The general rule of thumb is that, to reach profitability, a film must exceed three times its production budget. And, given the increased relevance of overseas markets such as China, profitability is attained more often than not.
That is, forsuperherofilms. Yet, even with such marketable and accessible material, it’s not as if every entry of the subgenre is a box office smash. In fact, some of them don’t break even. Other times, much to their respective studio’s chagrin, they outright flop. These are the movie that either fell pretty darn short of break-even, or were dead in the water.
18Steel (1997) — $1.7 Million Box Office Against $16 Million Budget ($48 Million for Profitability)
Starring Shaq,Breakfast Club’s Judd Nelson,Shaft’s Richard Roundtree, Ray J, and Annabeth Gish, it’s not as ifSteelhas no talent behind it. Yet, the less said about Shaq’s lead performance the better. Suffice it to say he put in more believable work inGrown Ups 2and his Flat-Earth theorizing.
As far as DC comics adaptations go,Steelis pretty loose. It’s also ugly as can be, looking far more like 1990’sCaptain Americaor 1994’s unreleasedThe Fantastic Fourthan anything that actually has objective merit. That said, Gish gives a performance that’s better than the movie deserved.
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17Punisher: War Zone (2008) — $10.1 Million Box Office Against $35 Million Budget ($105 Million for Profitability)
About as underrated as a superhero film can get,Punisher: War Zoneis an absolute blast. It may be a little too gritty for some, but so too is the title character, and this is thefilm that captured Frank Castle’s spirit.
Yet, it played like a low-budget off-brand Rambo film as opposed to something based on a famous preexisting IP. Unfortunate, considering it gave the late, wonderful Ray Stevenson some time in a lead role in a theatrical film, not to mention one of comic book cinema’s best antagonistic performances courtesy of Dominic West as Jigsaw.
16Supergirl (1984) — $14.3 Million Box Office Against $35 Million Budget ($105 Million for Profitability)
At two and a half hours,Supergirlis an absolute slog. But, the same could be said of the latter two Christopher Reeve films and, whileSuperman IIIdid okay at the box office,Superman IV: The Quest for Peaceflopped outright. In the middle wasSupergirl, and it’s easy to see a connection.
People liked the first two films, and the original was a box office juggernaut. But there was a substantial decrease in ticket sales between the first two films which, when combined with their similarly excellent reviews, was pretty telling that much of the first film’s success came from general audiences wanting to see a man fly. They saw it, and then they moved on. So,Supergirlwas just more of the same, and while its dreadful reviews and financial tanking certainly were as much a nail in the IP’s coffin asThe Quest for Peace, that film had half the budget and over twice the returns. In other words,no onesawSupergirl. But, in its defense, Helen Slater is terrific in the title role, even if Faye Dunaway and Peter O’Toole absolutely are not.
15The New Mutants (2020) — $49.2 Million Box Office Against $67-80 Million Budget ($201+ Million for Profitability)
Hey,at least it’s better thanDark Phoenix. That’s about the best thing that can be said about the averageThe New Mutants, which was about as unceremonious an end to Fox’s time with the X-Men as it could have been.
There’s actually nothing particularly wrong withThe New Mutants, it’s just not a movie that ever proves the reason for its existence. It became a punchline prior to release and, while it hasn’t stayed that way, it’s arguably worse to have been forgotten entirely. And, even with the presence of Anya Taylor-Joy
14Elektra (2005) — $57 Million Box Office Against $43-65 Million Budget ($129+ Million for Profitability)
Time has been kind to Jennifer Garner’s layered portrayal of bereaved assassin Elekta Natchios in bothDaredevilandElektra, but neither film was a hit. And, in terms of the latter film, it couldn’t break even.
But, now that Garner’s take isresurfacing in the impendingDeadpool 3, history could effectively reverse itself. As well it should, because to renewed presence of Garner is a very wise choice, and the chemistry will be great considering director Shawn Levy has worked with her already in 2022’sThe Adam Project. But, as forElektra, it earned less than half the total it would require for profitability.
13Catwoman (2004) — $82.1 Million Box Office Against $100 Million Budget ($300 Million for Profitability)
To this day it’s astonishing 2004’sCatwomanexists. From soup to nuts, every decision made in regard to its construction was misguided. In other words, when an extra-hammy Sharon Stone performance is the best aspect of your film, you have failed significantly.
It’s not even Selina Kyle as Catwoman, with the narrative instead favoring an utterly new creation that audiences had absolutely no familiarity with. So, when the film did hit theaters during the summer movie season of its respective year, no one cared. Why should they? The film never held an ice cube’s chance in Hell of making back its budget much less three times that to reach profitability.
12Shazam! Fury of the Gods (2023) — $133.8 Million Box Office Against $110-125 Million Budget ($330+ Million for Profitability)
Given the plummeting interest in the DCEU from fans and general audiences alike, it’s not surprisingShazam! Fury of the Godsfell victim. But, few could have predicted just how little money the secondShazam!film would make.
In no way did it operate like a big-budget superhero film set on a somewhat notable pre-existing IP. The 2019 film established some good will and interest, but not enough to make oneexpectsuccess for a sequel. Then the previews were released, and all they showed were kids' jokes and a cheap-looking CGI dragon. Toss in the expected negative reviews, most of which slighted the weird changes to the lead character, and eventhe director himself was bashing the movieshortly after its release.
11Morbius (2022) — $167.5 Million Box Office Against $75-83 Million Budget ($225+ Million for Profitability)
In an increasingly crowded market, a superhero film needs an awful lot more thanMorbiushad to offer if it hopes to be anything outside a joke’s punchline. If not, that’s exactly what it becomes, to the point the studio thinks a meme created solely to bash the film is indicative of renewed interest.
Of course, if an uninteresting film is re-released shortly after its horrid initial release, it’s not as if it’s going to do any better.VenomandVenom: Let There Be Carnagedid well for at least three obvious reasons: The general audience’s awareness of the title character, the title character’s relation to Spider-Man, and Tom Hardy.Morbiushad that middle factor, but to only the slightest extent, considering Morbius has never been anything more than a C-List character. At leastMatt Smith has fun.
10Fant4stic (2015) — $167.9 Million Box Office Against $120-155 Million Budget ($360+ Million for Profitability)
Where the budget went for Josh Trank’sFant4stic(the ridiculous title used for its marketing, so it’s the ridiculous title that remains) is anyone’s guess. It didn’t go towards advertising the film, it didn’t go towards securing A-List cast members (Kate Mara had been onHouse of Cards, Miles Teller in some comedies, and Michael B. Jordan was yet to even be Creed much less Killmonger), and it didn’t go to the project’s special effects.
In fact, given the few interesting shots in the film’s trailers, it seems as though the special effects-laden set pieces didn’t even make it to the final cut. So, all that’s left is horrid editing, a shattered tone, and lifeless performances. If there’s a mainstream superhero film that holds the title for worst of all time, it’s pretty clearlyFant4stic, a film where nothing save for Reg E. Cathey’s performance works even remotely well.
James Gunn’sThe Suicide Squadis one of comic book cinema’s best, but it fell victim to several damning factors. For one, it came at the tail end of the DCEU, which had already very much lost audience faith withBatman v Superman: Dawn of Justice,Suicide Squad, andJustice League.
And then there’s its connection to that middle film which, while a massive box office success, was of dreadful quality. Audiences figured they’d be in for more of the same with Gunn’s soft-reboot, which is highly unfortunate considering it has more heart in one minute than David Ayer’s film had in its entire runtime. Can some ofThe Suicide Squad’s failure be blamed on a simultaneous HBO Max release? Sure, technically, and the powers that be at first tried to write it off like that, but ifGodzilla vs. Kongproved anything its that a hybridized release can work in the midst of a pandemic.
