As always, there are winners… and losers. Whether Avatar: The Way of the Water, Top Gun : Maverick or Everything Everywhere All at Once have marked the last few months, other feature films have had a real flop at the global box office. Deadline has unveiled the movies that lost the most money at the box office in 2022 and, definitely, it’s not a pretty sight. We take stock of the five films that did not make 2022.
1) Avalonia, the strange journey
After the resounding success ofCharmDisney was probably hoping to recreate the event with Avalonia, the strange journey. But unfortunately, this sympathetic ode to the adventure with this eccentric family of explorers did not seduce the spectators. It is clear that this theme is rarely synonymous with success on the side of Mickey’s house. With a release only on Disney + at home, and in a few dark rooms elsewhere in the world, the failure is bitter for the Clade family.
The animated film would have generated only $ 18.8 million at the American box office, far from Disney’s estimates. Despite good elements, Avalonia, the strange journey is an adventure film that does not mark the spirits. In total, it would have caused Disney to lose $197.4 million. Ouch…
2) Amsterdam
Despite a quality cast and a nice budget, Amsterdam did not capture the hearts of moviegoers. This story of three friends who find themselves at the center of one of the biggest American plots despite themselves had everything to please. In the program ? Humor and suspense. But the feature is going all over the place in the eyes of viewers and critics alike. However, David O. Russel brought together Christian Bale, Margot Robbie, John David Washington, Anya Taylor-Joy or even Chris Rock.
With only $31 million generated at the worldwide box office, Amsterdam would have lost more than 108 million dollars according to Deadline. A blow.
3) Buzz Lightyear
Decidedly, it was not joy for Disney in 2022. After the box full ofRed alert in March 2022 (available directly on Disney+), the animated film Buzz Lightning did quite a flop. Spin-off of a cult Disney and Pixar saga, theorigin story of the astronaut of our childhood did not interest the crowds.
With a half-hearted start at the American box office, and 50.5 million dollars collected, the animated film did not take off “to infinity and beyond”. Maybe it’s linked to a summer release, tough competition when it was released in dark rooms or this lack of a little something… In any case, Buzz Lightning disappoints and cost Disney and Pixar $106 million.
4) Devotion
Who would have thought that an aviation movie would be a hit at the box office when Top Gun : Maverick was already in the spotlight? With Devotionadapted from the eponymous book, we discover the exploits of Jesse L. Brown, the first African-American naval aviator of the United States, and Tom Hudner during the Korean War in the late 1950s.
If the film was entitled to a release in the United States, it is content with an exclusive broadcast on Prime Video with us since last month. Despite the presence of Glenn Powell (Top Gun : Maverick) et Jonathan Majors (Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania), the film goes unnoticed. He suffered a loss of $89.2 million.
5) Babylon
This is perhaps our biggest box office disappointment. If it was released on January 18, 2023 in France, Babylon is a film from 2022 since it was released across the Atlantic on December 23. In our eyes, the film deserved better. But still, it is the saddest flop of recent months.
However, Damien Chazelle’s latest feature film had many cards in hand to win at the box office. Between a 5-star cast, an acclaimed director, an outstanding soundtrack, an interesting plot, and polished cinematography, the film could (should?) have worked. But Babylon faced several obstacles, such as its duration (3h09, anyway), a release date in the middle of the end-of-year holidays, the blue shadow ofAvatar: The Way of the Wateran eccentricity that does not please everyone…
So, Babylon reportedly cost Paramount Pictures $87.4 million despite three Oscar nominations.
