The 40 Biggest Box Office Bombs of the Last Decade

“Tulip Fever” is a period drama about an artist who falls in love with a married woman while he’s commissioned to paint her portrait during the tulip mania of 17th-century Amsterdam. The movie holds a Rotten Tomatoes Freshness score of just 10%, with critics saying it was handsomely mounted but was undone by uninspired dialogue.

This animated adventure film voiced by stars Pressly, Leachman, Lloyd, and Chazz Palminteri scored an abysmal 1.7 out of a possible 10 among user viewers on IMDb. The movie managed a 30% Rotten Tomatoes Freshness among critics, who said the movie “fails to offer much more than several brightly colored examples of the worst stereotypes of modern children’s entertainment.”

Eddie Murphy plays a fast-talking literary agent who must moderate his speech or he’ll die. The movie received a zero score from critics on Rotten Tomatoes, who questioned why the moviemakers would take away Murphy’s voice, his best comedic feature.

Two American political consultants (Oscar winners Bullock and Thornton) working for opposing presidential candidates in Bolivia resort to dirty tricks in a win-at-all-costs battle. Rotten Tomatoes critics said the film lacked the bite to be an effective political satire and awarded the movie a Freshness score of 37%.

“Kin” is about a Detroit teen who finds a high-tech gun and is forced to flee local thugs and futuristic soldiers who want their weapon back. Rotten Tomatoes critics gave the movie a Freshness score of 35%, saying the film “struggles to balance its narrative until a late twist that suggests it all might have worked better as the first episode of a TV series.”

Cumberbatch and Brühl play Wikileaks perpetrators Julian Assange and Daniel Domscheit-Berg, respectively, who revealed government secrets they believe should be known to the public. While hailing the performance of Cumberbatch, Rotten Tomatoes critics gave the film a score of 35%, saying it was “missing the spark from its remarkable real-life inspiration.”

“The Finest Hours” is based on the true story of the Coast Guard rescue of the survivors of a tanker split in two during a storm off the New England coast. Some audience viewers on Rotten Tomatoes felt the movie, which holds a 63% critics score, was hindered by a weak script that failed to develop the characters.

This is an animated adventure film following the experiences of an American soldier and his pet dog in France during World War I. Despite the voices of film luminaries Carter and Depardieu, a Rotten Tomatoes score of 89%, and an audience score of 92%, the film failed to find a broader audience.

“Stronger” was another well-received movie – it earned a 90% Rotten Tomatoes Freshness score – that did not find favor with a wider audience. Gyllenhaal was hailed for his portrayal of Jeff Bauman, who lost both legs when two bombs exploded at the Boston Marathon in 2013. The story follows his physical and emotional rehabilitation.

Critics pilloried this comedy starring Vince Vaughn as a mineral company executive who must fly to Germany to salvage a deal and save his business. The movie got a 10% Freshness score from Rotten Tomatoes critics, who said the film was “unfocused and unfunny.”

McCarthy, Haddish, and Moss play the wives of Irish mobsters running the rackets on Manhattan’s West Side in the late 1970s. When the FBI arrests their husbands, the women take on gangs trying to muscle in on their turf. Rotten Tomatoes audiences gave the film a score of 69%, but critics disagreed, giving it a Freshness tally of 23%, saying the movie “is a jumbled crime thriller in urgent need of some heavy-duty renovation.”

Critics applauded “Silence” as one of Martin Scorsese’s best works. It’s about two 17th-century Portuguese missionaries, played by Garfield and Driver, who journey to Japan to seek their mentor (Neeson). If caught by feudal lords or samurai, the missionaries must either renounce their faith or face an excruciating death. The subject matter apparently did not resonate with audiences.

Helmed by Warren Beatty, who also appeared as the movie mogul and visionary Howard Hughes, “Rules Don’t Apply” is about a young contract actress who falls in love with the driver who meets her at the airport when she arrives in Hollywood. Their relationship conflicts with Hughes’ rule that no employee can have an intimate relationship with a contract performer. The film holds a modest 55% Rotten Tomatoes score. Critic Brian Eggert of Deep Focus Review said “Beatty’s lofty ambitions for this project are undone by the story and presentation’s general unevenness.”

Tom Hanks stars as a businessman trying to nail down a major deal in Saudi Arabia with the help of a doctor (Choudhury) and a streetwise taxi driver (Alexander Black). Rotten Tomatoes critics said the movie – holding a Freshness score of 70% – “amiably ambles through a narrative desert, saved by an oasis of a performance from the ever-dependable Tom Hanks.”

Keanu Reeves plays a mixed-blood warrior who helps an outcast samurai gain revenge on a feudal lord in Japan. Despite Reeves’ track record for successful action films (i.e., the John Wick and Matrix franchises), he was unable to save the movie. “47 Ronin” won a Rotten Tomatoes Freshness score of just 16%, and was dismissed by critics as overly reliant on CGI and for being “surprisingly dull fantasy adventure, one that leaves its talented international cast stranded within one dimensional roles.”

Rotten Tomatoes critics said Reilly and Phoenix were well-paired as the Sisters Brothers, sibling assassins journeying through the American West in the mid 19th century. Critic Geoffrey Macnab of the Independent said it is a “measure of the four exceptional central performances (from Reilly, Phoenix, Gyllenhaal, and Riz Ahmed) that the film remains so engaging in spite of its narrative digressions and moments of very bleak violence.” Rotten Tomatoes critics awarded it a score of 87% but it failed at the box office.

Box-office heavyweights Hemsworth, Oldman, and Ford couldn’t salvage the film about a rising star in a tech company who’s a pawn caught between the ambitions of two tech moguls. Rotten Tomatoes critics opined that “Paranoia” was “clichéd and unoriginal…a middling techno-thriller with indifferent performances and a shortage of thrills” and gave it a Freshness score of 7%.

The early years of martial arts legend Bruce Lee in San Francisco are presented in “Birth of the Dragon.” Critics felt the movie, which has a Freshness score of 37%, gave an inadequate depiction of what Lee’s life was like. Others called it “soulless” and “toothless and lame.”

A galaxy of stars populated this installment of the Sin City franchise, stylishly shot in black-and-white bleakness. Dan Brightmore of NME called it “a twisted orgy of monochrome mayhem.” The Rotten Tomatoes critics consensus gave it a Freshness score of 43%, saying the movie lacked “its predecessor’s brutal impact.”

The motion-picture version of the stage hit boasted the considerable starpower of Dench, Taylor Swift, Idris Elba, and Jennifer Hudson. Despite this, Rotten Tomatoes critics handed it a Freshness score of 19%, with some chiding it for lacking ” the camp, kitsch high energy that characterized the stage show.”

Bryan Cranston, famous for playing the chemistry teacher turned crystal meth maker in “Breaking Bad,” is on the other side of the drug business in “The Infiltrator.” Cranston portrays a federal agent posing as a money-laundering businessman who gets access to the inner workings of the drug cartel run by the infamous Colombian drug czar Pablo Escobar. Rotten Tomatoes critics and audiences gave it a respectable 71% score, though some critics found the movie guilty of “derivative narrative and occasionally clunky execution.”

The movie “Lucy in the Sky” has nothing to do with the Beatles psychedelic song of the same name, but is about astronaut Lucy Cola (Portman) who has trouble adjusting to life on Earth upon her return from space. Critics appreciated the performance of Portman, who’d won an Oscar for 2010’s “Black Swan,” but found the film confused, the script weak, and the story jumbled.

“Free State of Jones,” headlined by Oscar winners McConaughey and Ali, is about a medic (McConaughey) in the Confederate Army who flees his home in Mississippi after he’s branded a deserter and joins runaway slaves and other farmers to start a rebellion. Audiences largely stayed away from this relatively unknown episode of American history. Wendy Ide of the Observer said “a fascinating and genuinely important period in American history is underserved here by an inelegant structure and unwieldy running time.”

Johnny Depp effected an English accent as an aristocrat and dodgy art dealer who is asked by college chum and MI5 officer (McGregor) to find a stolen Goya painting. There are others after the work because it’s rumored to hold the code to a bank account containing Nazi gold. There’s an Austin Powers-like vibe to the movie, though there’s little else to recommend it. Rotten Tomatoes critics awarded the film a score of 11%. Donald Clarke of the Irish Times said “this wilfully terrible film marks a significant juncture in Johnny Depp’s peculiar career.”

“Winter’s Tale” is a love story between a thief (Farrell) and the occupant (Findlay) of a house he breaks into in New York City in the early 20th century. The woman is dying of consumption, and the thief discovers he has the power of reincarnation and tries to save her. That’s just the beginning of this complex fable, full of demons and miracles. Critics such as Frank Ochieng of SF Crowsnet dismissed it as a “bloated and sugary supernatural period piece.” It’s little wonder it only managed a 13% Rotten Tomatoes Freshness score.

After his mother is killed in a bombing at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, a boy steals a painting titled “The Goldfinch” and gets pulled into the criminal world. A strong cast helped the movie get a 72% Rotten Tomatoes audience score. Critics didn’t share the enthusiasm for the film, based on Donna Tartt’s Pulitzer Prize-winning novel of the same name. Rotten Tomatoes critics gave it a score of 25%, saying it was “beautifully filmed yet mostly inert” and an “uninvolving disappointment.”

In “The Kid Who Would Be King,” a boy named Alex finds the mythical sword Excalibur and unites his friends and enemies against the wicked Morgana and her legions of otherworldly warriors. The movie resonated more among Rotten Tomatoes critics (Freshness score: 90%) than audiences (55%), who failed to respond to the fantasy.

Directed by Robert Zemeckis, “Welcome to Marwen” starred Steve Carell as a victim of an assault that wipes out his memory. As he recovers, he creates a model of a Belgian town and fantasizes that he is a World War II fighter pilot who’s rescued by the women in his life. Larushka Ivan-Zadeh of Metro Newspaper found the movie “engaging on the eye but, ultimately, something of a misfire.” Its Rotten Tomatoes critics score is 34%.

This actioner from director Walter Hill stars Sylvester Stallone as a hitman who kills a dirty cop and joins forces with a detective (Taylor Kwon) to try and take down a dangerous real estate developer. Rotten Tomatoes critics gave the movie a 45% Freshness score. Critic Brent McKnight said that “when they try to insert story or character – or any time there are words – problems arise.”

“Freaks of Nature,” one of the few horror-comedy films on this list, has no Rotten Tomatoes critics score yet, but holds a 45% score from audiences. The plot, such as it is, finds a teenager (Braun), a vampire (Davis), and a zombie (Fadem) uniting to fight off an alien invasion. Critic Scott Weinberg opined that the “whole the movie seems like it was edited with a blender.”

“Deepwater Horizon” is a taut thriller about the explosion of the Deepwater Horizon drilling rig in the Gulf of Mexico in 2010, which killed several workers, and the efforts of the survivors to get off the rig alive. The drama won a very respectable Rotten Tomatoes critics and audience score of 82%. News.com.au critic Wenlei Ma said “Deepwater Horizon is that rare disaster blockbuster that is thrilling without sacrificing story or character.” Even so, the film posted a box-office loss of more than $33 million.

Charlie Hunnam stars as England’s legendary monarch in a movie that posted a Rotten Tomatoes Freshness score of 31%. It did better among audiences, with a score of 69%. The critics said the movie “piles mounds of modern action flash on an age-old tale – and wipes out much of what made it a classic story in the first place.”

“Arctic Dogs,” an animated film that weighs in on climate change, is another movie where the opinions of critics and audiences on Rotten Tomatoes diverge widely. While audiences awarded it a score of 60%, critics lambasted it and gave it a Freshness tally of just 12%. Katie Rife of AV Club said that “the animation lacks texture, the score is overwrought, the plotting is scattershot, and the character design is uninspired.”

Set in the Soviet Union in the 1950s, “Child 44” is about a secret police agent (Hardy) sent to a gulag for refusing to denounce his wife (Rapace). While incarcerated, he works with a general (Oldman) to try and nab a serial killer who targets boys. They discover that their investigation leads to a cover-up. Rotten Tomatoes critics, who gave the movie a Freshness score of 27%, found the plot confusing. Paula Fleri-Soler of the Times of Malta opined that “myriad plot strands never come together to make a cohesive whole; despite the best efforts of the impressive ensemble cast.”

This Prohibition-era set piece was written, directed, and co-produced by Ben Affleck, who also starred as the son of a top Boston cop who becomes a bootlegger and runs afoul with a rival after stealing his money and girlfriend. The film’s ending features an over-the-top shootout scene. Critics on Rotten Tomatoes, who gave it a Freshness score of 34%, said the movie violated the first rule of gangster films – don’t be boring.

Blake Lively stars as a woman whose family is killed in a plane crash, putting her on a path of self-destruction. When she finds out the tragedy wasn’t an accident, she enlists a former CIA agent to help her take revenge. Although critics liked Lively’s performance, they found the film lacking, giving it a Freshness score of 28%. Josh Kupecki of the Austin Chronicle called it “a mess…grim and inept.”

This animated sequel to the legendary original stars Lea Michele as Dorothy, who returns to Oz to save her friends Scarecrow, Tin Man, and Cowardly Lion from Jester, younger brother of the slain Wicked Witch of the West. While Rotten Tomatoes audiences awarded the movie with a 68% score, critics did not concur, giving it a Freshness score of just 16%. Their snarky consensus quote said it all: “Faced with the choice between staying in or seeing ‘Legends of Oz: Dorothy’s Return,’ most filmgoers will be forced to conclude that there’s no place like home.”

Chris Hemsworth is a jailed hacker who is released from prison to help track down cybercriminals who hacked into a Hong Kong nuclear plant and the Chicago Mercantile Exchange. Directed by Michael Mann and featuring Oscar winner Viola Davis, the thriller was critically panned for its dearth of thrills. Rotten Tomatoes critics gave it a Freshness score of 33%.

“R.I.P.D.” is category challenging film – comedy, Western, fantasy, action – about an undead lawman tasked with rounding up evil spirits masquerading as humans. The movie might have been fun to make but it wasn’t fun to watch for Rotten Tomatoes critics. They gave it a Freshness score of 12%, saying the motion picture was “too dim-witted and formulaic to satisfy.”

The Armenian genocide, begun in 1915, is the backdrop for a love triangle involving a medical student (Isaac), a dance instructor (Le Bon), and an American journalist (Bale). Director Terry George demonstrated his ability to capture chaos on a grand scale with films such as “Hotel Rwanda,” and critics felt he did the same with “The Promise.” The movie is one of two films on our list that enjoys a 92% score among Rotten Tomatoes audiences. However, critics awarded the movie a middling Freshness score of 51%. “The first major representation of the Armenian genocide boasts solid acting but falls short of the mark by a hokey, old-fashioned romance,” said critic Kristen Lopez of Culturess.