One of the biggest times for new movies to release in theaters is over the summer. With kids home from school and people trying to find a way to beat the heat, it’s the perfect time. Unfortunately, that’s not the case for every movie, and some of them go on to be the biggest summer box office disasters ever. With some big movies coming out over the summer, it’s hard to believe that there would be any movies that would flop. In the case of some of these movies, a few of them just about broke even at the box office.
Fantastic Four
Releasing in August 2015, Fantastic Four had a lot of high expectations for a superhero movie releasing over the summer. Despite everything, it failed miserably at the box office. According to ScreenRant, the movie had a budget of $120-155 million and only had a box office gross of $167.9 million. For a movie that had such high expectations, to just break even with the budget is a huge failure for the movie.
The Adventures of Pluto Nash
Released in August 2002, The Adventures of Pluto Nash was definitely one of the biggest summer box office disasters. The sci-fi comedy that starred Eddie Murphy and once again had high expectations when Eddie Murphy was the star. According to ScreenRant, the movie had a budget of approximately $100 million, and it flopped so hard that it only raked in a box office gross of $7.1 million.
The BFG
The BFG, released in July 2016, was produced by Steven Spielberg and based on the children’s book by Roald Dahl. That alone would make you think that this movie would be a hit. Unfortunately, it was one of the biggest summer box office disasters. According to ScreenRant, the movie brought in a box office gross of $183.3 million, which doesn’t sound bad in theory, but with a budget of $140 million, they just about broke even.
The 13th Warrior
Released in August 1999, The 13th Warrior was yet another one of the biggest summer box office disasters, money-wise. The movie was based on the novel Eaters of the Dead by Michael Crichton, and starred Antonio Banderas. ScreenRant reports that it cost approximately $160 million to make, and it only made a box office gross of $61.7 million. The movie lost almost $100 million, making it a huge flop.
King Arthur: Legend of the Sword
King Arthur: Legend of the Sword, released in May 2017, was doomed from the very beginning. Following the release of Guardians of the Galaxy, it was overshadowed by the success of that film. King Arthur had a budget of $175 million but only raked in $148.7 million, according to ScreenRant. Therefore, it didn’t even break even, making it one of the worst flops of the year.
Fly Me To The Moon
Coming out in the Summer of 2024, Fly Me To The Moon starring Channing Tatum and Scarlett Johansson had some high expectations. What they didn’t expect, however, was for the movie to flop so badly. According to CBR, the budget for the movie was approximately $100 million, and it only made about $20 million at the box office. The poor numbers definitely made it one of the biggest summer box office disasters of recent memory.
Exorcist: The Beginning
Exorcist: The Beginning came out in the summer of 2004, and it appears that audiences weren’t impressed with yet another Exorcist movie. As a result, according to Newsweek, the movie had a budget of $78 million and only wound up raking in $43,957,541 at the box office, which is over a $34 million in losses.
Home on the Range
Summer is the perfect time for kids’ movies to be released; they’re out of school and looking for things to do. It only makes sense! Home on the Range is an animated movie that was obviously geared toward children, but despite everything, it was still one of the biggest summer box office disasters. According to Newsweek, it had a budget of $110 million and only brought in $76,482,461 worldwide, which was a huge loss for the movie.
The Crow
The Crow was a new take on the film of the same name from 1994, which came out in the summer of 2024. Apparently, people didn’t like the idea of the reboot as it basically made no money at the box office. CBR reported that the film had a budget of $50 million and only brought in $12.7 million worldwide. For a film that already had a low budget, to take in such a low number at the box office makes it one of the biggest summer box office disasters of all time.
The Lone Ranger
Coming out in July 2013, Disney attempted to reboot The Lone Ranger with Johnny Depp and Armie Hammer. There were high hopes for the movie, but a lot of things were going against the film, like production delays and an ever-growing budget; it didn’t do as well as they had hoped. According to ScreenRant, the film had a budget of $225 million, and it had a box office gross of $260.5 million. While that may sound like a lot, with marketing the film, it pretty much broke even, and Disney lost millions.
