Some movies do extremely well at the box office, thanks to theirstar-studded casts, fleshed-out smart marketing and hype built on social media, and perhaps an amazing production team. But it’s only after they’ve landed in theaters that the audience begins wonderingif the ticket was really worth buying. Sure, the theatrical momentum might keep blowing up well after the honeymoon period, but when the ball rolls into the viewers’ court,weak storylines andpaper-thin character arcsbegin getting pointed out in public forums. I’ve also been guilty of spending money (and worse, precious hours) on hyped-up blockbusters, only to leave wishing I had justrewatched an old classicinstead. So, here’s my list of those big,disastrous blockbuster moviesthat raked in millions but failed to win my heart.
10’Fifty Shades Darker' (2017)
Sequels are supposed to raise the bar of an existing story and reward the audience for showing up again, butFifty Shades Darkerdid the absolute opposite. The movie was released in 2017 as a follow-up to the famously eroticFifty Shades of Grey, and tried to cash in on the global frenzy aroundE. L. James’ novels, but ended up sinking intolazy writing and completely bland execution.
Though the film earned a massive $381 million worldwide, it wasa critical disasterthat holds a measly 11% critics' score onRotten Tomatoes. The audience also did not love the movie too much and gave it a 48% score.Jamie DornanandDakota Johnsonhadabsolutelyno chemistryto save it, and even admitted in later interviews how some of the scenes that they shot together were challenging, even. Technically, the movie was a hit, but the numbers only proved the power of hype, not the quality of what was shown on screen.
9’Independence Day: Resurgence' (2016)
Independence Day: Resurgencewas one of themost disappointing sequelsof all time. The originalIndependence Day(1996) was cheesy, patriotic, and over-the-top, but it worked only becauseRoland Emmerichmade a beautiful story and featured the star power ofWill Smith. Fast-forward 20 years, andResurgencearrived with the promise of a bigger battle, but what it forgot was to bring a heart to the film.
The film did well at the box office, but clearly, Smith’s absence was so glaring that evenJeff Goldblum’s charmcouldn’t fill the void. It grossedonly $389 million worldwide, less than half of what the original earned, despite being released in a much bigger global market. There were other popular cast members, such asLiam HemsworthandMicah Monroe, whosewooden exchangesmade their connection feel awkward and forced.
8’The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor' (2008)
The first twoMummyfilms (1999, 2001) were pure popcorn fun, which starredBrendan Fraserat his peak,Rachel Weiszbalancing wit and wonder, and enoughIndiana Jonesenergy to make the audience cling to it. But by the timeTomb of the Dragon Emperorrolled around, the magic had already evaporated. Weisz didn’t return, and her absence was noticeable. Instead,Maria Bellostepped in, but the chemistry that held the series together was gone.
The film swapped Egyptian mythology for Chinese lore, castJet Lias the new villain, and broughtMichelle Yeohinto the mix. But even those heavyweight namescouldn’t save apaper-thin plot. The movie pulled in almost$403 million worldwide, which sounds decent. But comparing it with earlier films' profitability, while keeping in mind marketing costs, it lagged behind its predecessors.
7’Transformers: The Last Knight' (2017)
The Last Knightrolled into the theaters whenMichael Bay’sTransformerssaga had already exploded into a billion-dollar franchise. This fifth installment was supposed to push the story forward in a new direction, but it collapsed under the weight of its own noise. The movie starredMark Wahlberg, who is a great actor and a proven action star, butThe Last Knightwasted his charisma on anunderdeveloped character.
The plot was alsoborderline incoherent. Optimus Prime returns evil, then good again, then the Autobots somehow tie back to King Arthur’s round table, and moving forward,Anthony Hopkinsshows up just to shout “Dude!” at the robots. This sequelcompletely ruined theTransformersfranchise, even though the numbers looked strong, with a worldwide $605 million on worldwide grossing. The film was one of thelowest-grossingTransformersfilmsat that time. Paramount Studios also realized that the franchise’s formula had run dry, which forced them to scrap base continuity and pivot to the far better-receivedBumblebee(2018).
6’Pearl Harbor' (2001)
With all the good ingredients required for anunforgettable war epic, including a strong story about one of the most defining events in American history, and a cast led byBen Affleck, Josh Hartnett,andKate Beckinsale,Pearl Harborfailed to be received well. It was a glossy three-hour soap opera and abig-budget bomb.
The first attack sequence itself was technically brilliant and showed Bay at his best, but the story turned out to bemelodramatic and shallow.Moreover, it sidelined a historically important angle fora clumsy love trianglethat was completely out of taste. Financially, the film was a hit and scraped together almost $449 million worldwide, but the audience got a bloated blockbuster thatcouldn’t carry the weight of the storyand earned only a 24% critics score and a 66% audience score onRotten Tomatoes.
5’Jurassic World Dominion' (2022)
I remember sitting in the theater and waiting for a trailer ofJurassic Park’s magic to spark again, but instead I left with the same emptiness you get after a microwaved meal. WhenJurassic World Dominionwas announced as the grand finale of the franchise, everyone turned to theaters to see dinosaurs running wild in the modern world for the last time.Sam Neill, Laura Dern,andJeff Goldblumreturned alongsideChris PrattandBryce Dallas Howardwith the chance to finally tie six films together.
Yes, the film made over $1 billion worldwide, but money does not equal respect. It was panned for being overstuffed and directionless and was called one of theweakest entriesin the saga. Even diehard fans admitted that thenostalgia bait couldn’t save it. A shallow story that gave the legacy trio little to do beyond nods and winks. The dinosaurs, on the other hand, only felt like background extras in the film that was actually made about them. Although there is more to come in theJurassic Parkfranchise, this moviecould not have been a more disappointing conclusionto the trilogy.
4’Star Wars: Episode IX – The Rise of Skywalker' (2019)
Star Warsprequels are pretty much infamous for being universally despised, butThe Rise of Skywalkermade us realize that we paid actual money to go see one of the most beloved film franchises ever made, only for it to beruined in front of our eyes. It was an insulting conclusion to the nine-partSkywalkersaga that completely deprived characters of any depth and interesting storylines. The film was directed byJ.J. Abramsand earned over 1 billion dollars worldwide, yet itscritical reception was tepidwith a 51% critics rating onRotten Tomatoes, which makes itone of thelowest rated live-actionStar Warsmoviesever made.
Emperor Palpatine was resurrected without explanation, Rey’s parentage was retconned, and entirestory arcs were bent out of shapeonly to undo the previous film’s risks. As someone who grew up withStar Wars, I walked out of the theater with a strange ache of knowing that I had just seen the end of an era, but not the ending it deserved. It wasn’t terrible in the sense of craft, but it was a disaster because itbetrayed the weight of previous films.
3’The Last Airbender' (2010)
M. Night Shyamalan’sThe Last Airbenderwas a collective disappointment. The movie is based on Nickelodeon’s beloved animated seriesAvatar: The Last Airbender(2005–2008), but it had a built-in fan base and a chance to bring one of the best modern fantasy stories to the big screen. However, the movie could not have disappointed more. Shyamalan had gotten his filmmaking career back on track thanks to the excellent 2017 thrillerSplit, but withThe Last Airbender, everythingwent to the drain.
Even though the movie did well at the box office and earned $319 million worldwide, it waspropped up only by overseas revenue. It cost around $150 million to make, but domestically it collected only $131 million. This is also one of thelowest-rated movies onRotten Tomatoes,where critics only give it an extremelydisappointing 5% score. The casting also sparked controversy for itswhitewashing of central roles, the script butchered character arcs, and the mispronunciation of names like ‘Aang” and “Sokka”, which only showed how much no one was involved and truly understood the source material.
2’Battlefield Earth' (2000)
There are bad movies, and then there isBattlefield Earth. The movie was based onL. Ron Hubbard’s 1982 sci-fi novel, directed byJohn Travolta. This was supposed to be the nextStar Wars, but it became a textbook example of how a blockbuster can implode at every possible level.Battlefield Earthswept the Razzies in 2000and won eight awards, includingWorst Picture, Worst Actor, andWorst Screen Couple. If there were more such awards, it would have probably received them too.
Honestly, I couldn’t find much to defend, and for me it stays unwatchable, and a crime against cinema. Although Travolta poured years into getting the film made, and believed he was bringing a sci-fi epic to life, we, as an audience, got two hours ofincoherent storytelling and a high-profile flop.
1’Jupiter Ascending' (2015)
Jupiter Ascendingturned out to be one of the decade’s mostnotorious box office disasters, and it burned through nearly $200 million before anyone even saw it. It is directed by theWachowskisafter their talents peaked when they createdThe Matrixtrilogy, butJupiter Ascendingfailed to land on anyone’s heart. On paper, the premise of the movie sounded quite ambitious, with the story following Jupiter Jones (Mila Kunis), a Russian immigrant who discovers that she is actuallyintergalactic royaltydestined to inherit Earth. Alongside her protector, Caine (Channing Tatum), she gets caught in acosmic and heightened battlebetween three squabbling alien siblings.
This alone sounds like it should have been enough to guaranteelate-night meme culture, but in theaters, instead, it played like amessy collage of ideas. Mila and Channing hadno on-screen sparkbetween them, and it looked weird to watch them speak incomprehensible dialogue on screen. The worst part of the movie wasEddie Redmayne’s whisper-shout villain performance, even though he got the Best Actor award forThe Theory of Everything. It’s only sane to assume that not many people sawJupiter Ascending, because after watching it, one mightquestion his abilities to actsince his performance was so reprehensible.
Jupiter Ascending
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