Making a new installment to a beloved franchise often feels like a surefire way for a studio to make a major profit. These films thrive on having a mᴀssive, pre-existing audience who already love the characters and stories that have been established within the universe of the franchise. Because of that, the filmmakers can often be quite confident that their latest installment in the series will attract plenty of people to the theater, securing a hefty paycheck for themselves at the end of the day.

However, a handful of poor performances over the years have proven that success is not always a guarantee. Every so often, a franchise gets a new installment that fails to live up to its predecessors on all accounts. These films can not only bomb with critics, but prove to be major flops at the box office, even failing to recuperate the money that went into making them. While many major franchises seem to have one success after another, these box office flops failed to live up to high expectations set by the films that came before them.

10

Indiana Jones And The Dial Of Destiny (2023)

Budget: $295-387 Million – Box Office: $384 Million

In the world of adventure movies, few names are known quite as well as Indiana Jones. For decades, fans have loved watching the perilous missions performed by the whip-wielding hero Indiana Jones, portrayed by the ever-charismatic Harrison Ford. In 2023, fifteen years after the previous installment, the franchise was brought back to life in the form of Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny.

Unfortunately, this latest adventure for Indy was not nearly as popular as the previous ones. Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny managed to earn about $384 million at the box office. This may sound impressive initially, but not when compared to its hefty budget, which placed the film among the most expensive movies ever made.

This staggering figure, paired with the mᴀssive marketing costs, led the film to actually end up losing Disney over a hundred million dollars. Possible explanations for the poor performance include the underwhelming response to the previous film, the long gap between installments, and the controversial use of de-aging technology.

9

Solo: A Star Wars Story (2018)

Budget: $270-330 Million – Box Office: $393.2 Million

It is no secret that Star Wars is among the most iconic movie franchises of all time. However, that does not mean that the series is without its shortcomings. In 2018, a new film was released which served as an origin story for Han Solo, one of the most beloved characters since the beginning of the franchise.

Although many devoted fans had spent many years wondering how the famed hero came to be, Solo: A Star Wars Story failed to attract nearly as many people as the filmmakers had originally expected. Despite working with a budget of around $300 million (not including marketing costs), Solo only reeled in less than $400 million.

For one, Solo was released less than six months after the previous Star Wars film (The Last Jedi), meaning that people likely were not yet hungry enough for another installment.

When all additional costs are included, the film came well short of breaking even, marking a rare financial failure for the Star Wars universe. Several issues could have contributed to the underwhelming performance. For one, Solo was released less than six months after the previous Star Wars film (The Last Jedi), meaning that people likely were not yet hungry enough for another installment. The casting of an unknown leading actor likely didn’t help matters either.

8

Wonder Woman 1984 (2020)

Budget: $200 Million – Box Office: $169.6 Million

In 2017, Patty Jenkins dazzled audiences with her groundbreaking superhero film, Wonder Woman, which proved to be a major hit with critics and audiences alike. Sadly, Jenkins was not able to replicate this level of success three years later, when the standalone sequel, Wonder Woman 1984, was released.

This subsequent film, which took place during the Cold War, left audiences feeling generally disappointed, with many finding that the film was stuffed with questionable filmmaking decisions and an overabundance of tired superhero clichés. Even on a budget of $200 million, Wonder Woman 1984 only accumulated $169.6 million at the box office, solidifying its status as a mᴀssive failure for Warner Bros.

he questionable quality of the film wasn’t the sole factor responsible for its poor performance, though. Wonder Woman 1984, like many other movies, fell victim to widespread theater closures as part of the Covid-19 pandemic. The film’s theatrical release was not only heavily delayed, but also derailed by the fact that it was made available to stream on HBO Max at the same time.

7

Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga (2024)

Budget: $168 Million – Box Office: $173.8 Million

Mad Max: Fury Road stunned audiences in 2015, winning six Academy Awards and being hailed as one of the greatest action movies of all time. Instead of aiming to immediately capitalize on the film’s mᴀssive success, however, the filmmakers ultimately forced viewers to wait for nearly a decade before the next installment premiered.

Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga has a 90% rating on Rotten Tomatoes.

In 2024, Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga finally presented the long-awaited backstory of one of the most captivating characters from the previous film, starring Anya Taylor-Joy in the lead role. Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga is not only the most expensive film in the franchise, but also the single most expensive film ever made in Australia.

Needless to say, the team behind the project was very confident that it would be a mᴀssive success. Their lofty expectations were never achieved, though, as the film only made about $173.8 million at the box office. This lackluster performance has been attributed to the limited appeal of post-apocalyptic action films, as well as the lack of interest in a prequel.

6

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out Of The Shadows (2016)

Budget: $135 Million – Box Office: $245.6 Million

On the surface, the idea of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles definitely seems like one of the more unusual phenomenons to arise in pop culture. Despite the odd premise, TMNT has blossomed into a major sensation over the years, with numerous movies, TV shows, comics, and more. However, not every project to feature the humorous heroes has been a hit.

The 2016 film, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows ended up being a surprising flop, mᴀssively underperforming compared to its direct predecessor. Out of the Shadows made $245.6 million at the box office. While this is noticeably greater than its $135 million budget, the sizable marketing and distribution costs meant that the project still resulted in a huge loss for Paramount Pictures.

It is difficult to pinpoint exactly why the film flopped, but there are a handful of potential explanations. Some of these include the poor critical response to the first film, the concurring release of other films for similar target audiences, and the diminishing popularity of the franchise at the time.

5

The Marvels (2023)

Budget: $378 Million – Box Office: $206.1 Million

It is no secret that the quality of many Marvel Cinematic Universe projects has been rather inconsistent in recent years. A primary example of the wavering quality came in 2023, with The Marvels, a sequel to 2019’s Captain Marvel. The film served as an opportunity for the studio to show a team-up between Captain Marvel, Ms. Marvel, and Monica Rambeau, three characters from various recent MCU projects.

Unfortunately, this team-up did not end up being one that fans were particularly hungry to see. The Marvels went on to become one of the biggest box office flops in recent memory, making only $200 million on a budget that was later estimated to have been as high as $378 million, not including the mᴀssive costs of marketing and distribution.

Even as the 33rd film in the MCU, The Marvels was still the first one to ever bomb at the box office. Much of the blame for the film’s failure has been placed on the over-abundance of MCU projects in recent years, in addition to its underwhelming quality overall.

4

Power Rangers (2017)

Budget: $100-105 Million – Box Office: $142.5 Million

The heroic team known as the Power Rangers have been a pop culture sensation for decades now, first bursting into the mainstream in the mid-1990s. Power Rangers has resurfaced in an ᴀssortment of different forms over the years, including movies, TV shows, toys, comics, and more. Not all of these iterations have been received equally, however.

Despite the franchise’s popularity, audiences proved to be largely uninterested in a modern film reboot.

A notable standout in the 2017 feature film, simply тιтled Power Rangers. The film features the same characters fans had known and loved, but with an entirely new cast, offering a modern take on the colorful heroes. Despite the franchise’s popularity, audiences proved to be largely uninterested in a modern film reboot. The film had a budget of (at least) $100 million, but only managed to rake in a little over $140 million.

Combined with other costs, Power Rangers ended up losing the studio a great deal of money, much to the dismay of the filmmakers. In addition to lacking the fun, campy atmosphere of previous Power Rangers projects, the film also came with a surprising PG-13 rating, immediately eliminating much of its younger audience.

3

The Flash (2023)

Budget: $200-220 Million – Box Office: $271.4 Million

The Marvel Cinematic Universe wasn’t the only major superhero franchise to have a mᴀssive flop in 2023. Although The Flash was the first film in the DC Extended Universe to focus primarily on the speedy superhero, it was the thirteenth installment in the universe as a whole. To the disappointment of the fans and the filmmakers alike, The Flash did not prove to be the exciting blockbuster hit they were hoping for.

The film earned $271.4 million at the box office, a figure that becomes rather unimpressive when compared to its mᴀssive budget of at least $200 million. Although The Flash‘s performance was disappointing, it wasn’t entirely unexpected.

In the months leading up to the film’s release, more and more controversy began to pile up surrounding the film’s star, Ezra Miller, whose inclusion alone was enough to turn many potential viewers away. The Flash was also negatively impacted by poor early reviews, strong compeтιтion from other superhero movies coming out at the same time, and the knowledge that the film would soon be made irrelevant due to the impending reboot of the DC Universe.

2

X-Men: Dark Phoenix (2019)

Budget: $200 Million – Box Office: $252.4 Million

The mutant heroes known as the X-Men have appeared in numerous comics and films over the years, but one of the most recent installments of the franchise brought the overall quality of the series into question. The 2019 feature, Dark Phoenix, serves as an origin story of sorts, exploring the adversity that Jean Grey faced on her path toward becoming the Phoenix.

Sadly, Dark Phoenix did not end up being an origin story that many people felt they needed to see. Dark Phoenix resulted in a staggering financial loss for the studio, amounting to a deficit far exceeding $100 million dollars. The film earned $252.4 million at the box office, but this was nowhere near enough to negate its $200 million budget and hefty marketing costs.

Although there were other factors, it appears the most prominent explanation for the film’s lousy performance was simply its poor quality. Dark Phoenix was received very poorly by both critics and audiences, leaving viewers unimpressed from every standpoint.

1

The Matrix Resurrections (2021)

Budget: $190 Million – Box Office: $159 Million

The first three installments in The Matrix franchise all proved to be major hits, securing sizable profits for the studio time and time again. The fourth film, however, did not have as much luck. The Matrix Resurrections came in 2021, after nearly two decades had pᴀssed since The Matrix Revolutions, the previous film in the series.

The return of Keanu Reeves to the role of Neo may have been enticing to many sci-fi fans, but it did not prove to be enough to revive the franchise to the original popularity it had achieved in the ’90s and early 2000s. The Matrix Resurrections had the largest budget of any installment of the franchise, by a fairly significant margin. Sadly, it also had the smallest amount of earnings at the box office.

The film cost about $190 million to make, but only managed to earn a mere $159 million before ending its theatrical run. The cause of this financial failure, however, did become rather clear. The decision was made to release The Matrix Resurrections on HBO Max the same weekend it entered theaters, prompting many potential viewers to stay home and watch it for free instead.