The 2023 Oscar nominations for Best Picture are in, and among the critically acclaimed films on the list, some have nevertheless failed to turn a profit. Among these are director Sarah Polley’s drama “Women Talking,” which has eked out only $2.4 million against an estimated $135 million production budget. Other box office bombs on the list include Stephen Speilberg’s coming-of-age film “The Fabelmans” and Todd Field’s psychological drama “Tár.” (Here are the 25 great directors with the most box office bombs.)
These films are still in release, so might make back at least a little more money. That’s not true of older films, though. Despite all-star casts, great cinematography, and numerous awards, some Oscar-nominated movies just haven’t paid off. To determine the Best Picture nominees that never turned a profit, 24/7 Tempo reviewed data on production budget and box office from The Numbers, an online movie database owned by Nash Information Services. Films that were nominated for the Academy Award for Best Picture were ranked based on the return on investment ratio between production budget and worldwide box office. Data is not adjusted for inflation. Director and cast information is from IMDb, an online movie and TV database owned by Amazon.
While a few of the films on this list, including Ron Howard’s “Frost/Nixon” and David Lean’s “A Passage to India,” almost managed to break even, one film made less than a quarter of its budget back. “CODA,” a Sundance favorite that Apple paid a record of $25 million for, has seen a box office return of $0.22 per dollar.
Click here to read about the only 9 Best Picture Oscar nominees that lost money
A number of the films have won multiple honors including Oscars, Golden Globes, and Screen Actors Guild awards. Others were included among the American Film Institute’s choices for best film of the year upon their release. (See the best of the best – Oscar winners for Best Picture ranked.)
9. A Passage to India (1984)
> Money made for every dollar spent on production: $0.99
> Worldwide box office: $27.2 million
> Production budget: $27.5 million
> Directed by: David Lean
> Starring: Judy Davis, Victor Banerjee, Peggy Ashcroft
Set during British colonial rule in India, this epic historical drama explores imperialism, racism, and friendship through the story of an open-minded British woman and a widowed local physician.
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8. Frost/Nixon (2008)
> Money made for every dollar spent on production: $0.98
> Worldwide box office: $28.5 million
> Production budget: $29.0 million
> Directed by: Ron Howard
> Starring: Frank Langella, Michael Sheen, Kevin Bacon
Based on a play by Peter Morgan, “Frost/Nixon” recounts David Frost’s famous interviews with Richard Nixon, which took place three years after Nixon’s resignation, highlighting the proficiency of the young talk-show host as he succeeded in coaxing the former president into opening up about the Watergate scandal.
7. The Insider (1999)
> Money made for every dollar spent on production: $0.89
> Worldwide box office: $60.3 million
> Production budget: $68.0 million
> Directed by: Michael Mann
> Starring: Russell Crowe, Al Pacino, Christopher Plummer
In this fictionalized account of real events, Al Pacino plays Lowell Bergman, a CBS producer who takes on his network and the tobacco industry as he fights to air the story of a former tobacco company executive turned whistleblower.
6. Licorice Pizza (2021)
> Money made for every dollar spent on production: $0.82
> Worldwide box office: $32.9 million
> Production budget: $40.0 million
> Directed by: Paul Thomas Anderson
> Starring: Alana Haim, Cooper Hoffman, Sean Penn
Named one of the best films of 2021 by the American Film Institute, “Licorice Pizza” follows a charming and resourceful teenage actor and entrepreneur as he navigates his various business ventures and his push-and-pull connection with an aimless 25-year-old woman.
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5. The Right Stuff (1983)
> Money made for every dollar spent on production: $0.80
> Worldwide box office: $21.5 million
> Production budget: $27.0 million
> Directed by: Philip Kaufman
> Starring: Sam Shepard, Scott Glenn, Ed Harris
Based on the book by Tom Wolfe, “The Right Stuff” details the creation of the first U.S. spaceflight program, following the seven military pilots who were recruited as astronauts for Project Mercury.
4. Mutiny on the Bounty (1962)
> Money made for every dollar spent on production: $0.72
> Worldwide box office: $13.7 million
> Production budget: $19.0 million
> Directed by: Lewis Milestone
> Starring: Marlon Brando, Trevor Howard, Richard Harris
Based on the novel by Charles Nordhoff, this epic historical drama is a fictionalized retelling of an 18th-century crew’s mutiny aboard a merchant vessel after enduring hellish conditions and cruelty from their captain.
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3. The Alamo (1960)
> Money made for every dollar spent on production: $0.66
> Worldwide box office: $7.9 million
> Production budget: $12.0 million
> Directed by: John Wayne
> Starring: John Wayne, Richard Widmark, Laurence Harvey
A dramatization of the 1836 Battle of the Alamo, this historical drama recounts the struggles of a small group of Texas and Tennessee militiamen who refuse to surrender during a 13-day siege by a large and well-armed Mexican army.
2. Wilson (1944)
> Money made for every dollar spent on production: $0.38
> Worldwide box office: $2.0 million
> Production budget: $5.2 million
> Directed by: Henry King
> Starring: Alexander Knox, Charles Coburn, Geraldine Fitzgerald
This biographical drama details the presidency of Woodrow Wilson and his personal struggles as he mourns the death of his wife and attempts, unsuccessfully, to keep the U.S. neutral when war breaks out in Europe.
1. CODA (2021)
> Money made for every dollar spent on production: $0.22
> Worldwide box office: $2.2 million
> Production budget: $10.0 million
> Directed by: Sian Heder
> Starring: Emilia Jones, Marlee Matlin, Troy Kotsur
The English remake of a 2014 French film, this coming of age comedy-drama follows a CODA (child of deaf adults) who is the only hearing member of her family, as she struggles to reconcile her dreams of going to Berklee College of Music with her commitments to her family.
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