8 Biggest Box Office Flops of 2018

This year, some massive successes made their way through the box office, but some less fortunate [...]

By Michael Hein

This year, some massive successes made their way through the box office, but some less fortunate films followed in their wake as well.

For every record-shattering, groundbreaking masterpiece that 2018 provided, there was a less fortunate movie that came up short. Many were well-intentioned films that missed their mark, while some were just confusing concepts to start with.

In a world so saturated with movies, TV shows and other media, it makes sense that there would be an up-tick in failures as well. No matter the genre, medium or target audience, some movies simply do not reach the audience they want to.

In the grand scheme of things, it is not even fair to count all of the movies on this list out yet. Some movies flop at the box office then find their niche audience years later, becoming cult classics. Any one of these movies could make that happen eventually, but for now, they're in the red.

Here is a look at some of 2018's biggest box office flops.

'Nutcracker and The Four Realms'

Disney put $120 million into its star-studded, CGI-heavy take on the Nutcracker ballet.

It nearly made that money back, grossing $117.5 million globally according to a report by The Wrap. However, it still cost quite a lot in bad press and audience faith.

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'Annihilation'

From the first trailer, it was clear that Annihilation was ambitious and nuanced. Unfortunately, those qualities do not always pay off on opening weekend.

The Natalie Portman-led sci-fi thriller netted $43 million total, coming in just over its $40 million budget.

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'The Darkest Minds'

The Darkest Minds proved that not all young adult novel adaptations are guaranteed to pay off.

The $34 million budget resulted in a $41 million global gross, though in fairness, the movie got woefully little help from Fox's marketing department.

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'The Hurricane Heist'

The director of The Fast and Furious, Rob Cohen, did his best to turn a hurricane into an action drama back in February.

The concept seemed sound at first, as two brothers attempted high-stakes looting during a Category 5 hurricane. Unfortunately, the movie came in $4 million under its $35 million budget.

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'Death Wish'

Re-makes are a risky business, as Eli Roth and Bruce Willis learned back in March.

Their take on Charles Bronson's Death Wish suffered from bad PR, closely following a series of deadly mass shootings. All in all, it made $48 million worldwide on a $30 million budget.

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'Gotti'

It is understandable if you do not remember this biopic starring John Travolta. The movie went through production hell between 2010 and its eventual release this year, even changing hands from Lionsgate to MoviePass.

Ultimately, the movie made $4.1 million with a budget of $10 million.

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'The Happytime Murders'

To many, The Happytime Murders was like a train crash they desperately wanted to look away from but were not allowed to. The movie was heavily advertised everywhere from TV to podcasts, not to mention spots on talk shows and other media. From the first trailer, however, discerning viewers had little doubt that it would not pay off.

The Happytime Murders is arguably the first big flop for Melissa McCarthy, who gained superstar status from movies like Bridesmaids and Life of the Party. Hopefully fans will forgive her, and hopefully The Jim Henson Company can forgive the film for coming in $13 million under budget.

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'Solo: A Star Wars Story'

Finally, who could forget the most shocking flop of the year: Solo: A Star Wars Story. The movie is the franchise's first failure — at least at the box office — and even that may be an overstatement. The movie made $392 million globally on a $250 million budget. Nothing to sneeze at, certainly, though not what Disney has come to expect from its sci-fi cash machine.

Solo suffered from a rotating cast of directors, lots of re-shoots and and overwhelming pressure from its fan-base to be pitch perfect. While the movie may not have lived up to expectations, it has reportedly made Disney executives re-examine how they handle the Star Wars franchise going forward.

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