The year of 2011 has now been banished to the history books! Join us as we take a look at the the movies some film developers would rather forget....
Mars Needs Moms
Made By: Walt Disney Pictures
Released: March 2011
Budget: $150 Million
Box Office Earnings: $39 Million
Loss: $111 Million
Ouch. Mars Needs Moms is not only one of Walt Disney's most horrific failures but also, the 5th biggest box office flop of all time. Something that no doubt racked up its humongous $150 million budget was the use of motion capture technology (much like that used in Tintin). But unlike Tintin, Mars Needs Moms received generally negative reviews and ended up causing the closure of ImageMovers Digital - the company that made it with Disney.
Conan The Barbarian
Made By: Lionsgate/Sony Pictures
Released: August 2011
Budget: $90 Million
Box Office Earnings: $48 Million
Loss: $42 Million
Lionsgate/Sony Pictures' attempts to bring Conan to 21st century audiences fell flat on its face last summer. With a big budget of $90 million (possibly caused by delayed filming, and multiple directors dropping out) it was always going to be difficult to squeeze profit out of. Unfortunately, with it's negative reviews and bad word-of-mouth, it struggled to little over half its production costs. Don't be expecting a sequel anytime soon.
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Made By: 20th Century Fox
Released: October 2011
Budget: $41 Million
Box Office Earnings: $7 Million
Loss: $34 Million
This comedy about bird watchers - despite having 3 big comedy names - failed to open the pockets of movie-goers last Autumn. Featuring Jack Black, Steve Martin and Owen Wilson, it received fairly negative reviews upon release and slipped in under the radar, and ended up making up only $7 million of its $41 million budget. Creating a big loss of $34 million.
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Made By: FilmDistrict
Released: October 2011
Budget: $50 Million
Box Office Earnings: $21 Million
Loss: $29 Million
Johnny Depp may have found box-office success earlier in 2011 with Pirates 4, but he couldn't make it two-in-a-row when The Rum Diary made a disappointing $21 million - losing $29 million in the meantime.
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Made By: Universal Pictures
Released: April 2011
Budget: $50 Million
Box Office Earnings: $26 Million
Loss: $24 Million
This was a surprise for me. Your Highness and similar comedies tend to do OK at the Box Office usually. Not so here. Your Highness made up little over half of its $50 Million production costs - despite established names like, Natalie Portman, James Franco, and Zooey Deschanel all having starring roles. Your Highness lost over $24 million for Universal.
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Made By: Summit Entertainment/Lionsgate
Released: February 2011
Budget: $50 Million
Box Office Earnings: $29 Million
Loss: $21 Million
And another Nicholas Cage film bites the dust! The atrociously named, Drive Angry came out back in February to mixed reviews and a poor opening weekend. It ended up making nearly $30 Million, creating a $20 Million loss for Summit and Lionsgate. Cage drives angry again this year in the unrelated Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance.
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Made By: Columbia Pictures
Released: October 2011
Budget: $30 Million
Box Office Earnings: $14 Million
Loss: $16 Million
The controversial film about Shakespeare being a fraud opened in late October to mixed reviews and and a mediocre opening. Surprisingly enough, people weren't too bothered about seeing the latest Shakespeare theory (of hundreds) put on the big screen and so this one came in largely ignored. It brought in just under half of its production costs.
Happy Feet Two
Made By: Warner Bros. Pictures
Released: November 2011
Budget: $135 Million
Box Office Earnings: $122 Million
Loss: $13 Million
This year saw the return of the dancing penguins! Only this time there was a less friendly welcome. It seems the novelty of the all singing, all dancing polar creatures finally wore off - hardly surprising. Especially due to the strong competition from the likes of Puss in Boots, Arthur Christmas and The Muppets. Happy Feet Two earned $13 Million less than it's production costs, and could see the end of the penguins.
The Thing
Made By: Universal Pictures
Released: October 2011
Budget: $35 Million
Box Office Earnings: $28 Million
Loss: $7 Million
Although this movie was actually supposed to be a prequel to the 1982 movie, it was so similar to the original it was essentially a remake - and in a year seeing many remakes (and many more to come) it was clear that some were going to be left behind. The Thing was one of these films. It received mixed reviews from critics upon release and when it opened to the public, nobody seemed to care. What probably didn't help was releasing it at the same time as Paranormal Activity 3 which saw huge success - and was the Halloween movie of choice.
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Made By: Relativity Media
Released: June 2011
Budget: $20 Million
Box Office Earnings: $15 Million
Loss: $5 Million
It's sad to see a film with such a fantastic name fail - then again the film itself was pretty bad, opening to poor reviews and poorer ticket sales. In the end, it made a loss of $5 million - meaning Judy's summer was bummer after all...
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