FOR EVERY AVATAR, Titanic and Harry Potter, there’s a John Carter, Gigli and The Lone Ranger.
It is a fact of life that some films will do better than others.
2015 has seen some: Jurassic World, Avengers: Age of Ultron and Furious 7 all placing in the top 10 ranking box office hits of all time.
Other films haven’t been so lucky, taking a critical beating and failing to recuperate their budgets.
Released in Ireland in October, Pan has faced a critical onslaught and poor box office takings internationally.
The film cost €141 million to make and took back just €14.4 million of that during its opening weekend, with projections for its long-term losses being potentially tens of millions.
After its release Variety even predicted that the film’s failure could be so profound that it could bring an end of ‘origin stories’ as a genre.
This Zac Efron fronted-vehicle had one of the worst box office openings ever back in August.
Its return of just €1.7 million from a domestic release into 2,333 cinemas was the 4th worst of all time according to Box Office Mojo (it has since been surpassed by Rock the Kasbah and Jem and the Holograms, but we’ll get onto those in a second).
The film focused on a DJ aiming to break through and make it big – with Warner Bros. executive VP for domestic distribution Jeff Goldstein calling the film a “passion project” for Efron in an interview with the Hollywood Reporter.
When this film came out back in January there was a lot of people scratching their heads and wondering what had happened to Johnny Depp’s film career.
The film was heavily slated and saw it take home €8.75 million worldwide on a budget of €56.5 million – with many outlets pointing out that it was the fifth box office flop in a row for Depp.
Thankfully, he managed to turn the corner before the end of the year – with the actor winning accolades for his performance as Whitey Bulger in Black Mass.
Another musical themed film that didn’t perform this year was Jem and the Holograms.
Released last month, the film has a Rotten Tomatoes approval rating of just 20%, with Molly Lambert from Grantland calling it “a master class in How Did This Get Made?”.
The film also tanked spectacularly from a financial point of view – taking in just €2 million in its first two weeks after a worldwide release.
It’s not a nice feeling to see Bill Murray taking a critical battering.
Rock the Kasbah saw the comedy legend playing a washed-up rock manager who gets inspired after hearing an incredible voice in a cave during a trip to war-time Afghanistan.
Despite being backed up by an impressive cast including Danny McBride, Bruce Willis, Kate Hudson and Zooey Deschanel, the film grossed just €1.4 million during its opening weekend and was condemned by critics.
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