Is 'LOTR: The Rings of Power' the biggest flop of all time? Here's how it stacks up with massive box office bombs
'Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power' has been one of the most exciting and thrilling experiences for fans, transporting them back to JRR Tolkien's world. Based on the novel 'The Lord of the Rings' and its appendices by JRR Tolkien, the series is set in the second Age of Middle-earth. Amazon bought the television rights for 'The Lord of the Rings' from the Tolkien Estate in November 2017, making a five-season production commitment worth at least $1 billion. This would make it the most expensive television series ever made in the history of television but who knew it would be regarded as a box office bomb as well?
Wonder what is a box-office bomb? In the media industry, if a film released in theatres fails to break even by a large margin, it is considered a box office bomb, and the distributor, studio, and/or production company that invested in it loses money. Due to the secrecy surrounding costs and profit margins in the film industry, figures of losses are usually rough estimates at best, and there are often conflicting estimates of how much a film has lost. However, read more to know which are the biggest turkeys that stack up with 'Rings of Power' on the list.
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1) 'Lord of the Rings: Rings of Power'
As we mentioned before about how expensive the series is what is ironic is it didn't turn out to be a money-making machine. Amazon announced that 'The Rings of Power' had been watched by 25 million viewers globally in the first 24 hours that the first two episodes were available on Prime Video, regardless, Bezos still has to wait to get a full refund of his 1 billion dollars and let us not forget it might be a little more than usual for it to become profitable. Although, the company stated that this was the biggest premiere ever for the service. It was the first time that Amazon had publicly stated viewership data for Prime Video and the company did not specify how much of an episode a user needed to watch to count as a viewer. However, the previous 'Lord of the Rings' trilogy made 897.7 million dollars at the box office and is still adding to its profits every day so Bezos still can be hopeful.
2) 'John Carter'
'John Carter' is a science fiction action film directed by Andrew Stanton, written by Stanton, Mark Andrews, and Michael Chabon, and based on 'A Princess of Mars,' the first book in the Barsoom series of novels by Edgar Rice Burroughs. The film was produced by Jim Morris, Colin Wilson, and Lindsey Collins. It stars Taylor Kitsch in the title role, Lynn Collins, Samantha Morton, Mark Strong, Ciarán Hinds, Dominic West, James Purefoy, and Willem Dafoe. Sadly, it grossed $284 million at the worldwide box office, resulting in a $200 million write-down for Disney, becoming one of the biggest box office bombs in history. Along with a total cost of $350 million, including an estimated production budget of $263 million, it is one of the most expensive films ever made. Due to the film's poor box office performance, Disney canceled plans for sequels.
3) 'The Lone Ranger'
Western films have a different essence to them, don't you agree? 'The Lone Ranger' is a western film directed by Gore Verbinski and written by Justin Haythe, Ted Elliott, and Terry Rossio. Based on the title character of the same name, the film stars Johnny Depp as Tonto, the narrator of the events, and Armie Hammer as John Reid, the Lone Ranger. The story tells through Tonto's memories of the duo's earliest efforts to subdue local villainy and bring justice to the American Old West. The film received generally negative reviews from critics and grossed only $260.5 million worldwide against an estimated $225 - 250 million production budget and an additional $150 million in marketing costs, making it one of the biggest box-office bombs of all time, losing Disney over $160 -190 million.
4) 'The 13th Warrior'
'The 13th Warrior' is a classic box office bomb. It is a 1999 historical fiction action film based on Michael Crichton's 1976 novel 'Eaters of the Dead', which is a loose adaptation of the 'Tale of Beowulf' combined with Ahmad ibn Fadlan's historical account of the 'Volga Vikings'. It stars Antonio Banderas as ibn Fadlan, as well as Diane Venora and Omar Sharif. The film's production and marketing costs reputedly reached $160 million, but it grossed $61 million at the box office worldwide, making it one of the biggest box office bombs in history and the biggest one of 1999, with losses of up to $129 million.
5) 'Cutthroat Island'
Another blast from the past is, 'Cutthroat Island', it is a 1995 adventure swashbuckler film directed by Renny Harlin and written by Robert King and Marc Norman from a story by Michael Frost Beckner, James Gorman, Bruce A Evans, and Raynold Gideon. It stars Geena Davis, Matthew Modine, and Frank Langella. It was one of the biggest box office bombs in history, with losses of $147 million when adjusted for inflation. It is listed in the Guinness World Records as the biggest box-office bomb of all time, and significantly reduced the bankability and Hollywood production of pirate-themed films until 2003's 'Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl.' The film's failure caused the closing of Carolco Pictures.
6) 'Sinbad: Legend of the Seven Seas'
It is an animated adventure film that covers the story of Sinbad (voiced by Pitt), a pirate who travels the sea with his dog and his loyal crew, alongside Marina (voiced by Zeta-Jones), the fiancée of his childhood friend Prince Proteus (voiced by Fiennes), to recover the stolen 'Book of Peace' from Eris (voiced by Pfeiffer) to save Proteus from accepting Sinbad's death sentence. The film blends elements from 'One Thousand and One Nights,' and classical mythology. However, grossing $80.8 million on a $60 million budget, Sinbad was a box office failure. DreamWorks suffered a $125 million loss on a string of films, which nearly bankrupted them. Never thought DreamWorks would have faced this, did you?
7) 'Battleship'
Badgirl Riri was part of one box office failure, bet you didn't know that. 'Battleship' is a military science fiction action film based on the board game of the same name. The film was directed by Peter Berg from a script by brothers Jon and Erich Hoeber and stars Alexander Skarsgård, Taylor Kitsch, Brooklyn Decker, Rihanna, Tadanobu Asano, Hamish Linklater, and Liam Neeson. The film was a box-office bomb, grossing $303 million worldwide against a production budget of $209-220 million, losing both Universal and Hasbro $150 million.
8) 'Mars Needs Moms'
It's a 2011 3D computer-animated science fiction film produced by ImageMovers Digital and released by Walt Disney Pictures. Based on Berkeley Breathed's book of the same title, the film is centered on Milo, a nine-year-old boy who, after having an outburst with his mother, finally comes to understand the needs of a family, and has to save his mother after she is taken by Martians. However sad the storyline may be, so is the box office number for the film. It grossed $39 million worldwide on a $150 million budget, making it a box-office bomb, with a loss of $100-144 million.
9) 'Pan'
'Pan' is a fantasy film directed by Joe Wright and written by Jason Fuchs. The film serves as a prequel to 'Peter and Wendy' by Scottish author J M Barrie, which was first staged in 1904, and focuses on an alternative origin story for Peter Pan and Captain Hook. However, rocking might be the star cast but the numbers for the box office didn't turn out to be so star-studded as 'Pan' was a box-office bomb, only grossing $128.4 million against a production budget of $150 million, resulting in a significant loss for the studio.
10) 'King Arthur: Legend of the Sword'
It is a 2017 epic fantasy action-adventure film directed by Guy Ritchie who co-wrote the film with Joby Harold and Lionel Wigram from a story by Harold and David Dobkin, inspired by Arthurian legends. The film stars Charlie Hunnam as the title character and Jude Law as the tyrannical king Vortigern who is attempting to kill him. However, the film grossed $148 million worldwide against its $175 million production budget. Originally, the film was meant to be the first in a six-film franchise, but the planned sequels were canceled after it underperformed at the box office and lost Warner Bros and Village Roadshow Pictures over $150 million.