certain that you're there with your Bible study group, with your church, on opening
02:43weekend."
02:44That's a genre that has often underperformed with the mainstream audience, only sometimes
02:48making up the difference in rental or streaming markets.
02:51Still, audiences seem to think it's worth a watch.
02:54The vampire movie has been around so long there's very little room left for true originality
02:58in the genre.
02:59That's not true of Abigail, which actually does something unique with the concept.
03:03The film breaks standard vampire rules by centering its narrative on a little girl,
03:07Abigail, played by Alicia Weir, who's actually a bloodsucker, but inexplicably has a pulse.
03:12The story revolves around a group of kidnappers who take Abigail hostage in her home, though
03:17they have no idea what they've gotten themselves into.
03:19One by one, Abigail picks them off, and it's a fun ride for the audience.
03:23The film did well with critics, nabbing an 83 percent Fresh rating on Rotten Tomatoes.
03:28When it came time to count the box office receipts, Abigail underperformed.
03:31The film cost $28 million to produce, but only took in $42.4 million at the global box
03:38office, only hitting about 75 percent of its break-even point.
03:42It's unclear why the film failed, but it could have been due to a poor marketing campaign
03:46or a general disinterest in an oversaturated genre.
03:49All right, let's go kill us a f-----g vampire.
03:54Ryan Gosling had an excellent 2023, thanks to playing Ken in Barbie, and it looked like
03:58he was up for another big hit in 2024 with The Fall Guy, an unlikely adaptation of a
04:041980s TV series.
04:05The film follows Gosling's stunt performer, Colt Stevers, who comes out of semi-retirement
04:10to work on his ex-girlfriend's directorial debut, while he's simultaneously drawn into
04:14a deadly conspiracy.
04:16The Fall Guy had it all — action, adventure, romance, and plenty of laughs — so it seems
04:21like a surefire hit.
04:22Rotten Tomatoes had it sitting at an 82 percent Fresh rating, so it definitely had what it
04:27took to impress critics.
04:28But despite everything the movie had going for it, it bombed at the box office.
04:32The film cost $125 million to produce, and it ended its theatrical run with only $180
04:38million.
04:39Still below its break-even point.
04:41Unfortunately, there wasn't enough nostalgia for the 113-episode ABC show, so a built-in
04:47fan base wasn't there to drive viewers to theaters, which may explain why it flopped.
04:52Sony's live-action Spider-Man-adjacent film franchise has been a bit spotty, with Morbius
04:56and Venom doing particularly poorly with critics.
04:59Despite these missteps, Sony carried on and released Madame Web in 2024, resulting in
05:04the biggest box office bomb in the entire Spider-Man extended franchise.
05:07Even Morbius performed better at the global box office.
05:10Make us understand.
05:12I wish I knew.
05:14Madame Web features an all-star cast, including Dakota Johnson, Sidney Sweeney, Tolesto Connor,
05:19and Isabella Merced.
05:20The story focuses on Johnson's Cassandra Webb and her newfound ability to predict the future
05:25and the core cast of characters' fight against the murderous Ezekiel Sims.
05:29The film was a bust, costing $80 million to produce with only $100 million returned at
05:34the box office, earning just about half of what it needed to break even.
05:38A terrible script, wooden acting, horrendous word-of-mouth, and the fact that it bore almost
05:43no resemblance to the comics that inspired it all added up to one box office bomb.
05:48Madame Web was also a critical failure, earning only an 11 percent Rotten rating on Rotten
05:53Tomatoes.
05:54The Watchers is a directorial debut of Ashana Night Shyamalan, the daughter of producer
05:59and director M. Night Shyamalan.
06:00The movie stars Dakota Fanning as Mina, who finds herself trapped in a deep forest in
06:04Ireland.
06:05She finds shelter, but becomes trapped with some strangers inside, as dangerous creatures
06:09congregate outside every night.
06:11While some financial failures do well with critics, The Watchers wasn't one of them.
06:15The film managed to score only a 32 percent Rotten rating on Rotten Tomatoes.
06:20Bad reviews often keep people away from theaters, and it appears that may have happened with
06:24this film, which some critics panned for its dull story and overuse of exposition.
06:29Others compared Shyamalan's directing style to her father's, even going so far as to call
06:33out the family for nepotism.
06:34The Watchers wasn't exceptionally expensive, costing $30 million to produce.
06:39Unfortunately, the movie's box office take barely moved beyond that amount, earning only
06:43$32.9 million and putting The Watchers at only about half of what it needed to earn
06:48to edge into the black.
06:50The Mad Max franchise was seemingly dead until director George Miller revived it with 2015's
06:55Mad Max Fury Road.
06:56That film wasn't a blockbuster, but it earned just enough at the box office, as well as
07:00critical raves and six Oscar wins, to get Miller the green light for 2024's Furiosa,
07:05a Mad Max saga.
07:06The prequel details the early life and exploits of its titular hero, who was introduced in
07:11Fury Road, and played by Charlize Theron.
07:13Furiosa instead featured Anya Taylor-Joy in the starring role, and the film brought all
07:17the action, explosions, chase scenes, and mayhem fans have come to expect from the franchise.
07:22It also wasn't cheap, costing around $168 million to shoot.
07:27Ultimately, after making $172.7 million, Furiosa took in just about half of its needed gross.
07:33The film did exceptionally well with critics, garnering a 90% Fresh rating from Rotten Tomatoes,
07:39so its financial failure is hard to explain.
07:41It flat-out bombed at the box office, possibly due to the recasting of the lead, the often-poor
07:45performance of prequels, or the near-decade that passed between the release of Fury Road
07:50and Furiosa.
07:51That's unfortunate, as Furiosa is an excellent film, which would have done far better if
07:55its cost was reduced.
07:57Horror comedies often do pretty well.
07:59Merging the two very different genres often leads to success.
08:02Of course, that's not always the case, and Lisa Frankenstein is an unfortunate example
08:06of a failed horror comedy.
08:07The film is about a teenage girl, Lisa, played by Katherine Newton, who crushes hard on a
08:12corpse.
08:13She brings him back to life, and they embark on a journey of love and murder in an ongoing
08:16quest to replace his decaying body parts.
08:19Lisa Frankenstein is one of those films that split between critics and audiences.
08:23Critics gave it a 52% Rotten rating on Rotten Tomatoes, while audiences loved it, giving
08:28it an 81% audience score.
08:30Well, thanks, I guess.
08:33That's not too uncommon for movies that lean heavily into humor over realism.
08:37But despite audience favorability, the film didn't do well at the box office.
08:41It cost only $13 million to produce, but earned just under $10 million at the global box office.
08:46This put the film's earnings at only 38% of its break-even point.
08:50It likely failed due to poor marketing, a release during Super Bowl weekend, and its
08:54short theatrical run.
08:56Argyle is a spy comedy starring Bryce Dallas Howard as Ellie Conway, a reclusive novelist
09:01about to complete her fifth book about super-spy Aubrey Argyle, played by Henry Cavill.
09:06Before she can finish, she falls into an espionage conspiracy where her writing appears to be
09:10based on real life, pushing her beyond her limits to learn the truth of her place in
09:14the world.
09:15Argyle had an excellent cast that includes greats like Sam Rockwell and Samuel L. Jackson.
09:20It also wasn't cheap at $200 million to produce, but it only made $96 million at the global
09:26box office, putting its earnings at only a quarter of its break-even point.
09:29It also did poorly with critics, earning a 33% Rotten rating on Rotten Tomatoes, although
09:35its audience score sits at 72%.
09:37There are several reasons why Argyle bombed at the box office beyond its incredibly high
09:41price tag.
09:42The film had a confusing marketing campaign that made it seem as if Cavill was in it more
09:46than he was, and the film's narrative goes off the rails in the third act, making it
09:50one of the cheesiest action comedies produced in the 21st century.
09:54Henry Cavill's 2024 hasn't shaped up to be his best year.
09:58Shortly after Argyle bombed, the Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare failed to achieve
10:02its financial goals as well.
10:03That's despite the film being a masterclass in spy action comedies that hit every mark.
10:08The film is a fictionalized telling of a real-life story about a band of off-the-book covert
10:12operatives who take out a Nazi submarine depot during World War II.
10:16Critics gave the film a 69% Fresh rating on Rotten Tomatoes, while audiences enjoyed it
10:21even more, giving it a 93% audience score.
10:24Yes.
10:25Sir?
10:26Good news and bad news.
10:28Yes, yes.
10:29Get to it.
10:30The film cost an estimated $60 million to produce, which wasn't much considering the
10:34sets, cast, and visual effects used in the movie.
10:37But none of that matters if the tickets aren't sold, and the film ended its theatrical run
10:41with only $27.5 million, likely failing due to a limited release and stiff competition
10:47from Godzilla Kong during its opening weekend.
10:50Director Ethan Coen co-wrote and helmed Driveaway Dolls, the first film he's done without his
10:54brother Joel.
10:55That directing duo produced numerous mid-sized hits for decades, and Ethan's first solo effort
11:01continued their streak with critics, if not with audiences.
11:04Driveaway Dolls is a road trip crime comedy about two friends, played by Margaret Qualley
11:09and Geraldine Wisvernathan, who become involved in a criminal conspiracy on their trip to
11:13Tallahassee.
11:14The movie did well with critics, landing a 63% Fresh rating from Rotten Tomatoes.
11:19But audiences disagreed, giving the film a 35% audience score.
11:23The film's budget is estimated to be around $20 million.
11:27The amount meant Driveaway Dolls needed to blow up the competition at the box office.
11:31The film took in only $7.9 million, putting its earnings at less than 20% of its break-even
11:36point.
11:38There are probably many reasons why the movie was a box office disappointment, but the primary
11:41one was its marketing campaign.
11:43The 2023 SAG-AFTRA strike also delayed its release, messing up its rollout and resulting
11:48in too few people even knowing about it.