2024‘s biggest box office bombs included Joker: Folie à Deux and Red One, each losing over $150M. High budgets, poor reviews, and genre fatigue caused 15 major flops totaling $1.7B in losses.
Photo by Krišjānis Kazaks on Unsplash
2024’s Box Office Disasters Hit Studios Hard
Studios lost over $1 billion on 2024 flops. High budgets collided with empty theaters. Superhero fatigue, streaming competition, and strikes created a perfect storm.
Fifteen major bombs tanked in 2024. Production budgets ranged from $25M to $250M. Worldwide grosses often fell below half the production cost alone.
Labor strikes delayed releases by months. Reshoots added $30M to some budgets. Marketing consumed another 50-100% of production spend on top of everything else.
Audiences stayed home. Reviews were weak. Genre oversaturation killed spy thrillers and superhero sequels. Theaters took 50% of ticket sales, leaving studios with even less.
Top 15 Bombs: Budgets, Grosses and Losses
Estimated losses include production budget plus $75M marketing minus 50% of worldwide gross. Data comes from Box Office Mojo and The Numbers as of December 31, 2024. Final studio reports may shift these numbers slightly.
| Rank | Movie | Production Budget ($M) | Worldwide Gross ($M) | Est. Loss ($M) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Red One | 250 | 192.5 | 218 |
| 2 | Joker: Folie à Deux | 200 | 204.8 | 170 |
| 3 | Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga | 168 | 172.8 | 152 |
| 4 | Kraven the Hunter | 110 | 45.2 | 152 |
| 5 | The Fall Guy | 130 | 180.4 | 125 |
| 6 | Fly Me to the Moon | 100 | 42.7 | 133 |
| 7 | Borderlands | 115 | 33.0 | 146 |
| 8 | Argylle | 100 | 95.4 | 112 |
| 9 | Madame Web | 80 | 100.2 | 85 |
| 10 | The Crow | 50 | 21.0 | 71 |
| 11 | Here | 50 | 12.3 | 71 |
| 12 | Harold and the Purple Crayon | 40 | 15.1 | 57 |
| 13 | Paint | 35 | 8.7 | 48 |
| 14 | Abigail | 28 | 42.6 | 39 |
| 15 | Imaginary | 25 | 30.1 | 37 |
Red One topped the carnage at $218M in losses. Dwayne Johnson‘s star power could not save a $250M Christmas action film. That film alone cost more than most studios’ entire slates.
Joker: Folie à Deux landed second with $170M in red ink. The musical pivot from the original's dark tone confused fans. A $200M budget on a sequel that alienated its own audience is a masterclass in miscalculation.
These 15 films alone burned $1.7B in net losses. That is not total spend—that is what studios lost after theaters and marketing got paid.
Why These Films Failed
Red One cost $250M to make and marketed heavily. It grossed $192.5M worldwide. Amazon's hybrid release strategy diluted theater interest. Dwayne Johnson's presence was not enough to move families during the holiday window.
Joker: Folie à Deux spent $200M and earned $204.8M globally. The musical format killed momentum from the first film. Fans wanted dark thriller, not Joaquin Phoenix singing.
Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga needed $168M after 2023 strike reshoots. It pulled $172.8M worldwide. The franchise lost its original star Mel Gibson. Audiences skipped a prequel to a beloved film.
The Fall Guy had a $130M budget and hit $180.4M globally. Ryan Gosling could not draw crowds after Barbie hype faded. Action comedies need either a franchise name or proven box office chemistry.
Borderlands spent $115M adapting a video game. It made just $33M. Poor reviews blamed bad casting and a weak script. Video game adaptations remained cursed in 2024.
Kraven the Hunter cost $110M and earned $45.2M. Aaron Taylor-Johnson's lone-wolf character lacked the R-rated edge fans expected. Sony's Spider-Man spin-off universe kept losing money.
Argylle budgeted $100M for a spy thriller. It grossed $95.4M. Matthew Vaughn's twist ending confused audiences. Genre saturation killed yet another espionage film.
Fly Me to the Moon spent $100M and made $42.7M. Scarlett Johansson's rom-com missed date night crowds. Space race nostalgia could not carry a romantic subplot.
Madame Web allocated $80M and pulled $100.2M. Sony's superhero curse continued. Memes killed buzz before release.
The Crow remake used $50M and grossed $21M. Bill Skarsgård could not match the original's cult appeal. Remaking beloved cult films is a losing proposition.
Here cost $50M with Tom Hanks de-aging technology. It grossed $12.3M. Slow pacing bored viewers. Experimental tech does not fix weak storytelling.
Harold and the Purple Crayon had a $40M budget and earned $15.1M. Kids preferred animated films over live-action book adaptations. The family film market rejected this one entirely.
Paint budgeted $35M around Owen Wilson. It took $8.7M. Art satire flopped with general audiences. Niche concepts need niche budgets.
Imaginary used $25M for a haunted toy story. It grossed $30.1M. The Blumhouse horror formula had exhausted itself by mid-year. Audiences tired of the formula.
Abigail spent $28M on horror and earned $42.6M. Marketing costs still pushed it underwater. Horror needed either bigger budgets or smaller ones, not middle-ground spending.
The Bigger Picture
Superhero films lost $500M combined across 2024. Spy thrillers added $200M in red. Family hybrids hurt worst—Red One's $218M loss proved even A-list talent could not save bloated budgets.
IP failed amid audience apathy. Reshoots from strikes inflated budgets. Marketing costs spiraled. Streaming deals softened some blows but not enough to save these films.
Studios now approach 2025 cautiously. Budgets may drop 20%. The lesson is clear: high budgets do not guarantee returns. Audience interest does.
Sources: DropThe Entity Database, Box Office Mojo, The Numbers, Deadline Hollywood, Variety