From highly anticipated blockbusters to indie darlings, this year has already seen its share of theatrical disappointments. Join us as we explore the most notable box office failures that left audiences and studios wondering what went wrong, featuring star-studded casts and acclaimed directors.
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00:00Hi Mickey, are you experiencing any vertigo?
00:03I guess I am feeling a little dizzy.
00:07Welcome to WatchMojo, and today we're counting down our picks for the movies that came into 2025 with a bang, but left with a whimper.
00:14So, what's your deal?
00:16My deal?
00:17I'm just a regular guy, with a regular job, but I've got this condition.
00:23Number 10, Wolfman.
00:25Are you okay? Look at me! Look at me!
00:28Sean, are you hurt? Are you hurt? Are you okay?
00:34On the surface, this monster movie had everything going for it.
00:38It benefited from casting two immensely talented leads, Christopher Abbott and multiple Emmy winner Julia Garner,
00:44as well as the fact that horror auteur Lee Whannell commanded the director's chair.
00:49To me, right now.
00:51Run.
00:58That said, the 2025 Wolfman reboot had gone through considerable development woes,
01:05particularly the departure of original star Ryan Gosling and director Derek Cienfrentz.
01:10In the end, Whannell, who'd previously directed the smash hit Invisible Man remake for Universal,
01:15couldn't quite get Wolfman on a leash.
01:17The film garnered middling reviews, and grossed just under $35 million on a budget of $25 million.
01:23Please, daddy, it's me.
01:27Hurry, mommy, it's coming.
01:28Number 9, In the Lost Lands.
01:31If you've got the time in the stomach for it, I've got a story for you.
01:36You'd be forgiven for having missed In the Lost Lands at your local movie theater,
01:40or for not even knowing it existed in the first place.
01:43Adapted from the 1982 short story of the same name by Game of Thrones creator George R.R. Martin,
01:48In the Lost Lands was the latest project by reliable purveyor of junky genre thrills, Paul W.S. Anderson.
01:54The world you know is gone.
01:57Consumed by the flames of a great war long ago.
02:02All that's left now are the Lost Lands.
02:04Starring Dave Bautista and Mila Jovovich, reuniting with Anderson,
02:08her real-life husband and Resident Evil director,
02:11In the Lost Lands was ultimately panned by critics, and received only a limited release.
02:15Made for a reported $55 million, Lost Lands scrounged up a measly $4.9 million at the global box office.
02:23Your fate was sealed when you met me.
02:31This is the moment we've been working for.
02:34It's not too late to turn back.
02:38One always has to die.
02:40Number 8, Death of a Unicorn.
02:42Ridley, are you okay?
02:46It kind of felt like it was showing me something.
02:51I get this feeling I don't think we're supposed to be here.
02:53This pitch-dark comedy is proof that you really can't win them all.
03:00Boasting an all-star cast, including Paul Rudd, Jenna Ortega, Will Poulter, Tia Leone, and Oscar nominee Richard E. Grant,
03:08Death of a Unicorn was hardly as fantastical as its title implied.
03:11Ostensibly a satire of greed and class warfare, writer-director Alex Sharfman's film just simply couldn't figure out exactly what it wanted to be.
03:19Sorry, we're...
03:20What happened?
03:21You walked from the airport or what?
03:22It's perfect timing.
03:23I need you to act like everything is fine.
03:27Is there something in your car?
03:31A lot of species in this area are rare.
03:34Um, what exactly are we saying this is?
03:37The end result?
03:38A comedy that's only fitfully funny, and a horror flick that isn't really scary.
03:42Despite distributor A24's mostly sterling track record for artful, thought-provoking cinema,
03:48Death of a Unicorn turned out to be DOA, just barely making its $15 million budget back.
03:53Whatever it is that seems to be the cure for cancer.
03:56Cancer?
03:56That's the biggest one!
03:59Number 7, Love Hurts.
04:01Hello!
04:02Morning, Marvin!
04:04Every day is an opportunity to change your life.
04:07Good morning!
04:08Do you think I just woke up one day as a top-selling reenter?
04:11You have won the Regional Realtor of the Year Award!
04:14Congratulations!
04:16No!
04:16I had to look for it and stop becoming who I wanted to be!
04:20It feels like we have Liam Neeson and Taken to thank for Love Hurts.
04:24That 2008 thriller kicked off an ongoing wave of regular guy action movies,
04:28in which that regular guy turns out to not be quite so regular after all.
04:32In the case of Love Hurts, the average Joe in question is Marvin Gable,
04:36portrayed by newly minted Oscar winner Kei Hui Kwan,
04:39whom you may recognize from the Best Picture winner, Everything Everywhere All at Once.
04:43Hiding a living.
04:46Not feeling great all of a sudden.
04:51We've been looking for you.
04:53Marvin Gable.
04:54I thought a has-been killer like yourself would be scarier.
05:01The involvement of producer David Leitch, director of John Wick, Atomic Blonde, Deadpool 2, and more,
05:07wasn't enough to ease the pain.
05:09That is to say, Love Hurts was blasted by critics,
05:12earning a dismal 19% consensus on Rotten Tomatoes,
05:15as well as falling short of recouping its relatively modest $18 million budget.
05:19Tell my brother to back off.
05:35This little faux foot nothing ass spider monkey ninja got hot.
05:39It seems that Death of a Unicorn wasn't the only high-profile 2025 flopper A24.
06:05Joining the ranks of that disreputable club was Mark Anthony Green's directorial debut,
06:10the cult thriller Opus.
06:12Starring the Bears' Emmy-winning Iowa Debery as a skeptical journalist,
06:16opposite John Malkovich as an eccentric former pop star,
06:19Opus certainly had the makings of a future cult classic, no pun intended.
06:23Future times, all the times, really.
06:29And there is more to come.
06:33So much more.
06:35What is it that you guys do?
06:36Would you like to see?
06:38Unfortunately, it just didn't live up to the hype,
06:41receiving mostly negative reviews from critics,
06:43who praised his performance as an ambition,
06:45but couldn't get past its overwhelming execution.
06:48Grossing just $2.2 million on a budget of $10 million,
06:51only time will tell if moviegoers will re-evaluate Opus.
06:55It'll be an absolute honor to spend this weekend with you.
06:59Yep, namaste.
07:01Everybody, meet Ariel, some young blood from the magazine.
07:04This is Clara, the most hated sex symbol on TV.
07:08How's print media treating you?
07:10Number five, Black Bag.
07:12Where are you off to?
07:16Black Bag.
07:18Light.
07:19You asked how it works.
07:22To be with someone in this business, this is how.
07:26You each know what you know, and you know what you'll do,
07:29and you never discuss certain things again.
07:31If even Cate Blanchett, Michael Fassbender,
07:34and Oscar-winning director Steven Soderbergh
07:36can't put butts into movie theater seats,
07:38then what does that say about the state of Hollywood in 2025?
07:41Unlike most of the other bombs on our list,
07:43Black Bag was critically acclaimed,
07:45boasting a virtually unheard of 98% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes.
07:49I watch her, I assume she watches me.
07:54I would do anything for you.
07:56Would you?
07:58Yes.
07:58If a situation presents itself,
08:02would you choose your marriage over everything else?
08:05My devotion to my marriage is my professional weakness.
08:10A good, old-fashioned spy thriller
08:12that notably isn't based on any pre-existing source material,
08:16Black Bag was almost totally overlooked by audiences,
08:19grossing just $39 million
08:20on a reported budget of up to $60 million.
08:24While films like Ryan Coogler's Sinners
08:26prove that there's hope yet for original, big-budget pictures,
08:29director Soderbergh was justified
08:30when he publicly posed the question
08:32of what's going to happen to the person behind me
08:34who wants to make this kind of film.
08:36Maybe this is all your greatest game, George.
08:40It's a very dangerous line of work.
08:42I'll say.
08:48Would you kill for me, George?
08:50Number 4.
08:51Captain America Brave New World.
08:52You'll notice I did not die.
08:55And people are saying I did not die in style.
08:58Who's saying that?
08:59People.
09:00What people?
09:00Everybody.
09:01Everybody is saying that.
09:03Look, tell me I don't make your old gear look brand new.
09:06You got on the grease upside down.
09:08I'm joking.
09:10You look good, man.
09:11Before all the Marvel fans yell at us, let us explain.
09:14Yes, Anthony Mackie's first cinematic outing
09:16as the new Captain America technically made his budget back,
09:19earning $415 million after reportedly costing $180 million to make.
09:24However, that's before you factor in, among other expenses,
09:28marketing costs.
09:29Meaning that Brave New World would need to have made at least $425 million
09:33in order to ultimately break even.
09:35Sam, you shouldn't even be in these situations.
09:41You're not Steve Rogers.
09:46Ruth, you have my full authority to put this thing to bed
09:50before this treaty gets compromised any further.
09:53On top of that, the fourth Captain America film
09:56also became the worst received in the franchise.
09:59Amidst a growing wave of superhero fatigue among movie-going audiences,
10:02it remains to be seen whether or not Avengers Doomsday
10:05will be able to put the MCU back on the map.
10:07You don't have to come with me.
10:10Duh, I know.
10:11That's what makes it so noble.
10:14Pack as much gear as you can carry.
10:16I don't know when we'll be back.
10:18What, you mean like right now, right now?
10:21Yeah.
10:21Oh, shit.
10:24Okay.
10:25Well, it's a long-ass drive to West Virginia,
10:27so we're gonna need some snacks.
10:28Why did I invite you?
10:30Number three, The Alto Knights.
10:32Where do I start?
10:36You're going down a very dangerous road.
10:38And we ain't been down dangerous roads before.
10:40Once upon a time, the phrase Robert De Niro playing not one,
10:44but two of the famous gangsters of all time
10:46would have guaranteed sold-out theaters opening weekend.
10:49In 2025, though, what was once a sure thing is now far from it.
10:53The Alto Knights even hails from mafia movie and TV royalty.
10:57Let's remember something.
10:58I put you where you are today.
11:01It's because of me.
11:02Mr. Good Citizen.
11:05You wanna be like them?
11:06Come on, you ain't like them.
11:08They own this country.
11:10They're bigger gangsters than we ever could be.
11:14All of a sudden, you wanna be half thin, half hot,
11:16half a racketeer?
11:17You can't have it both ways.
11:19You got two-time Academy Award laureate De Niro,
11:22as both Frank Costello and Vito Genovese,
11:24Goodfellas screenwriter Nicholas Pelleggi,
11:26and Sopranos cast members Catherine Narducci,
11:29Michael Rispoli, and Matt Servito.
11:31Throw in Oscar-winning filmmaker Barry Levinson,
11:34director of Good Morning Vietnam and Rain Man,
11:36and what do you get?
11:37Unfortunately, a dull misfire for everyone involved,
11:40which made only $9 million on a $50 million budget.
11:43The man took a shot at his own boss.
11:47We just grew up together.
11:49Frank sometimes forgets where he comes from.
11:52Go more fly off the handle.
11:56You make sure he's dead.
11:57Number two, Mickey 17.
12:00I wouldn't be surprised if you were thinking at this point,
12:03what have I done?
12:04How lucky can one guy be?
12:07Nothing was working out,
12:09and I wanted to get off of her.
12:10Oof, here's one that really stings.
12:13After winning three Academy Awards in 2020
12:15for the black comedy thriller Parasite,
12:17all eyes were on South Korean filmmaker Bon Joon-ho
12:20as the world washed with bated breath
12:22to see what his next project would be.
12:24Eventually, in January 2022,
12:26Bong revealed that Mickey 17,
12:28based on Edward Ashton's graphic novel Mickey 7,
12:31was next up.
12:32They made me work my ass off on one mission after another.
12:35Every time you die,
12:36we learn something new,
12:38and humanity moves forward.
12:39Maybe the Parasite honeymoon had worn off,
12:53or maybe it was the marketing,
12:55but upon Mickey 17's March 2025 debut,
12:58it fell with a deafening thud,
13:00despite warm critical notices.
13:02Industry publication Variety later reported
13:04that Mickey 17 would lose Warner Brothers
13:06approximately $80 million.
13:09I'm sure you're used to it by now,
13:10but what's it feel like to die?
13:13Even on my 17th go-around,
13:16I hate dying.
13:16Why aren't you dead?
13:30We're multiples.
13:30Before we continue,
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13:44Number 1, Snow White
13:48Yeah, this is one you probably saw coming.
14:10Director Mark Webb's live-action Disney reimagining
14:13almost felt doomed from the get-go,
14:15mired in controversies that all but sealed its fate.
14:18These include, but definitely aren't limited to,
14:21star Rachel Zegler's casting as the titular character,
14:23comments she made that were perceived
14:25as harshly criticizing the original film,
14:27and Gal Gadot's support of Israel
14:29amidst its war with Hamas.
14:30Gadot plays the film's version of the evil queen.
14:32Magic mirror on the wall.
14:35Who is the fairest of them all?
14:37Famed is thy beauty, majesty.
14:39With the lovely maiden I now behold.
14:44I look at you,
14:46and I just want to be
14:47the fairest of them all.
14:51Ultimately, the film's biggest failure
14:53might simply have been its inability
14:55to resonate with audiences.
14:56On a jaw-dropping budget of nearly $300 million,
15:00Snow White has made just over $200 million.
15:03Ouch.
15:03Hello? Is there anybody here?
15:22Wait, wait.
15:24It's a human.
15:24What did you think I was?
15:26Nothing.
15:26Ghost.
15:27Have you seen any of these box office bombs?
15:29Are there any we missed?
15:30Be sure to let us know in the comments below.
15:32Nova King?
15:33It is you!
15:34I thought you'd be dead by now.
15:36Well, I'm not.