What were the biggest box office failures of 2022?

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1 – Strange World

Studio: walt disney
Income: $120 million
Spending: $317.4 million
Loss: -$197.4 million

The biggest disaster of the year was this Disney animation, which failed to delight the public and critics, and was still the subject of controversy for bringing an openly homosexual character as one of the protagonists.

The film grossed a measly US$ 37.9 million at the American box office (less than Charm made in the five days of the Thanksgiving holiday in 2021, and this feature is no example of success at the box office) and US$ 35.6 million outside North America, resulting in a global total of just US$ 73.5 millions. Of that total, US$ 35 million went to Disney and the rest to exhibitors. Combined with an additional $30 million in home entertainment and $55 million in television and streaming sales, the film brought in a total of $120 million for the company.

But that wasn’t enough to cover the film’s absurd production ($180 million) and marketing ($90 million) costs. In total, Disney spent no less than $317.4 million on Strange worldwhich means he gave a loss of nearly $200 million.

It’s the biggest box-office flop of last year, and Disney hasn’t been able to release a really successful animated movie in theaters since. Frozen II.

2 – Amsterdam

Studio: New Regency/Disney
Income: $63 million
Spending: $171.4 million
Loss: -$108.4 million

With an all-star cast (including Harley Quinn Margot Robbie and Batman Christian Bale, as well as John David Washington, Taylor Swift, Chris Rock, Anya-Taylor Joy and Rami Malek) under the direction of renowned David O. Russell, amsterdam it had what it takes to be one of the top contenders in the last awards season.

However, the dramatic comedy set during the First World War failed to please neither the critics (only 32% on Rotten Tomatoes) and much less the public: its collection was only US$ 14.9 million at the American box office and US$ 16 .2 million internationally, resulting in US$ 31.1 million worldwide (of which only US$ 13 million remained for the distributor).

Adding the total in theaters with what was achieved via home entertainment and streaming, Disney earned a total of US$ 63 million with Amsterdam. However, he spent no less than US$ 171.4 million on it, including US$ 80 million for production and US$ 70 million for marketing – and many cast members opted for a smaller fee in order to make the production viable.

With that, the studio had a $108.4 million loss, which was made worse by the lack of relevant award nominations. The only consolation for amsterdam it’s just that, as you’ll see below, it wasn’t the only period comedy starring Margot Robbie on last year’s list of biggest flops.

3 – Lightyear

Studio: Pixar/Disney
Income: $267 million
Spending: $373 million
Loss: -$106 million

One spin off of one of the best and most profitable animated franchises in history (Toy Story) would guarantee full theaters and box office records, right? not in case Lightyear. Pixar’s animation was involved in controversies such as the replacement of the character’s classic voice actor (Tim Allen by Chris Evans), including here in Brazil (Guilherme Briggs by Marcos Mion), and a kiss between two women that attracted the ire of the most conservative .

Add to that a lukewarm critical reception and the film quickly tanked at the box office, dropping with $118.3 million domestically and $108.1 million internationally, for a global total of $226.4 million. , of which US$ 112 million went to the distributor.

In all, Disney (yes, it again) raked in $267 million from Lightyearincluding the values ​​in home entertainment It is streaming. However, it spent $373 million to produce and sell the animation, a figure that includes $200 million of production cost and $110 million of marketing.

This results in a loss of $106 million for Mickey’s House, a depressing figure for Pixar’s first animation released in theaters after the pandemic. Anyway, the studio will try again this year with Elements, which will be released in June but will premiere at the Cannes Film Festival in May – which indicates Disney’s great confidence in receiving good reviews for the film. It’s a good strategy, but it’s extremely risky to open an original animation, not based on any franchise, on the same day as the highly anticipated The Flash.

4 – Brothers of Honor

Studio: sony
Income: $69 million
Spending: $158.2 million
Loss: -$89.2 million

Top Gun: Maverick was one of the biggest blockbusters of last year, a huge success with audiences and critics that made almost US$ 1.5 billion at the global box office. But it wasn’t the only action drama about jet pilots released in 2022. maverickwhich tells a fictional story, this honor brothers was produced with the noble idea of ​​dramatizing the life of Jesse LeRoy Brown, the first black man to be trained by the US Navy as an aviator.

The feature was a passion project for everyone involved, including producer Molly Smith, actor Glenn Powell (who was also in maverick) and filmmaker JD Dillard, whose father was an African-American naval pilot. The studio spared no expense and spent US$ 90 million on the feature, which premiered during the Toronto Festival.

Unfortunately, neither that nor critical acclaim (81% on Rotten Tomatoes) were enough to lure audiences into theaters. The film debuted over the Thanksgiving holiday, but audiences largely ignored it in favor of the Marvel blockbuster. Black Panther: Wakanda Forever. It left the theater with a measly US$ 21.7 million, of which US$ 9 million returned to Sony. Added to sales to home entertainment It is streamingas well as to local distributors in other countries (which ended up being its biggest source of income), the film earned the studio US$ 69 million.

As the company spent US$ 158.2 million, it ended up having a $89.2 million loss with the movie. It’s a shame, but at least he has everything to become a cult over the years (that is, if the controversies involving his protagonist Jonathan Majors don’t get in the way).

5 – Babylon

Studio: Paramount
Income: $75 million
Spending: $162.4 million
Loss: -$87.4 million

Another rather controversial film, Babylon (directed by Oscar winner Damien Chazelle and starring Margot Robbie and Brad Pitt) was one of Paramount’s top bets for awards season. The feature told the story of several Hollywood artists in the early years of cinema dealing with the transition from silent to talkies, making a raw and uncensored portrait of the time – which includes drug use, orgies, various sexual traits and even a elephant defecating.

Babylon it was so explicit that critics were divided (56% on Rotten Tomatoes) and audiences steered clear of theaters. the competition with Avatar: The Way of Water it didn’t help either. It grossed $63 million globally ($15.3 million domestically and $48 million overseas), of which only $25 million returned to Paramount.

In all, the feature only brought in $75 million for the studio, which in return had to pay $162.4 million of its costs (including the $80 million budget and $60 million marketing). That gives a $87.4 million loss to Paramount, who thought they had a new Once Upon a Time in Hollywood (which not coincidentally also featured Pitt and Robbie in the cast) only to see the long wreck.

It is Chazelle’s second consecutive failure. After winning the Academy Award for Best Director for La La Landthe filmmaker made this film and The First Manwhich also lost money for Universal in 2018.

Which of these movies have you seen? Comment with us!

(source: Deadline)