The Biggest Box Office Bombs & Movie Flops of All Time

In raw dollars, The Marvels (2023) is the biggest bomb tracked here, with an estimated $237M loss for Disney, per Deadline. Adjusted for inflation, John Carter (2012) ranks first in our inflation-adjusted ranking: Disney guided to a roughly $200M operating loss on it in 2012, about $278M in today's dollars by our CPI estimate. The Flash (2023) lost an estimated $155M for Warner Bros. on a $200–220M production budget against $271M worldwide gross. Updated October 2026: Warner Bros.' Digger is projected to lose $245M–$250M (Variety, TheWrap), which would top The Marvels if the projection holds.

In our inflation-adjusted ranking (our own CPI estimates), John Carter (2012) is the biggest at about $278M in today's dollars, ahead of Battleship, Strange World and Cutthroat Island; that ranking uses some different nominal estimates from the Deadline figures on this page. In raw dollars, per Deadline, the 2022–23 wave rivals the old records: The Marvels (~$237M loss), Strange World (~$197M), The Flash (~$155M), Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny (~$143M) and Wish (~$131M).

As an industry rule of thumb, a movie needs to earn about 2.5x its production budget at the worldwide box office to break even. That allows for prints and advertising, which added 40–60% of the production budget in Deadline's P&Ls for The Marvels, The Flash and Indiana Jones 5, and for studios keeping only about half of domestic ticket sales and 25–40% of international. By that rule, a $200M movie needs about $500M worldwide.

Studios face a compounding risk problem: prints and advertising add roughly 40–60% to a big film's production budget in Deadline's P&Ls, so a $200M movie costs about $280–320M before residuals and overhead. Theatrical windows have shortened from months to weeks. Streaming has trained audiences to wait for home release. Sequel fatigue and franchise overload have reduced opening weekends. And international markets return less per dollar to studios than domestic.

2026's bombs so far include Digger, now projected to lose $245M–$250M (Variety and TheWrap, October 2026, up from Deadline's ~$150M opening-weekend projection), and, per Deadline, Supergirl ($125M), the live-action Moana ($100M–$125M) and The Bride! (up to about $90M). In 2025, Deadline projected a $132.7M loss for Tron: Ares, which finished at $142M worldwide, and estimated $115M for Snow White; Variety reported Mickey 17 was projected to lose $75M–$80M in theaters. Deadline's 2024 losses: Joker: Folie à Deux ($144.25M), Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga ($119.6M), Borderlands ($80M), Megalopolis ($75.5M) and Kraven the Hunter ($71M). The 2022–23 wave is still the costliest: The Marvels (~$237M), Strange World (~$197M), The Flash (~$155M), Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny (~$143M), Wish (~$131M), Haunted Mansion (~$117M) and Lightyear (~$106M). Deadline's estimates for six Disney releases from 2022–23 add up to $931.4M.

Joker: Folie à Deux, with a $144.25M net loss for Warner Bros. in Deadline's 2024 Most Valuable Blockbuster tournament, on a $200M production spend. The rest of Deadline's 2024 bombs list: Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga ($119.6M), Borderlands ($80M), Megalopolis ($75.5M; Francis Ford Coppola financed its $120M budget with his own money) and Kraven the Hunter ($71M for the film overall; Sony co-financed it, so Sony's own loss was under $35M).

Among the 2025 loss estimates tracked here, the largest is Tron: Ares: in October 2025 Deadline projected a $132.7M loss against a $220M net production cost and $102.5M in global marketing, and the film finished at $142M worldwide, per Variety. Deadline estimated Snow White's loss at $115M on a $270M net production cost and $111M in global marketing, assuming a $225M worldwide finish; Variety puts its final gross at $205M. Variety reported Mickey 17 was projected to lose $75M–$80M in its theatrical run, which a source close to the film disputed.

Digger is the largest: after a 60% second-weekend drop, Variety projected a $245M loss (October 11, 2026) and TheWrap reported $250M (October 7), up from Deadline's ~$150M opening-weekend projection; if it holds, that would top The Marvels' ~$237M. Deadline has also reported loss projections for Supergirl ($125M, June), the live-action Moana ($100M–$125M in its first cycle, July) and The Bride! (could approach $90M, March). All four were estimated within days or weeks of opening, so the final figures can still move.

Streaming has shrunk the theatrical window from 90+ days to as few as 17-45 days, drastically reducing time to earn revenue. Audiences increasingly wait for streaming debuts. Studios now factor in streaming value when greenlighting films, but theatrical-only profitability is harder than ever. Many mid-budget films now skip theaters entirely, leaving only tentpoles — which increases the stakes and losses when they miss.