The biggest box-office flops of the year so far highlight the movie genres struggling to drive audiences back to theaters
The box office is on the road to recovery and seeing a vast improvement over last year.
But some movies haven't given the theatrical industry much of a boost.
Some have been outright flops, like "Moonfall," and others underwhelmed, like "Morbius."
The box office is on the road to recovery after the coronavirus pandemic wreaked havoc on the theatrical industry.
US ticket sales were up 354% through the weekend, according to Comscore, compared to the same period in 2021, when movie releases were scarce. It's mainly thanks to recent superhero hits like "The Batman" and "Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness."
But the US box office is still down considerably from 2019, and some movies haven't helped give it a boost.
The movies that have connected with audiences so far this year have mostly been of the aforementioned superhero variety, or other franchise-types like "Sonic the Hedgehog 2." There have also been surprise successes like the low-budget "Dog."
And there have been outright flops, some of which suggest audiences haven't been turning out in droves for adult-oriented dramas and action movies. Those include the Liam Neeson-starring "Blacklight" and Roland Emmerich's "Moonfall." The latter cost a bloated $150 million to make and earned just $44 million worldwide.
Other movies weren't total disasters but underwhelmed, leaving the future of their respective franchises in question.
The latest "Fantastic Beasts" movie, "The Secrets of Dumbledore," was the lowest-grossing "Harry Potter"-related movie in the franchise yet, and cost a hefty $200 million to product.
"Morbius," Sony's latest Marvel movie, cost $75 million to produce, a modest sum compared to most comic-book movies. But it failed to generate the kind of interest Sony's "Venom" movies have.
Most of these flops and disappointments were torn apart by critics. But others, like the Viking epic "The Northman" and the Nicolas Cage-starring "Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent," received favorable reviews.
Both were original, mid-budget, star-driven, adult-focused, action-adventure dramas that couldn't drum up substantial interest in theaters despite positive buzz.
Below are the year's most notable box-office flops and disappointments, in release-date order (numbers are based on data from IMDb Pro unless otherwise specified):
"The 355" — January 7
US opening weekend: $4.62 million
Total US box office: $14.57 million
Total global box office: $27.72 million
Production budget: $75 million (Source: Variety)
Rotten Tomatoes critics score: 24%
"Moonfall" — February 4
US opening weekend: $9.87 million
Total US box office: $19.06 million
Total global box office: $44.34 million
Production budget: $150 million
Rotten Tomatoes critics score: 36%
"Blacklight" — February 11
US opening weekend: $3.5 million
Total US box office: $9.59 million
Total global box office: $15.47 million
Production budget: $43 million
Rotten Tomatoes critics score: 8%
"Morbius" — April 1
US opening weekend: $39 million
Total US box office: $73 million
Total global box office: $163 million
Production budget: $75 million (Source: Variety)
Rotten Tomatoes critics score: 17%
"Ambulance" — April 8
US opening weekend: $8.7 million
Total US box office: $22.2 million
Total global box office: $51.2 million
Production budget: $40 million (Source: Variety)
Rotten Tomatoes critics score: 69%
"Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore" — April 15
US opening weekend: $42.15 million
Total US box office: $93 million
Total global box office: $388 million
Production budget: $200 million (Source: Variety)
Rotten Tomatoes critics score: 47%
"The Northman" — April 22
US opening weekend: $12.2 million
Total US box office: $33 million
Total global box office: $63.5 million
Production budget: $60 million
Rotten Tomatoes critics score: 89%
"The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent" — April 22
US opening weekend: $7.13 million
Total US box office: $19.5 million
Total global box office: $26.9 million
Production budget: $30 million (Source: Deadline)
Rotten Tomatoes critics score: 86%
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