Audiences can be a fickle bunch, but it’s not always their fault.
Sometimes the timing of a film’s release is wrong, or lands at a moment where people fail to see it. Sometimes the marketing of a movie misses its mark and fails to connect. Sometimes reviews reinforce moviegoer skepticism and they decide to stay away. But sometimes, a movie is just bad, and no silk hat is going to make that pig any prettier. But that doesn’t mean those movies aren’t good — or even great. In many cases, it merely means that their time to shine is yet to come – be it internationally, on home video, or on streaming services.
As we assemble a list of the year’s biggest box office flops, look at the titles below as a reminder to support the films and filmmakers you love so they get to make more of them and continue to explore the cinematic universes that become indelible parts of popular culture now and in the future.
With each “Mission: Impossible” movie, Tom Cruise puts himself further in harm’s way. In “Fallout,” now available on Digital HD, he jumps out of planes, races across Paris on a motorcycle, runs across rooftops (and breaking his ankle in the process), and flies a helicopter. At this point, aside from being one of Hollywood’s biggest stars, he’s also probably one of its top stuntmen.
The movie arrives on 4K Ultra HD, Blu-ray, and DVD on December 4 (and is already available on Digital HD).
Watch Cruise and director Christopher McQuarrie talk about how they pulled off that crazy rooftop scene:
“The Conjuring” universe just keeps getting bigger and scarier. In this spinoff, a priest with a haunted past and a novice are sent by the Vatican to investigate the death of a nun in Romania. They uncover an unholy secret and are forced to confront a malevolent force. Not only are their lives at risk — so are their very souls. Don’t watch this at night.
The movie arrives on 4K Ultra HD, Blu-ray, and DVD on December 4 (and is already available on Digital HD).
This black comedy combines two things we never thought would go together: murder and puppets. Produced by The Jim Henson Company, the film follows a former puppet cop and his human partner (Melissa McCarthy) investigating the deaths of former sitcom stars. The movie arrives on Blu-ray and DVD on December 4.
Watch an exclusive clip of the cast’s “ad libs” below:
Why isn’t Oscar Isaac the hero of every movie? He takes his rightful place on center stage in this drama based on the true story of Israeli spies in the ’60s seeking to capture former Nazi officer Adolf Eichmann (Ben Kingsley).
The movie arrives on Blu-ray and DVD on December 4.
This faith-based movie centers on a young mother who loses her husband in Afghanistan and struggles to raise their young daughter alone. When an up-and-coming race car driver enters their lives, she has to decide whether to join his fast-paced life or follow a path provided by God. Available on Digital HD.
‘The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel’ (December 5)
The Emmy-winning Amazon series returns for a second season to follow the continuing adventures of Midge (Rachel Brosnahan), a housewife turned aspiring stand-up comic. Her roller coaster life takes her to Paris, brings a new day job, and even finds a new love interest (Zachary Levi). Available to stream on Amazon Prime on December 5.
It’s all big hair, big smiles and big Southern charm in this dramedy, which follows follows Willowdean (Danielle Macdonald), the plus-sized daughter of an overbearing Texas pageant queen (Jennifer Aniston). She decides to enter the local Miss Teen Blue Bonnet competition, with an an assist from drag queens (“the closest thing you can get to Dolly Parton around here”).
Director Andy Serkis puts his motion capture acting experience to good use in this “dark and gritty” retelling of “The Jungle Book.” A boy, who has never truly belonged in either the wilds of the jungle or the civilized world of man, must must navigate the inherent dangers of each on a journey to discover where he truly belongs. Christian Bale, Cate Blanchett, Benedict Cumberbatch and Serkis provide voices and performance capture for the various jungle creatures.
‘Nailed It! Holiday’ (December 7)
‘Tis the season for festive dessert fails! The baking show returns for a seven-episode holiday special where Nicole Byer and Jacques Torres host, judge, and mentor the amateur, not-very-good bakers competing to make the not-worst cookies, cakes, pies, and desserts.
‘Top Chef: Kentucky’ Season Premiere, Bravo (December 6)
The 16th season of the reality cooking competition show heads to the Bluegrass State, where 15 talented chefs slice, dice, roast, and fry their way to winning the ultimate title.
‘The Flash: Elseworlds – Part 1,’ The CW (December 9)
The CW’s annual DC crossover event with three shows kicks off, first with “The Flash,” followed the next night by “Arrow,” and then finally “Supergirl.” The “Elseworlds” crossover will introduce Batwoman and Lois Lane to the universe and bring back Superman.
“Crazy Rich Asians“ had a crazy good second weekend at the box office, taking the No. 1 spot again with $25 million and almost no drop at all from its first week. It seriously just copied and pasted its own opening weekend. That’s amazing.
The R-rated puppet crime comedy and the PG-13 romantic comedy may not have been competing for the same audience, but they played in close to the same number of theaters, and only one of them walked away with much of an audience at all. “Happytime” debuted with only $10 million from 3,256 theaters, taking third place in its opening weekend.
DOA.
“Happytime” was made on a reported $40 million production budget and it hasn’t been embraced by critics or viewers, earning a “C-” Cinemascore. It’ll probably end up a cult classic, but for now it’s an open wound.
The film is Melissa McCarthy‘s lowest wide release opening. Not that the film is a showcase for her, it’s about raunchy puppets, as directed by Brian Henson, son of Muppets creator Jim Henson.
The PG robotic dog adventure film “A.X.L.” — which had a reported production budget of $10 million — opened at $2.9 million. It was the only other new movie to make the top 10, even with that small take. It opened in 1,710 theaters, with a $1,719 per-screen average, which is about the same as “Mile 22,” but the lowest of all films opening this weekend. “A.X.L” clearly disappointed.
The other two new movies this week — “Papillon“ and “Searching“ — took 16th and 21st respectively, but had much more limited releases.
Sony Pictures Entertainment
“Papillon” made $1.15 million from 544 theaters, and “Searching” impressed with $360,000 from only nine theaters. That’s a fantastic $40,000 per-screen average for John Cho‘s film. (For comparison, “Crazy Rich Asians” topped this week’s chart with a per-screen average of $7,093.)
“Searching” goes wide next Friday, hot off this strong limited opening and equally strong reviews.
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