WITH the release of thrilling blockbusters like Black Panther: Wakanda Forever and The Batman, genuinely spooky horror movies like Barbarian and Pearl, as well as hilarious and creative comedies like Everything, Everywhere, All at Once and The Menu, 2022 was a pretty great year for movies.
Sadly, a few of the biggest flops of the year weren’t even bad movies; in fact, some of them were great. However, we guess that’s just how the movie business works. Anyhow, which of the many failures sank the most in 2022? Find out in our list below!
The Northman
Robert Eggers is an eclectic director most recognised for having a unique, surreal style, having written and directed some genuinely visually-striking horror films in the past, such as 2015’s The Vvitch led by Anya-Taylor Joy and 2019’s The Lighthouse starring Willem Dafoe and Robert Pattinson.
The Northman bills itself as an epic historical action film. Set in the 10th century during the reign of the Vikings, The Northman follows Viking warrior and disgraced prince Amleth (Alexander Skarsgrd), who seeks vengeance on his malevolent uncle, Fjölnir the Brotherless (Claes Bang), for killing his father King Aurvandill (Ethan Hawke). Years later, Amleth returns to his homeland as an adult to revenge his family’s honour. Nicole Kidman, Bjork, Willem Dafoe, and Anya-Taylor Joy all give outstanding performances in the film.
While the tale is relatively simple, the visuals are magnificent, especially the climactic duel between Amleth and Fjölnir in the centre of an erupting volcano. Unfortunately, following a tragic history of films featuring Skarsgrd that tanked, such as 2012’s Battleship and 2016’s The Legend of Tarzan, the film was sent to Valhalla in shame at the box office. On a budget of about US$100 million (RM440.3 million), it made just over US$69 million (303.8 million).
Lightyear
The Disney CG-animated Lightyear is a spin-off film based on the heroic spaceman toy character Buzz Lightyear from the classic Toy Story franchise. Buzz Lightyear, portrayed by Tim Allen in the original 1995 film, is introduced as the newest, hottest toy of the season, featuring lights, projectiles, and the capacity to do karate chops. It’s evident that in the Pixar Animation Studios universe, Buzz is the main character of a fictional, enormously popular sci-fi adventure franchise that encompasses movies, cartoons, and comics.
Sadly, Lightyear failed to reach infinity or beyond at the box office, earning less than US$120 million (RM528.4 million) domestically despite its over US$200 million (RM880.6 million) price tag.
Strange World
Another Disney CG-animated picture that bombed at the box office was Strange World. It cost the studio around US$200 million (RM880.6 million), but only made around a fifth of that, earning less than US$55 million (RM242.2 million) worldwide, which is a shame given it’s an entertaining film that received positive reviews.
The plot revolves around super-scientist Searcher Clade (Jake Gyllenhaal), whose famed explorer father Jaeger Clade (Dennis Quaid) went lost on a risky journey years ago. However, in the current day, the entire world is in danger owing to an unknown ecological crisis, and Searcher is the only one who can rescue the day by travelling into the eponymous “strange realm” beneath the earth.
The film is worth seeing for its unique graphics, which include the diesel-punk designs of its ships and technology, as well as the strange fauna and atmosphere of the world itself.
Morbius
The superhero action horror film Morbius, starring Jared Leto as the eponymous anti-hero and Living Vampire, is part of Sony’s non-MCU world, which also includes the two Tom Hardy-led Venom films. Sadly, unlike those pictures, Morbius was a commercial flop, barely recouping its budget domestically, even after accounting for the tremendous marketing push it received.
According to the internet, Sony’s big-budget comic book adaptation was a major economic success and a critical darling, even receiving “praise” from the anti-Marvel Martin Scorsese! Obviously, none of this is real, but the memes created by the film’s box office failure prompted Sony to re-release the film in theatres, which turned out to be an even bigger financial loss.
Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore
Despite J.K. Rowling’s vigorous and thorough crusade to destroy her previous reputation, her Harry Potter brand remains extremely successful.
The latest Fantastic Beasts spin-off picture is one of the few areas where success hasn’t totally translated. On a US$200 million (RM880.6 million) budget, the latest episode, Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore, earned just over $95 million (RM418.3 million) domestically, less than half of what Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them did in 2016.
The Bob’s Burgers Movie
Bob’s Burgers is a Fox animated sitcom that premiered in 2011. It stars H. Jon Benjamin as Bob Belcher, the eternally poor – but incredibly skilled – owner of the namesake Bob’s Burgers,“which is also run by the rest of the Belcher family, who live in an apartment above the cafe. His lovely and anarchic wife Linda (John Roberts), his awkward oldest teen daughter Tina (Dan Mintz), his creative and quirky middle son Gene (Eugene Mirman), and his rowdy troublemaker-with-a-heart-of-gold youngest daughter Louise are all part of the family (Kristen Schaal).
Unfortunately, The Bob’s Burgers Movie failed to gain traction outside of the television screen. Despite critical acclaim, the picture failed to make its budget, even after factoring for marketing. At the very least, it’s consistent with Bob’s burgers, which are critically acclaimed but don’t make him a lot of money.
The 355
The explosive action spy thriller The 355 stars Jessica Chastain, Penélope Cruz, Fan Bingbing, Diane Kruger, and Lupita Nyong’o as international operatives attempting to defend the globe from terrorists. The 355, directed by Simon Kinberg, follows a somewhat conventional – albeit serviceable – plot involving agents from many countries fighting to trust and collaborate in order to stop the aforementioned global threat. The direction is surprisingly excellent, and the action portions are rather enjoyable. Whatever shortcomings the picture has, it is apparent that the stars worked hard on the stunts and fight choreography.
Despite the amazing all-star cast and competent action scenes, the film bombed at the box office, grossing just over US$25 million (RM110 million) against a US$75 million (RM330.2 million) budget. Hopefully, this won’t discourage Hollywood from developing more female-led action pictures.
Moonfall
Roland Emmerich is best known for big-budget disaster films like Independence Day and The Day After Tomorrow, in which entire cities explode and all-star ensembles trade quips among the devastation.
Meanwhile, his sci-fi disaster epic Moonfall includes possibly the most terrible threat to the globe thus far, as it is literally about the moon crashing to Earth. The film follows disgraced astronaut Brian Harper (Patrick Wilson), who is recruited by his former colleague Jocinda ‘Jo’ Fowler (Halle Berry) to go on a desperate space mission with a conspiracy theorist, K.C. Houseman (John Bradley), to discover the cause of the eponymous moonfall and if there is any way to stop it.
Unfortunately, the film crashed and burned even more than the moon , grossing just over US$67 million (RM295 million) on a nearly US$150 million (RM660.4 million) budget. Worse, the picture closes on a ridiculously sequel-baiting note, with Houseman and aliens who will never be seen again.
Three Thousand Years of Longing
George Miller, an Australian filmmaker, has had a varied and extensive cinematic career over the years, and is the mastermind behind the Mad Max franchise.
Miller was granted a free check to execute whatever passion project he wanted after his Mad Max revival Mad Max: Fury Road became a blockbuster critical and economic hit. So, of course, Miller zagged rather than zigged, writing and directing the visually magnificent but economically unviable Three Thousand Years of Longing. The story revolves around a mythical genie (Idris Elba) and a lonely woman named Alithea (Tilda Swindon), to whom he tells stories from his past.
While the picture received mixed-to-positive reviews, it only made a third of its US$60 million (RM264.17 million) budget. Miller’s goal for another hit will hopefully come true soon, as he prepares to write and film the Furiosa prequel as his next project.
Amsterdam
Amsterdam aired on Oct 7, 2022 and, like The 355, featured a star-studded cast. This one stars Christian Bale, Margot Robbie, John David Washington, Anya Taylor-Joy, Zoe Saldaa, and many more. Director David O. Russell intended to make a quirky, hilarious, and complicated film about the 1933 Business Plan political plot, but failed badly. Critics commended some of the performances and the spectacle, but panned the film for being boring, clumsy, and insignificant.
Meanwhile, Russell has been dogged by charges of abuse and assault throughout the years. Given the negative reviews and a director who many people wished they hadn’t supported, it’s no surprise that Amsterdam bombed at the box office, grossing US$31 million (RM136.5 million) against a US$80 million (RM352.2 million) budget.
