Added by nehocb on 6 Mar 2012 10:01

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12 movies we all thought would tank but didn't

Sort by: Showing 12 items

Decade: Rating: List Type:

1496

5.3

5.5

Green Lantern (2011)

Production Budget: $200 million

Worldwide Gross: $219.8 million

The Buzz: First, there was the costume. Then, there were the first trailers, which were confused and muddled and not overly impressive. Sure, it only made $19.8 million of profit, but in a sane world, any business would be happy with $19.8 million they didn’t have before.

3339

6.2

6.6

X-Men Origins: Wolverine (2009)

Production Budget: $150 million

Worldwide Gross: $373 million

The Buzz: The entire film was pirated weeks before the release, and those who saw it didn’t like what they saw. Turns out it didn’t matter.

2132

5.9

6.1

The Golden Compass (2007)

Production Budget: $180 million

Worldwide Gross: $372.2 million

The Buzz: Before it was released, Golden Compass was a firestarter for religious criticism: it either was, like the book, too anti-Catholic, or it removed too many religious elements that were present in the books. And even though it was pretty DOA in domestic theaters, it did earn the armored bear's share of its cash overseas.

2149

6.5

Terminator Salvation (2009)

Production Budget: $200 million

Worldwide Gross: $371.3 million

The Buzz: Christian Bale’s on-set tirades didn’t do favors for anyone trying to sell this film, nor did the fact that director McG was positioning himself as the heir to the James Cameron throne.

5214

6.5

6.7

X-Men: The Last Stand (2006)

Production Budget: $210 million

Worldwide Gross: $459.3 million

The Buzz: With director Bryan Singer off making Superman Returns, Brett Ratner of Rush Hour fame stepped in and longtime X-fans were the opposite of pleased.

1889

5.6

6.2

Waterworld (1995)

Production Budget: $175 million

Worldwide Gross: $264.2

The Buzz: One of the first megabudget films, Waterworld was the poster child for cinematic excess. And yet, in the end, it did perfectly well for itself.

2565

5.7

Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen (2009)

Production Budget: $200 million

Worldwide Gross: $836.3

The Buzz: The well-publicized Writers Guild strike hit just as this one was gearing up and, while some would argue that the Transformers movies aren’t known for their writing, this is what it looks like when there isn’t any. Plus, there were racist robots.

2494

5.6

5.8

The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen (2003)

Production Budget: $78 million

Worldwide Gross: $179.2 million

The Buzz: The reports from the set revealed a director (Stephen Norrington) who lost control of his production and delivered an incomprehensible mess. It would be Sean Connery’s last live-action film.

4365

6.6

7.1

I, Robot (2004)

Production Budget: $120 million

Worldwide Gross: 347.2 million

The Buzz: This Will Smith movie diverged so greatly from Isaac Asimov’s source material that calling it I, Robot was something of an insult to fans.

1212

5.1

5.6

Judge Dredd (1995)

Production Budget: $90 million

Worldwide Gross: $113.4 million

The Buzz: Sylvester Stallone’s face in that mask/helmet on the poster was enough to scare away die-hard fans, and pretty much everyone else in the U.S. His international appeal, however, humped this one over the finish line.

1239

4.1

The Last Airbender

Production Budget: $150 million

Worldwide Gross: $319.7 million

The Buzz: When director M. Night Shyamalan and Paramount started casting their adaptation of the beloved, ethnically diverse Nickelodeon animated series, they were accused of “white-washing” the cast when the only actors who weren’t Caucasian were villains.

1441

4.7

Elektra (2005)

Production Budget: $43 million

Worldwide Gross: $56.6 million

The Buzz: After Daredevil and the resultant fan uproar, no one wanted much of anything to do with a spinoff. Or did they?