As an Amazon associate we earn from qualifying purchases. Thanks for your support!                               
×

Best Blu-ray Movie Deals


Best Blu-ray Movie Deals, See All the Deals »
Top deals | New deals  
 All countries United States United Kingdom Canada Germany France Spain Italy Australia Netherlands Japan Mexico
Corpse Bride 4K (Blu-ray)
$29.96
2 hrs ago
Hard Boiled 4K (Blu-ray)
$49.99
1 day ago
Airport: The Complete Collection 4K (Blu-ray)
$86.13
11 hrs ago
The Toxic Avenger 4K (Blu-ray)
$29.96
10 hrs ago
Shin Godzilla 4K (Blu-ray)
$34.96
1 day ago
Spawn 4K (Blu-ray)
$31.99
 
In the Mouth of Madness 4K (Blu-ray)
$36.69
1 day ago
Looney Tunes Collector's Vault: Volume 1 (Blu-ray)
$19.99
1 hr ago
The Terminator 4K (Blu-ray)
$14.44
13 hrs ago
Curb Your Enthusiasm: The Complete Series (Blu-ray)
$122.99
7 hrs ago
The Sound of Music 4K (Blu-ray)
$37.99
 
Shudder: A Decade of Fearless Horror (Blu-ray)
$80.68
 
What's your next favorite movie?
Join our movie community to find out


Image from: Life of Pi (2012)

Go Back   Blu-ray Forum > Movies > Movies
Register FAQ Community Calendar Today's Posts Search


Reply
 
Thread Tools Display Modes
Old 03-30-2018, 05:54 AM   #1
JamesG. JamesG. is offline
Power Member
 
Jul 2012
Default Deadline: 2017's Biggest Box Office Bombs

What Were The Biggest Bombs at 2017's Box Office? Deadline’s Most Valuable Blockbuster Tournament
by Anthony D'Alessandro
March 29, 2018



King Arthur: Legend of the Sword






Warner Bros has been fixated on the Camelot legend for years, developing several projects that included a remake of John Boorman’s Excalibur. Executives finally sparked to King Arthur: Legend of the Sword, from a well drawn blueprint by writer Joby Harold that spread revelations of the Arthurian mythology over a series of films.

The studio tapped director Guy Ritchie, whose playful, kinetic style translated well to the Sherlock Holmes films, and chose "Sons of Anarchy" star Charlie Hunnam to play the man who drew the sword from the stone.




But moviegoer interest in classic IP titles is no longer reliable. Do young people even read anymore? And waiting for future films to introduce Merlin, Lancelot and Guinevere left the film with a gritty origin story about the formative moments of a great king, without the love story.

Add a production budget of $175M before P&A, and the result was a loss of $153.2M for Warner Bros and Village Roadshow. The studio tried some reshoots after a first screening that elicited alarming scores, but the film ultimately never found its footing.




Critics thumped the result, charging the film with containing hackneyed images that seemed borrowed from better Warner Bros movies (Voldemort’s snake from Harry Potter, the Lord of the Rings elephants, and a knight who looked a lot like Immortan Joe from Mad Max Fury Road).

The biggest disappointment is that Hunnam — who was ridiculously ripped — won’t get to take Arthur to the heights reached in the mythical tale.









Monster Trucks






A live-action/animated hybrid passion project of former Paramount president Adam Goodman, Monster Trucks wasn’t made until long after Goodman was gone.

The film proved the difficulty of launching a four quadrant tent pole without a branded property to back it up. It was clear for a long time this one was going to be a big budget loser when the studio finally released it.




Monster Trucks missed several release dates, starting when it moved off its summer 2015 opening. Before the film even had a chance to play over MLK weekend last year, Viacom had already written off the film to the tune of $115M.

Our financial analysts see that in the end, Monster Trucks was a $123.1M loss.









The Promise






The Terry George-directed drama constructed a love triangle between Christian Bale, Charlotte Le Bon and Oscar Isaac to show the shameful early 20th Century genocide of an estimated 1.5 million Armenians by the Turks.

The losses on this one were cushioned by the fact that the film was a very personal project of Armenian mogul Kirk Kerkorian, who absorbed much of the loss posthumously.




The Turkish government has long denied there was a genocide, and the government reportedly used its influence to halt several previous attempts to mount a proper movie. Even though he owned casinos and MGM, even Kerkorian struggled to get a movie made at his own studio.

After Kerkorian’s death, his dream of a David Lean-style epic was realized by a combination of parties. There was UCLA doctor Eric Esrailian, via the late mogul’s Survival Pictures, along with producers Mike Medavoy and William Horberg.

And George, who wrote and directed the celebrated genocide tale Hotel Rwanda, and wrote In The Name of the Father.




Open Road took U.S. rights and released the film April 24, timed to the start of the Armenian Genocide campaign 102 years ago. Few foreign rights were sold, evidence that the taboo nature of the film worked against it.

Critics weren’t kind, either. The result was a $102.1M loss.









The Great Wall






Long before it was bought by China-based Wanda Group for $3.5B, Legendary eyed The Great Wall as a way to engage the fast growing movie going audience in the Middle Kingdom.

Numerous directors including Ed Zwick came and went, along with several stars. The picture finally came together with heralded Raise the Red Lantern director Zhang Yimou, and Matt Damon and Pedro Pascal as the outsiders who try to help Chinese warrior defend The Great Wall from a series of monsters.




The most expensive film ever to be shot completely in China, with ancillary and theatrical costs reaching $266.9M, the pain was shared. Universal was in for a 20% stake, with myriad Chinese partners China Film Group and Le Vision Pictures shouldering some.

China generated 51% of the pic’s $334.9M B.O., but the movie hit the wall everywhere else, plain and simple. Having an American star as a savior in a fictitious Chinese tale put off some Asian audiences, and the whole monster tale was greeted with indifference by stateside audiences.

In the end, The Great Wall crumbles with a $74.5M loss.









Geostorm






This disaster film marked the feature directorial debut of Independence Day producer and co-writer Dean Devlin, who sources said struggled to balance the VFX with a compelling plot and character development.

It was backed by Skydance chief David Ellison, and Warner Bros left Skydance to steer production. Reshoots to the tune of $15M were ordered, and Jerry Bruckheimer was called in to try and rescue the film.

Beyond all those problems, moviegoers had lost interest in the star-driven disaster film genre. So what seemed like a good idea when it was greenlit in 2014 proved to be a $71.6M loss.

http://deadline.com/2018/03/king-art...es-1202354934/
  Reply With Quote
Old 03-30-2018, 06:06 AM   #2
AaronJ AaronJ is offline
Banned
 
Jul 2013
Michigan
47
624
2
1
Default

I haven't seen King Arthur: Legend of the Sword (or any of the other films, for that matter) but I believe that I can safely agree with the article that not including Guinevere, Lancelot, or Merlin was a HUGE mistake. I mean, I sort of understand the thinking, in that they probably didn't want to feel like they were just remaking Excalibur or something. Maybe. But what the hell is the point of a King Arthur movie without those characters?! It strips the entire legend bare.
  Reply With Quote
Old 03-30-2018, 06:27 AM   #3
Zero_Cool Zero_Cool is offline
Blu-ray Knight
 
Zero_Cool's Avatar
 
Jun 2009
426
2
81
Default

Geostorm had a budget? I guess you can say hurricane heist will be on next years list.



Mother
Dark Tower
Valerian
Monster trucks
Ghost in the shell
Life
Downsizing
Cure for a wellness
  Reply With Quote
Old 03-30-2018, 07:11 AM   #4
AaronJ AaronJ is offline
Banned
 
Jul 2013
Michigan
47
624
2
1
Default

Quote:
Originally Posted by Zero_Cool View Post
Geostorm had a budget? I guess you can say hurricane heist will be on next years list.



Mother
Dark Tower
Valerian
Monster trucks
Ghost in the shell
Life
Downsizing
Cure for a wellness
I loved mother! and A Cure For Wellness, and I enjoyed Valerian. The others I haven't seen and probably won't see, except for Ghost in the Shell -- because I'd watch a movie where Scarlett reads a book for two hours, basically. If she's in it then I don't really care what it's about or if it's any good. Though obviously I would hope it would be good. I keep meaning to see that one.
  Reply With Quote
Old 03-30-2018, 07:40 AM   #5
cinemaphile cinemaphile is offline
Blu-ray Archduke
 
cinemaphile's Avatar
 
Feb 2010
Illinois
322
Default

I don't care what anyone thinks, I thought The Great Wall was pretty damn good. Sure, it was clearly a film made with a box office formula in mind - heavily feature China to tap into that box office, with an American actor shoehorned in for domestic box office (which clearly didn't work as they'd hoped), but it was also beautifully filmed with lots of good action.
  Reply With Quote
Thanks given by:
CelluloidPal (03-30-2018), Iron-Fisted Punk (03-30-2018)
Old 03-30-2018, 11:56 AM   #6
The Debts The Debts is offline
Blu-ray Champion
 
The Debts's Avatar
 
Jun 2013
ME
57
334
181
143
211
147
122
5
Default

Quote:
Originally Posted by AaronJ View Post
I haven't seen King Arthur: Legend of the Sword (or any of the other films, for that matter) but I believe that I can safely agree with the article that not including Guinevere, Lancelot, or Merlin was a HUGE mistake. I mean, I sort of understand the thinking, in that they probably didn't want to feel like they were just remaking Excalibur or something. Maybe. But what the hell is the point of a King Arthur movie without those characters?! It strips the entire legend bare.
If you think that's bad, just watch the damn movie. It's an over-edited headache with obnoxious anachronistic dialogue and a CG clusterfruitcake of a climax.
  Reply With Quote
Old 03-30-2018, 12:12 PM   #7
Creed Creed is online now
Blu-ray Archduke
 
Creed's Avatar
 
Dec 2015
Christ Church, Barbados
6
136
89
75
45
1
2
Default

Quote:
Originally Posted by cinemaphile View Post
I don't care what anyone thinks, I thought The Great Wall was pretty damn good. Sure, it was clearly a film made with a box office formula in mind - heavily feature China to tap into that box office, with an American actor shoehorned in for domestic box office (which clearly didn't work as they'd hoped), but it was also beautifully filmed with lots of good action.
I liked it. Dumb fun with gorgeous cinematography and colours.
  Reply With Quote
Old 03-30-2018, 12:12 PM   #8
CV19 CV19 is offline
Blu-ray Guru
 
CV19's Avatar
 
Apr 2017
England
Default

Actually I quite liked Geostorm, but maybe that was because I was watching the film with low expectations after having read some poor reviews about it. I have yet to see the King Arthur movie.
  Reply With Quote
Old 03-30-2018, 01:10 PM   #9
Zero_Cool Zero_Cool is offline
Blu-ray Knight
 
Zero_Cool's Avatar
 
Jun 2009
426
2
81
Default

The new Mummy movie might be on this list. Not sure how well it did but I kept hearing nothing but bad things.
  Reply With Quote
Old 03-30-2018, 02:14 PM   #10
Monterey Jack Monterey Jack is online now
Blu-ray Grand Duke
 
Monterey Jack's Avatar
 
Oct 2011
710
Default

Monster Trucks was a guilty pleasure. Reminded me of one of those B-level "let's rescue this mystical creature from nasty adults" Amblin films from the 80's.
  Reply With Quote
Old 03-30-2018, 02:20 PM   #11
Cremildo Cremildo is online now
Blu-ray Archduke
 
Cremildo's Avatar
 
Jul 2011
Brazil
166
1052
51
Default

I still don't understand the logic behind the decision to pour so much money in a movie like The Promise.
  Reply With Quote
Thanks given by:
cinemaphile (03-30-2018)
Old 03-30-2018, 02:36 PM   #12
Poya Poya is offline
Blu-ray Baron
 
Poya's Avatar
 
Jun 2011
NY, NY
1
2
12
Default

N o b o d y
w a n t e d
a n o t h e r
k i n g
a r t h u r
m o v i e

BTW, these were all in caps.
  Reply With Quote
Old 03-30-2018, 05:49 PM   #13
cinemaphile cinemaphile is offline
Blu-ray Archduke
 
cinemaphile's Avatar
 
Feb 2010
Illinois
322
Default

I think if King Arthur wasn't "King Arthur" it wouldve been a pretty fun movie.
Seriously, if you remove the name and therefore the expectations, and it's just a new movie about a new character taking place in the Middle Ages about knights, swords, and sorcery, made with that Guy Ritchie style, it comes across much better.
When I watched it a second time, knowing what I was gonna get and letting go of my expectations of what a King Arthur movie should be, I actually had fun watching it.
  Reply With Quote
Old 03-30-2018, 06:20 PM   #14
Chaotic Chaotic is offline
Blu-ray Grand Duke
 
Chaotic's Avatar
 
Mar 2009
Denver, CO
Default

Quote:
Originally Posted by Zero_Cool View Post
The new Mummy movie might be on this list. Not sure how well it did but I kept hearing nothing but bad things.
It killed the Dark Universe plans.
  Reply With Quote
Old 03-30-2018, 06:22 PM   #15
stvn1974 stvn1974 is offline
Banned
 
Jan 2012
Earth
18
Default

I just hope Disney can recover from The Last Jedi bombing.
  Reply With Quote
Old 03-30-2018, 06:28 PM   #16
Batman1980 Batman1980 is offline
Blu-ray Jedi
 
Feb 2009
District 13
8
146
394
57
22
48
Send a message via AIM to Batman1980
Default

Quote:
Originally Posted by Poya View Post
N o b o d y
w a n t e d
a n o t h e r
k i n g
a r t h u r
m o v i e

BTW, these were all in caps.
Still in for a possible Merlin franchise
  Reply With Quote
Old 03-30-2018, 07:36 PM   #17
The Debts The Debts is offline
Blu-ray Champion
 
The Debts's Avatar
 
Jun 2013
ME
57
334
181
143
211
147
122
5
Default

Quote:
Originally Posted by cinemaphile View Post
I think if King Arthur wasn't "King Arthur" it wouldve been a pretty fun movie.
Seriously, if you remove the name and therefore the expectations, and it's just a new movie about a new character taking place in the Middle Ages about knights, swords, and sorcery, made with that Guy Ritchie style, it comes across much better.
When I watched it a second time, knowing what I was gonna get and letting go of my expectations of what a King Arthur movie should be, I actually had fun watching it.
My dislike of it had nothing to do with it being different from a typical King Arthur story; It had to do with Ritchie's style. I always find him over stylized and incoherent, so it was weird for me to actually enjoy some of his recent work like the Sherlock Holmes films and The Man From UNCLE (the latter of which is probably my favorite work of his so far). Then this monstrosity comes along and snaps me back to my usual distaste of his work.

It also buried Charlie Hunnam's wonderful work in The Lost City of Z the month before, so of course everyone is going to remember the bad movie he was in vs the one that's actually good.
  Reply With Quote
Reply
Go Back   Blu-ray Forum > Movies > Movies



Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off

Forum Jump


All times are GMT. The time now is 11:56 PM.