Warner Bros.
For as long as there have been movies , there have been flops as well . But few projects have ever lost as much money as the 10 biggest sci - fi bombs of all - fourth dimension . There have been plenty of dramas and clowning that have failed at the box office , but their budgets do n’t be given to get as high as that of the typical science fiction flick . Sci - fi movies are often high risk of exposure and high reward , but they can bring down a studio or two when they absolutely betray to make back their money .
Last summer , The Flashjoined the rank of the biggest bomb ever made , and the only reason it did n’t top this list is that it ’s technically a superhero movie despite some sci - fi and clip travel elements . For now , we wanted to focus on this specific musical genre rather than venture out into the superhero and fantasy pic that also managed to fall back a swell deal of money . You may also point out that many of the 10 big sci - fi bombs of all - time are unmanageable to find on the major streaming services , even when the films themselves are n’t as speculative as their box business office numbers might suggest .
Warner Bros.
10. The Astronaut’s Wife (1999)
Budget : $ 75 million
global gross : $ 19.6 million
Estimated loss : $ 65 million
The one thing thatThe Astronaut ’s Wifehas in its favor is that it has mostly been forgotten in the 25 eld since it ’s release . It was n’t an epic disaster likeBattlefield EarthorBattleship , but somebody spend way too much money on this sci - fi take onRosemary ’s Baby .
Johnny Depp headlines the film as Commander Spencer Armacost , a NASA spaceman who suffers an accident during a spacewalk alongside his colleague , Captain Alex Streck ( Nick Cassavetes ) . When Spencer and Alex return to Earth , their respective wives , Jillian Armacost ( Charlize Theron ) and Natalie Streck ( Donna Murphy ) , sense the change in their husband . Natalie invest self-annihilation soon after , and only Jillian seems to realize that her unborn children may be exotic in nature .
9. The Chronicles of Riddick (2004)
Budget : $ 105 to $ 120 million
world-wide gross : $ 115.8 million
Estimated going : $ 47 to $ 73 million
Pitch Blackhelped make Vin Diesel a whizz , thanks to his arresting turn as the killer sleep with as Richard B. Riddick . That ’s why Diesel and conductor David Twohy wanted to expand the standalone sci - fi motion picture into a dealership withThe Chronicles of Riddick . The result was a film that was only “ hunky-dory ” at beneficial , and one that lacked the qualities that madePitch Blackso piquant . In fact , The Chronicles of Riddickmanages to end just as it ’s about to get really interesting .
This film did have an uphill engagement in render to reconfigure the amoral Riddick into something resemble a hoagie or even an antihero . It ’s also not without its challenging aspect , include the apparently supernatural powers of the Necromonger ’s Lord Marshal ( Colm Feore ) and the plans of his subordinate , Commander Vaako ( Karl Urban ) and his challenging married woman , Dame Vaako ( Thandiwe Newton ) , to slip the Necromonger empire for themselves . The Lord Marshal is so optical maser - focused on finding and killing Riddick that he ca n’t see the threat within . aboveboard , this is n’t even a tough film . It just was n’t undecomposed enough to really enamor the imaginations of moviegoers .
8. Battlefield Earth (2000)
Budget : $ 73 to $ 103 million
global 144 : $ 29.7 million
figure personnel casualty : $ 73.3 million
Battlefield Earthwas John Travolta ’s passion task for years , which is why it ’s absolutely hilarious to see him ham it up it up as Terl , one of the Psychlos who reign the world . This movie was a floating-point operation from the word “ go , ” and it ’s not hard to see why . The make-up and designs for the Psychlos were absolutely ludicrous , and it ’s completely unsufferable to take Travolta and Forest Whitaker in earnest when they ’re in full costume .
Then there ’s the entirely generic story about Jonnie Goodboy Tyler ( Barry Pepper ) — and yes , Goodboy really is his middle name — the vernal man who dares to fight the Psychlos after world has pass 1,000 years under their control . From there , it plays out like everyStar Warsclone that you ’ve ever check . In retrospect , Battlefield Earthperformed a keen service of process to humanity . It economize us all from more braggy - budget L. Ron Hubbard adaption . For that , we are eternally grateful .
7. Blade Runner 2049 (2017)
Budget : $ 150 to $ 185 million
Worldwide receipts : $ 260.5 million
Estimated red : $ 80 million
Blade Runner 2049‘s bearing on this tilt is really unfortunate because it ’s the only really great moving picture among these titanic bust . Director Denis Villeneuve delivered one of the most jaw - droopingly beautiful science fiction movies of the twenty-first century , and this is a worthy follow - up to Ridley Scott’sBlade Runner . Despite the return of Harrison Ford and the casting of Ryan Gosling ( The Fall Guy ) in the leading role , Blade Runner 2049simply give way to make a declamatory enough impact at the box office .
Gosling portrays K , a Replicant who hunt down other Replicants . In his downtime , K maintains his own apartment , and he is seemingly in erotic love with his A.I. personal helper , Joi ( Ana de Armas ) , But during the course of his caper , K uncovers evidence that he may be the first kid of a man and a Replicant . To get answers , K will have to find the long - missing Rick Deckard ( Ford ) . However , Deckard is already in hiding from billionaire Niander Wallace ( Jared Leto ) .
6. Gods of Egypt (2016)
Budget : $ 140 million
global gross : $ 150.7 million
Estimated loss : $ 76 to $ 90 million
Somewhere between sci - fi and phantasy subsist the moving picture experience asGods of Egypt . The Whitest Gods You Knowwould credibly be a more appropriate title , as director Alex Proyas took a lot of flak for using a mostly Caucasoid dramatis personae to portray Egyptian deities . The late Chadwick Boseman was one of the few exclusion in his character as the Egyptian God of Wisdom , Thoth .
Gerard Butler(300 ) plays the vicious Seth , who ’s tired of sharing power with his fellow god . After murdering his father , Osiris ( Bryan Brown ) , and blinding his brother , Horus ( Game of Thrones ‘ Nikolaj Coster - Waldau ) , Seth takes over Egypt and enslaves humans . A young man name Bek ( Brenton Thwaites ) dares to steal from Seth , only to lose the animation of his buff , Zaya ( Courtney Eaton ) , in the process . That ’s why Bek joins military group with Horus in the hope of bringing down Seth and retrieve Zaya from the underworld .
5. Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within (2001)
Budget : $ 137.5 million
Worldwide gross : $ 85.1 million
gauge loss : $ 94 million
Square , the caller behind the hitFinal Fantasyvideo biz , wanted to make a big push into moving picture with the animatedFinal Fantasy : The hard drink Within . The caller was also very high on the realistic character model that was produce for the main fiber , Aki Ross ( Ming - Na Wen ) , whom Square picture as a virtual starlet who could seem in other films as well .
deliberate that a grave case of jumping the gun , due in large part to a nearly incomprehensible report involving phantom - alike unknown on Earth in the far - off time to come . In the film , Aki is infected by a Phantom during an experiment , and it leads her to discover a way to potentially banish the spirits and reclaim the macrocosm . But to do so , Aki and her allies will have to turn up eight spirits and combine their powers .
4. The Adventures of Pluto Nash (2002)
Budget : $ 100 million
oecumenical gross : $ 7.1 million
estimate loss : $ 96 million
That $ 7.1 million worldwide gross is not a typo . The Adventures of Pluto Nashcouldn’t even crock up $ 10 million against a $ 100 million budget . That ’s why it remains on this leaning of the biggest sci - fi bombs of all - clip .
drollery star Eddie Murphyplays the titular Pluto Nash , an ex-husband - contrabandist who went legit with his nightclub on the moon . When Pluto ’s club is destroyed by space gangster , he and his supporter , Dina Lake ( Rosario Dawson ) and Bruno ( Randy Quaid ) , go on the tally and seek to unwrap why the enigmatic offence lord Rex Crater has marked Pluto for death . As someone who remembers whenThe Adventures of Pluto Nashwas heavily replayed on cable , I can in person testify that this flick might be a cure for insomnia .
3. Ghost in the Shell (2017)
Budget : $ 110 to $ 180 million
planetary revenue : $ 169.8 million
Estimated loss : $ 60 to $ 100 million
Much likeGods of Egypt , Ghost in the Shellfaced accusations of whitewashing by casting Scarlett Johansson ( Asteroid City ) in the preeminent part as Major Mira Killian . In the wildly pop Zanzibar copal and manga that inspired the film , the Major is a Japanese cyborg . And technically , the same is straight of Johansson ’s eccentric in this film .
Banking on Johansson ’s adept power and the diversion of many of the iconic moment from the anime , Paramount and DreamWorks had mellow hopes of launching a franchise off of this film . There ’s no shortage of action here , but it also overpowers the openhanded sci - fi ideas about cognizance and human beings merging with simple machine . It just did n’t work out , and now you really have to search forGhost in the Shellif you want to stream it .
2. Chaos Walking (2021)
Worldwide receipts : $ 26.5 million
Estimated going : $ 112 million
UnlikeThe Chronicles of Riddick , Chaos Walkingis an downright catastrophe that not even the mien of Tom Holland or Daisy Ridley could salve . In this adaption of Patrick Ness’The Knife of Never Letting Go , Holland plays Todd Hewitt , one of the residents of an all - male colony where men and male child can literally see and see the thoughts of others . The women of the colony were purportedly murdered geezerhood ago by foreigner native to the satellite .
Todd ’s worldview is shattered when Viola Eade ( Ridley ) arrives on the planet after make it a crash - landing in her colony ship . As the only adult female in Todd ’s colony , Viola ’s sentiment are indecipherable by anyone . And Viola ’s very universe is a terror to the power of Mayor David Prentiss ( Mads Mikkelsen ) , who would rather murder her than risk exposing what really take place to the woman of the colony .
1. Battleship (2012)
Budget : $ 209 to $ 220 million
Worldwide receipts : $ 303 million
Estimated expiration : $ 150 million
Whoever had the bright idea to make Hasbro ’s add-in gameBattleshipinto a motion-picture show about unknown really should n’t be a studio apartment executive director after this debacle . Do we really have to remind everyone that theBattleshipgame was about duel naval effect and not alien invaders ? This was a colossal misfire on every degree , andBattleshiphas certainly take in its space on this list .
Taylor Kitsch headlines the film as Lieutenant Alex Hopper , a rebellious officer who is well on his way to getting dishonorably exhaust from the Navy when aliens assail during a military exercise . In the aftermath of this trap , Hopper finds himself as the ranking police officer on the lone live ship . And it ’s his job to muster the survivors — include Rihanna ’s character , Gunner ’s Mate Second Class Cora Raikes — into leading a successful counterplay that let in screen - liberation at potential alien lieu , which is one of the few time that the motion-picture show in reality resembles its source material .
