Hollywood is not the world’s leading film industry for nothing, the audience reach for even a small-budget movie in Hollywood is exponentially larger than even the biggest films of other film industries throughout the world. Given this wide reach, it is relatively easier for a Hollywood film to garner huge revenues irrespective of the critical response to the title. Although some hit films never fulfill expectations that doesn’t mean a few rotten apples should be allowed to give a bad name to the whole barrel. Filled with criticism and discouragement, the following list consists of the 20 worst movies that rocked the box office surprisingly despite being panned by critics all over the world:
20. Batman & Robin (1997)
After many critical reviews against Batman Forever, Joel Schumacher returned to add the final touch of killing the Batman franchise. The film earned a large amount of $238,207,122 along with the reputation as the worst superhero film ever made.
Not even legendary actors George Clooney and Arnold Schwarzenegger could make the film survive the terrible reviews. Filled with homo-erotic innuendos, Clooney himself stated that Batman was not gay but he made him one.
19. Brüno (2009)
The vile and putrid mockumentary film was more disgusting than gay porn. With Sacha Baron Cohen as the leading actor, you cannot look at yourself in the mirror after watching the uncut film.
Despite much repetitive humor and negative response, the film earned $138,805,831.
18. Vampires Suck (2010)
Parody icons Jason Friedberg and Aaron Seltzer reunited again and this time, they targeted the popular Twilight Saga. Filled with obvious vampire jokes, the movie was worse than the Twilight series itself.
Bad acting, bad direction, poor jokes, and horrible reviews still didn’t stop this movie from pulling a cool revenue of $80,547,866.
17. Meet the Spartans (2008)
The notorious team of Jason Friedberg and Aaron Seltzer is back with a bang and their methods may not always please the audience but get results.
The 300 rip-off was no different as the lousiest parody in cinema history managed to earn $84,646,831 at the box office along with immense hate from the fans.
16. Nutty Professor II: The Klumps (2000)
Eddie Murphy returned for the sequel and, like in the previous one, played multiple roles of Professor Sherman Klumps’ family members. With a comedy king like Murphy in the lead, success is expected but the film took a terrible downturn.
Failing to please the audience, the desperate attempt to be funny still earned itself $166,339,890.
15. Bad Boys 2 (2003)
As noted from the commercial success of the first film, if you got director Michael Bay and Hollywood A-listers Will Smith, and Martin Lawrence then you are bound to get something special. Right?
However, when the boys reunited for the sequel, the very face of the series changed as if it seemed to care less about the plot and more about using every possible offensive word in the book.
The movie earned $273,339,556 amid horrible reviews.
14. The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor (2008)
With director Stephen Sommers in control, the much-appreciated mummy character entered Hollywood and became one of the most feared characters of its time. After the unfortunate bomb of the sequel, Sommers decided to call it a day with the Mummy series.
The series was revived by director Rob Cohen and was, despite much enthusiasm, an utter disappointment among the fans because it had no mummy at all.
The movie was commercially successful and earned $401,128,639.
13. Pearl Harbor (2001)
When you have a great director, you cannot do any wrong. However, there are a few exceptions and the same was the case with Michael Bay when he decided to work on a war film.
The movie based on the Japanese attack may have received negative reviews but it still could not stop it from earning $449,220,945 and winning an Oscar.
12. Borat (2006)
Even the word disgusting fails to compare the amount of immense putrid activities in the mockumentary film directed by Larry Charles. Racism, incest, vulgarity; the film had everything to be known as nothing short of the most disgusting film ever made. You cannot even go through half of the film without puking.
It still managed to earn $261,572,744.
11. Epic Movie (2007)
This movie had it all… literally. What better way to make a hit film with tiny bits of every hit film from the decade? X-Men, Willy Wonka, Jack Sparrow, Harry Potter, Neville Flynn, you name it; the film was a room filled with every recognizable Hollywood character.
The cheesy acting skills and crude humor surprisingly resulted in the crappy fusion experiment earning $86,865,564.
10. Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa (2008)
Madagascar took the entertainment of anthropomorphic animals to a whole new level. We got a wise-cracking Zebra, a fat hippopotamus, an ill giraffe, a hungry lion, and cunning penguins desperately trying to escape.
The sequel marked the return of the New York Zoo’s best attraction but unfortunately, the same could not be said about the charm.
The film amazingly still managed to earn $602,308,178 despite disastrous reviews from critics.
9. The Happening (2008)
Fans of horror films around the world will never be able to forgive director M. Night Shyamalan for this much-anticipated film. Cheap suicide and toxicity scenes left the film with a memory of being one of the most disappointing horror flicks in Hollywood history.
Apart from a few killings, the only horrific thing about it was the reviews it received. The film still managed to earn a whopping $163,403,799.
8. Batman Forever (1995)
Billionaire playboy Bruce Wayne and his alter-ego Batman were the coolest characters in Hollywood cinema when director Tim Burton and actor Michael Keaton were the key people in the Batman franchise.
After immense parental reactions as a result of dark themes in the movies, Joel Schumacher took the seat of the director and that was just the beginning of the end of something special. To make matters worse, the boy in tights made his debut in the film and destroyed the reputation of the once-revered series.
The film earned $336,529,844.
7. Wild Hogs (2007)
No worst-movies-list is complete without including this work of pointless excuse for a comedy flick directed by Walt Becker. Starring big names in the comedy business such as Martin Lawrence and Tim Allen, the movie failed to appeal to the audience.
Despite various negative and mixed reviews, the comedy film impressively managed to earn $253,625,427.
6. Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides (2011)
And just when you thought the trilogy reached an epic conclusion, a new director becomes the captain of the ship and decides to sink it along with the popularity of the franchise. More ugly pirates and another man-mermaid love story filled with expected betrayals and predictable events – Just what we needed.
The film still earned a handsome amount of $1,043,871,802 at the box office despite the massive critical backlash.
5. Rush Hour 3 (2007)
The humor, the excitement, and quite frankly, the first two parts of the series had it all but making something unique a cliché is not a wise idea as the third part was just another Jackie Chan flick filled with too much action and a weak plot.
The film still fetched an impressive $258,022,233 at the box office.
4. Spider-Man 3 (2007)
Marvel Comics owes a great deal to Spider-Man. The teenage superhero has been a fan favorite ever since its creation and success was inevitable when it entered the big screen.
Unfortunately, the third film could be best described as a satirical version of Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde. Three movies and Peter Parker still has nothing better to do than trying to avenge poor Uncle Ben? Move on, Spidey. The third part made an impressive amount of $890,871,626.
3. The Matrix Revolutions (2003)
It was the twenty-first century and it already seemed that the Matrix films were way ahead of their time. Technology, action, speed, thrills, kills, blood spills; the science fiction trilogy had it all but if you try the same old tricks over and over again, then somebody needs to tell the director that it is going to take a lot more than petty camera tricks to impress Matrix fans for the third time.
The film still to much surprise made $427,343,298 throughout the world.
2. X-Men Origins: Wolverine (2009)
The X-Men trilogy was a unique and perfect tale of extraordinary people having the desire to be accepted in society. Then a Wolverine flick came which was nothing more than a circus filled with mutants just waiting for a chance to prove why they are outcasts.
The fourth X-Men film still managed to earn $373,062,864 worldwide.
1. The Godfather Part III (1990)
Francis Ford Coppola’s Godfather trilogy changed the very complexion of American crime families. The first part was a masterpiece and the second part became one of the rare examples of a sequel being better than the predecessor.
Surrounded by anticipation, the third film became a huge disappointment for the fans but still earned $136,766,062 at the box office.
This sums up our list of the 20 worst movies that earned a fortune at the box office. Is there any other movie that you think should have been a part of this list? Let us know in the comments section below!
“Batman & Robin” was surely the worst movie ever