The story of relying on the success of a movie and bringing the entire film company back to life is a good story that is often used as a talking point in the film industry.
In 1977, Star Wars revived the long-dormant Fox Company with nearly $800 million at the global box office.
In 2008, "Iron Man" saved Marvel from bankruptcy with a box office of 583 million, and also opened the most influential movie IP to date.
In 2020, "Eight Hundred" revived the first summer file after the epidemic with a box office of 3.1 billion, which also made the Huayi brothers who were stuck in the quagmire breathe a good breath.
However, in the history of more than 100 years of films, the films that have been born are vast, of which there are still a few who can create box office miracles, and many of them cannot escape the fate of cannon fodder.
Even some of the so-called "magnificent masterpieces" sometimes inevitably overturned in the gutters, and incidentally pulled the production company into the water.
Today, Pigo will talk to you about the 11 films in the history of film that failed at the box office, but now they are regarded as classic movies.
Their box office failure is one of the 11 tragedies in film history, each with its own story behind the scenes, and some of the 11 directors even died of depression.
11. "A Knife To the City"
In 1993, I Douban 7.9
"A Knife In the City", also known as "The First Knife of Shenzhou", is the first costume drama directed by Hong Jinbao.
Set against the backdrop of the last years of the Qing Dynasty, which was plagued by internal and external troubles, the film tells the story of Wang Wu, Tan Sitong, and Yuan Shikai, who in the chaos of the times, from being close as brothers to parting ways.
In 1993, the boom of costume-themed movies had not yet faded, and The hong Kong film industry tycoon Luo Wei was on time
Invest 18 million yuan to shoot "A Knife to the City".
For this reason, Luo Wei specially hired Hong Jinbao as a director, and the actors have veteran movie star Dillon and the big beauty Guan Zhilin, and the main creative lineup is quite reliable.
Thanks to the abundant funds, the film is very well-made in terms of scene layout and prop production, and is completely built according to the standards of the main drama.
Ingenious, with the thinking of martial arts films to make historical films, so that the film has both the pride of martial arts films and the grandeur of historical films, such a grand epic spirit is definitely a rare "big pattern" in Hong Kong films.
But to everyone's surprise, the film was hastily released nine days after its release, and the box office only received more than 1 million Hong Kong dollars at the dismal box office, and it did not receive any results at the Academy Awards.
The failure of "A Knife in the City" directly led to the bankruptcy of Rowe's company, and he was depressed after three years, and the work fell silent.
Fortunately, with the passage of time, the film has finally received a fair evaluation, and its classic is not only the grandeur of the scene, but also the delicacy of emotional expression and the sincere feelings of home and country.
This sincere epic ended up in such a fate that it can only sigh "born at the wrong time".
10. Legend of God of War
1992 I Douban 6.3
In 1990, Andy Lau, who was at the peak of his acting career, established his own Tianmu Film Company.
A year later, the first film produced by Tianmu Company, "91 Divine Eagle Heroes", sold well at the box office, and Andy Lau, who tasted the sweetness, was doubly confident and determined to plan a big project.
Adhering to the viewpoint of "big investment, high return", Andy Lau gambled on an investment of 60 million Hong Kong dollars to shoot a costume blockbuster "Legend of the God of War" set in five generations and ten countries.
In order to ensure the level of the film, Andy Lau first invited Hong Jinbao to be the general director of the film, and then hired Cheng Xiaodong and YuanKui as action directors, and Zhang Wanting was responsible for the plot director.
In the cast, Andy Lau found Maggie Cheung, Mei Yanfang, Zhong Zhentao and other big names to join, and Maggie Cheung's one-day salary alone was as high as 2 million.
In addition to the star-studded lineup, Andy Lau smashed 20 million of them on the scene layout in order to restore the atmosphere of the era of the Five Generations and Ten Kingdoms.
Originally, I wanted to make a good start for Hong Kong's blockbuster era, but after the film was released, the box office only earned more than 12 million Hong Kong dollars, giving Andy Lau a heavy blow to the limelight.
In the end, Andy Lau barely recovered 30 million, but his Tianmu company declared bankruptcy in the storm.
In the following years, Andy Lau began to shoot crazy dramas in order to repay debts, no matter how good and bad films came, and finally spent 4 years to pay off all debts.
Mentioning this matter many years later, Andy Lau also lamented that he spent 60 million yuan to buy the painful lesson that 1+1 is not equal to 2.
Looking at it now, the film's interlocking action scenes, grand and shocking visual effects, coupled with the strong combination of Mui Yanfang and Maggie Cheung, how can it not be this achievement today.
Fortunately, after paying off the debt, Andy Lau revived the Tianmu Company, and then produced films such as "Full-time Killer" and "Love Jun Like a Dream" have achieved good box office results, making up for the regret of "Legend of the God of War".
9. "Escape from Clone Island"
2005 I Douban 7.2
Michael Bay, the director of Escape from Clone Island, is a leading expert on science fiction and action movies in Hollywood.
The "Transformers" series he directed is one of the hottest movie IPs in the world, in addition to films such as "Daredevil Island" and "The End of the World".
Because Michael Bay's films are full of thrilling explosion scenes, fans have given him the nickname "Explosion Bay".
Thanks to its mastery of such films, DreamWorks confidently put the big production of Escape from Clone Island into his hands.
The film is set on an isolated island where the male and female protagonists discover their clone identities and are determined to escape from this dangerous place of surveillance...
As a commercial blockbuster with science fiction and motion as a gimmick, "Escape from Clone Island" can be said to be the most important work since the founding of DreamWorks, so it has received all-round support from the company.
For example, the heroine, Michael Bate, found Scarlett Johansson, who had a strong audience base, and later she made a name for herself around the world with the role of "Black Widow".
In terms of specific production, Michael Bay is from the early stage of the costume to the post-special effects rendering, all of which are excellence.
Taking the prop car in the film as an example, from the Supercar Bugatti Veyron, which produces only 50 supercars a year, to the Cadillac 2002 concept car worth $7 million, it is enough to see that the producers are full of confidence in the success of the film.
The final film cost 120 million yuan to complete, which is definitely a big deal that DreamWorks has never done before.
In any way, "Escape from Clone Island" with multiple escorts is very popular, and many people have also given a global box office forecast of $1 billion.
The situation after the release of the film was astounding: North America grossed more than $30 million, and the global box office was in the early $100 million, which was too far from the original expectations.
As a result, the indebted DreamWorks soon went downhill and was acquired by Paramount in late 2005.
Michael Bay, who was also frustrated in his career, did not lose his mind, and two years later he released the movie "Transformers", which grossed more than $700 million worldwide after its release, and the shame of "Escape from Clone Island".
08、 "Future Water World"
In 1995, I Douban 7.5
The $175 million "Future Water World" was called one of the hardest films ever made that year.
One of the reasons why it is difficult to shoot is because of the production technology.
The story of "Future Water World" takes place hundreds of years later, when the earth is a vast ocean, people are living on the water, and the emergence of "Seawalker" Marina has made the world begin to change dramatically...
With a flooded earth, floating islands drifting on the water, and spectacular water battles, the Hollywood special effects of the 90s were not enough to present such a magnificent scene.
Therefore, in order to achieve real visual effects, the producer Universal Pictures had to adopt the method of live-action shooting, like the scene of the sea ruins in the film, which cost 5 million US dollars to build.
The second point of difficulty in filming is that the film continues to encounter accidents during filming, so that the original budget of $100 million has to be added again and again.
For example, when the film was filmed in Hawaii, it encountered a typhoon day, and its main scene, the sea steel atolls, were destroyed in an instant, and the crew had to buy steel again to rebuild, and finally bought all the steel on Hawaii Island.
At the same time, due to the director and the film's male protagonist Kevin Costner repeatedly argued over the specific production, the already long production cycle was delayed many times.
After the filming was completed, Universal invested a high amount of publicity costs, and the total investment of the film exceeded 200 million US dollars.
Although Universal Pictures is a century-old company with a history of 100 years and its strength is very strong, the film's North American box office of more than 80 million yuan still gave Universal Pictures a very heavy blow, and it took a long time to ease up.
Nowadays, it is not only a science fiction movie that focuses on visual effects, but also a rare one that pays attention to real problems such as environmental problems and social class.
Interestingly, the film received more and more attention and likes in the years that followed, and its related video products, video games and other peripheral products continued to sell well, which eventually helped Universal recover the box office loss after many years.
07、 "Secret Agent Maze"
2001 I Douban 6.6
In 2001, Jackie Chan has established his first-line position in Hollywood with films such as "Red Fan District" and "Rush Hour", becoming the most popular kung fu superstar after Bruce Lee.
"Secret Agent Maze" is produced by Jiahe, as Jiahe's long-term partner, coupled with the filming of many action scenes involved in this film, Jackie Chan has naturally become the best choice for the male protagonist.
From the death in front of the propeller of the plane, to the action scenes such as the explosion of the flying car and the ignition of the oil tanker truck, the film has Jackie Chan's usual dazzling kung fu show and carefully choreographed battles.
Coupled with the film's filming from China to Turkey and South Korea, spanning many countries, Jiahe also increased from the initial budget of HK$170 million to 200 million.
But this painstaking effort did not get the rewards it deserved, and the box office of the film was only 30 million Hong Kong dollars after its release, and Jiahe eventually lost 150 million yuan.
The biggest problem with the failure is that too many plot lines appear messy.
This is because at that time, Jiahe and Taiwan's technology giant Acer cooperated to move part of the film's plot to the Internet, so the story of the film version is not complete.
Because the Network was not yet developed at that time, many viewers did not see the 2.0 version of the Internet, resulting in some confusion when watching "Secret Agent Maze", which weakened the interest of previous Jackie Chan movies.
The film's box office failure became the last straw that overwhelmed Jiahe, who was seriously injured and was acquired by Orange Sky Entertainment a few years later.
06、 "The Wind Whisperer"
2002 I Douban 7.6
Wu Yusen in 2002 was in the most proud stage of his life.
From "Change of Face" to "Mission Impossible 2", Wu Yusen conquered Hollywood with his violent aesthetics, and the box office also rose all the way.
As the box office rose, Wu Yusen's voice in Hollywood, he won greater autonomy in filmmaking, and also became the object of competition among major film companies.
At that time, because "Saving Private Ryan" led to the boom of World War II movies, MGM saw the timing and invited the hot Wu Yusen to direct this World War II-themed "Wind Whisperer".
The brutal story of two soldiers on the battlefield of World War II ranges from thrilling action scenes to humanity games in crisis settings.
These plots are all good for Wu Yusen, so from MGM to Wu Yusen, all parties are full of confidence in this film.
But the investment of more than $100 million was ultimately only exchanged for more than 60 million box office results, breaking everyone's glasses.
This also led to a decline in MGM, which had been galloping for decades, and not only did the company's top executives resign, but also MGM was bought by Sony three years later.
Wu Yusen's reputation in Hollywood also declined, and he soon had to return to the Chinese film industry and get involved in the shooting boom of costume blockbusters at that time.
05. Cleopatra
In 1963, I Douban 7.9
Hollywood in the fifties and sixties also blew up a wave of costume blockbusters.
From "The Ten Commandments" and "Ben Hur" to "Spartacus", grand historical stories were sought-after in Hollywood at the time, and 1963's "Cleopatra" was the finale of the costume film boom.
Fox was already in financial trouble, and In order to get out of the predicament, Fox invested $44 million to complete the most expensive epic in history.
Even by today's standards, Cleopatra is a "money-burning work," with actress Elizabeth Taylor alone having more than $200,000 in costumes, including a costume made of gold fabric.
At the same time, the ancient Egyptian scenes in the film are also built according to real history, and the magnificent ancient Roman city is restored according to the ratio of 1:1.
But for the audience at that time, this kind of big-scale production story is no longer new, the appeal to the audience is limited, and more than 20 million US dollars is already the box office limit of this film.
The failure of Cleopatra ended the genre of costume films and put Fox on the brink of bankruptcy, and it wasn't until Star Wars in 1977 that Fox got back on track.
04、 "Cut Throat Island"
In 1995, I Douban 6.9
The producer of "Cut Throat Island" is The Carlock Company, which has produced films such as "First Blood" and "Terminator 2" and has gradually gained fame in the industry.
With the accumulation of previous works, Carlos invested $98 million in the largest pirate film in history.
The story of the film is relatively simple, mainly around the treasure of the Slit Throat Island, the story of fierce competition between various forces, the biggest highlight is undoubtedly the female pirate Morgan played by Gina Davis, which is very subversive.
Like "Future Water World", in order to pursue the sense of realism, but also limited by the special effects technology at that time, the film was basically filmed on the water, and finally took more than two years to complete.
Perhaps because the storyline lacked appeal to the audience, the film was unexpectedly ignored after its release, and finally ended with a box office of more than 9 million.
This fiasco also made the film the most cost-losing film in film history, and the brilliant Carlock Company immediately declared bankruptcy.
"Cut Throat Island" also became a turning point in director Rennie Haring's career, after which he almost lost one film and became Hollywood's box office poison.
In the years that followed, no one dared to touch the subject again, until the box office hit of "Pirates of the Caribbean" in 2003, which saved the reputation of pirate films.
03. "The Legend of Ah Fei"
1990 I Douban 8.5
In 1990, Wong Kar-wai, who had already won fame with "Carmen in Mong Kok", approached Deng Guangrong and showed him the script of "Ah Fei's Biography".
At that time, Deng Guangrong was the owner of Shadow Master Company and an investor in "Carmen in Mong Kok", and he knew wong Kar-wai's potential and had always been very trusting of him.
After reading the script, Deng Guangrong felt that this story was interesting to shoot, and happily took out 40 million yuan to unconditionally support Wong Kar-wai's shooting.
Want to talk about hugh's love, the confusion and sadness of urban young men and women, under Wong Kar-wai's unique brushwork, the original simple story carries the unique temperament of the sunglasses king.
Today, the film has long been regarded as a classic, but the audience at that time did not buy it, and they were confused by Wong Kar-wai's personal expression, which limited the further dissemination of the film.
In the end, the film grossed less than 10 million yuan, and Deng Guangrong, who was deeply affected, fell ill and was hospitalized, and the company went out of business.
Affected by this for a long time, no one dared to invest in Wong Kar-wai, until the box office success of "East becomes West", which made the film industry truly realize Wong Kar-wai's strength in both business and literature.
02. "Journey to the West" (Part 1 and Part 2)
1995 I Douban 9.0/9.2
In the list of the worst box office, it is always indispensable to "Journey to the West".
The classic degree of this film is not much to say now, but in the past, it was the degree of "everyone shouting and beating".
The reason for the filming of the film is that Zhou Xingchi heard the story of "Journey to the West" from Liu Zhenwei, liked it very much, and was determined to shoot this postmodern journey to the west story.
In order to make up enough funds for filming, Zhou Xingchi and Liu Zhenwei came to the Western Film Studio and tried their best to persuade Wu Tianming, the director of the Western Film Studio, to get more than 30 million yuan of investment from the Western Film Studio.
This funding, coupled with more than 20 million of the company's CESS, allowed Zhou Xingchi to complete the shooting according to their own ideas.
But few people are optimistic about the prospects of this film, such as the film's composer Zhao Jiping, who specifically advised not to sign it, for fear of damaging his reputation.
Sure enough, after the release of the film, it caused an uproar, and the audience could not accept this "magic change" of Journey to the West, especially the mainland box office was less than 1 million, becoming the most painful Waterloo in Stephen Chow's career.
But fortunately, time has proved that "Journey to the West" is not useless, just because it is too advanced.
01、 "Once Upon a Time in America"
1984 丨Doubles 9.2
Probably the worst ruined career due to a movie is the Italian director Sergio Leone.
Before Hollywood filmed "Once Upon a Time in America", Leone had already shocked the international film industry with the "Dart Trilogy", so Hollywood invited Leone to the United States to develop.
In fact, as early as the 60s, Leone wanted to shoot the gangster film "Once Upon a Time in America", but he was worried about insufficient funds, and this time he had enough financial support from Hollywood to get his wish.
It is no exaggeration to say that from the preparation to the release of the film, Leone brewed for more than a decade.
However, after the film was produced, the production company arbitrarily deleted the film because it was "too long".
The original 229 minutes, which can be divided into two films released, were cut into 139 minutes, and the whole story was fragmented.
After the release of this version of the crippled "Once Upon a Time in America", there was no accident that the bad review was made, and the final box office was only 5.32 million US dollars, compared with the cost of 30 million, a loss of nearly 25 million, according to the exchange rate at the time, equivalent to 150 million yuan.
You know, it was already 1984, and the highest-grossing film in the world that year was "Ghostbusters", which grossed $434 million, compared with "Once Upon a Time in America", which was almost unable to get the box office.
Leone was so devastated that he never made another film, and a few years later he was depressed, leaving only the World 7 feature films.
But fortunately, many years later, the full version of "Once Upon a Time in America" was released at the Cannes Film Festival, winning unanimous praise, and now it is regarded as a classic, which can also be regarded as a soothing spirit in heaven for a generation of film masters.
The failure of the above 11 films allows us to see that if a film wants to succeed, it is indispensable to be in the right place and place.
But there is no doubt that the true classic, regardless of the box office, will always remain in the hearts of the audience.
Text/Pippi Film Editorial Department: Ah Zhi
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