Famous actors have the power to draw in audiences, but a great cast does not guarantee a great movie, and many films with an all-star cast have bombed at the box office.
Here’s a list of 21 movies with impressive casts that were a flop.
Cats
Despite having jaw-dropping cast members, including Sir Ian McKellen, Judi Dench, Taylor Swift, Jennifer Hudson, Jason Derulo, Rebel Wilson, James Corden, and Idris Elba, this movie was a massive flop.
Everything about this movie was off-center. The plot and dialogue were poor, and the CGI/Cartoon visuals were awful.
Rated only 2.8 stars on IMDB, the movie lost around $71 million at the box office, making it one of the biggest movie flops ever.
The Monuments Men
Starring George Clooney, Matt Damon, Bill Murray, Cate Blanchett, and John Goodman, none of its famous cast members could save this movie from its sad fate.
The plot follows a group of Allied forces tasked with saving fine arts and monuments in World War II before the Nazis stole them. However, the movie was heavily criticized for being boring, and it still only has a rating of 31% on Rotten Tomatoes; one critic commented, “Its intentions are noble, and its cast is impressive, but neither can compensate for The Monuments Men’s stiffly nostalgic tone and curiously slack narrative.”
A Wrinkle in Time
This movie lost millions at the box office, much to the surprise of its Director and Producers, but it just shows that big budgets and headline names can’t always fill the cracks in a weak movie plot. Not even casting Oprah Winfrey as a witch or goddess could save this movie, and that’s saying something.
One critic quoted on Rotten Tomatoes says, “The concept and casting shouldn’t be the most magical parts of a fantasy film, no matter how enchanting its message is.”
The Lone Ranger
Starring Johnny Depp, Helena Bonham Carter, and Armie Hammer, this movie was a colossal flop, losing between $160 and $190 million.
Hulk
Despite starring Eric Bana and Jennifer Connelly, this film is still regarded as one of the worst installments of the Marvel movie franchise. Criticized for its poor special effects and dodgy CGI, it disappointed many Marvel fans in 2003.
This, coupled with a weak script and dull narrative, made this movie feel long and tedious.
Bonfire of the Vanities
An all-star cast that included Bruce Willis, Meg Ryan, and Tom Hanks was not enough to save this film from its own bonfire. Rated only 15% on Rotten Tomatoes, it was not a hit.
Based on a powerful Wall Street executive and his spoilt girlfriend who ran over a child by mistake, the film has been criticized on so many levels. All you need to know is this is not a good movie.
Movie 43
Talking about an all-star cast, it’s genuinely confusing how so many great actors seem to feature in this awful film. Kate Winslet, Hugh Jackman, and Uma Thurman are some famous faces you can expect to see in this movie, which, unfortunately, notoriously bombed at the box office.
The Happening
Despite starring Mark Wahlberg, Zooey Deschanel, and John Leguizamo, critics have played upon the irony of this movie’s title and criticized the fact that there doesn’t seem to be much happening in it at all.
According to Rotten Tomatoes, Mark Wahlberg and Zooey Deschanel were miscast, and the negative reviews don’t end there. With an audience rating of only 24%, this film left viewers feeling severely underwhelmed, and it wasn’t a commercial success.
The Irishman
Although it doesn’t feel like this movie was a “flop,” it was when it opened. The figures might have climbed to a slightly better place now, but by most accounts, this film was not a commercial success. Despite its excellent cast and ten Academy Award nominations, unfortunately, this movie makes the list of films that can feel like you’ve seen it before.
You would think that any movie starring Robert De Niro and Al Pacino would automatically be a dream to watch; however, this film ends up feeling like a mashup of Scorsese’s best gangster films, and this leaves audiences feeling like they have already seen this movie before.
This, combined with its non-traditional route to screens (via Netflix), seems to have made this film less successful.
Catwoman
This film, Starring Sharon Stone and Halle Berry was a complete flop. Halle Berry was panned for her performance and even won a Razzie award for “worst actress,” which she famously decided to collect in person.
Everything about this movie was criticized: the directing, the plot, the script, and most notably, Berry’s casting. It’s currently only rated a measly 8% on Rotten Tomatoes.
Psycho
Despite starring the wonderful Vince Vaughn, this remake was not a hit. Fans of the original Hitchcock thriller shot in 1965, and Vaughn both agree that he was miscast for the role, with many claiming that he has just too much “funny” to be feared in this movie.
My Super Ex-Girlfriend
Unfortunately, this movie, which stars Luke Wilson, Uma Thurman, and Anna Faris, misses the mark. Thurman’s acting is wooden, the jokes are corny, and critics gave it scathing reviews.
The fact is that a great cast does not necessarily make a great movie. and this film still only has an audience rating of 31% on Rotten Tomatoes.
Terminator: Dark Fate
Starring Arnold Schwarzenegger, this installment of the famous movie franchise Terminator was a massive flop, much to the surprise and disappointment of fans. It was not a good film.
According to critics, the movie failed on several fronts, with the lack of a solid storyline being one of the biggest factors.
Blow Out
With John Travolta in the lead role, this film was expected to be a big hit, but it was considered a commercial failure as it reportedly cost $18 million to make and only made $13 million at the box office.
This movie was made by Brian De Palma, who has made some of the biggest blockbusters of all time, including the first Mission Impossible movie. Unfortunately, neither of these factors was able to compensate for this film’s lack of popularity with audiences.
Justice League
Despite starring Ben Affleck, Gal Gadot, Jason Momoa, and Henry Cavill, the first Justice League film lost Warner Bros $60 million at the box office and was considered a commercial failure.
Rocky V
Unfortunately, Rocky Balboa wasn’t able to win this round, and despite starring Stallone himself, the fifth installment of the Rocky series was considered a failure on many levels.
The film was criticized for its poor screenplay, multiple continuity errors, and poor characterization, and it wasn’t commercially successful.
Hancock
Starring Will Smith, this movie was a commercial success, but fans were not impressed with Smith’s performance, criticizing it for failing to deliver.
Smith plays a powerful superhero who is a reckless alcoholic. While trying to help people in L.A., he leaves behind a trail of devastation in his wake. However, audiences did not seem to connect with the character, and fans claimed that they felt “let down” by this film.
Blade Trinity
Despite starring Jessica Biel, Wesley Snipes, and Ryan Reynolds, the third and final installment in the Blade franchise saw its quality drop dramatically. Blade Trinity was lambasted for its poor script, cheesy humor, and general deterioration of the entire concept that had made the first two movies so successful.
Quantum of Solace
A James Bond movie with Daniel Craig at the helm, this film suffered greatly due to the 2007 writers’ strike, which resulted in a poorly written, rushed script.
Audiences and critics claimed that the plot felt weak and lacked direction. The film is considered by many as one of the worst Bond movies ever made.
Jurassic Park 3
Despite starring Sam Neill, William H. Macy, and Laura Dern, Jurassic Park 3 was considered a flop, compared to the other movies anyway.
While the first Jurassic Park was considered an iconic movie, the third installment could not replicate its winning formula. It was also the first movie not to be directed by Spielberg, and audiences felt a shift in the film’s dynamic, making it less popular.
The Adventures of Pluto Nash
Eddie Murphy was a comedy legend in the 80s and 90s, but his famous reputation and previous accolades weren’t enough to prop up this disappointing film.
Set on the moon, Murphy plays a bartender in the year 2087 who doesn’t want to sell his establishment to the local mob. The film reportedly cost $100 million to make and only grossed $4 million at the box office, making it one of the biggest failures in the history of Hollywood.
