1997 Box Office Flops
187Budget: $23 million
Financed by: Icon; Warner Bros
Domestic Box Office: $5,727,130
Overseas Box Office: N/A
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A Simple WishBudget: $28 million
Financed by: Universal
Domestic Box Office: $8,345,056
Overseas Box Office: N/A
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A Smile Like YoursBudget: $25.6 million
Financed by: Rysher
Domestic Box Office: $3,330,352
Overseas Box Office: $0
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A Thousand AcresBudget: $28 million
Financed by: Propaganda Films; Beacon Pictures
Domestic Box Office: $7,936,780
Overseas Box Office: $2,000,000
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Batman & RobinBudget: $160 million
Financed by: Warner Bros
Domestic Box Office: $107,353,792
Overseas Box Office: $130,881,927
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Blood and WineBudget: $22 million
Financed by: Fox Searchlight; Majestic Films
Domestic Box Office: $1,094,668
Overseas Box Office: $2,462,183
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BuddyBudget: $25 million
Financed by: Sony
Domestic Box Office: $10,113,400
Overseas Box Office: $0
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Cats Don’t DanceBudget: $36 million
Financed by: Turner Pictures
Domestic Box Office: $3,566,637
Overseas Box Office: N/A
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Dante’s PeakBudget: $116 million
Financed by: Universal
Domestic Box Office: $67,127,760
Overseas Box Office: $111,000,000
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Double TeamBudget: $35 million
Financed by: Mandalay
Domestic Box Office: $11,438,337
Overseas Box Office: $8,664,261
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Event HorizonBudget: $50 million
Financed by: Paramount; ICE Insured Finance LLC
Domestic Box Office: $26,673,242
Overseas Box Office: $20,500,000
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Excess BaggageBudget: N/A
Financed by: Sony
Domestic Box Office: $14,515,490
Overseas Box Office: $2,208,295
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Fathers’ DayBudget: $85 million
Financed by: Warner Bros
Domestic Box Office: $28,598,376
Overseas Box Office: $7,600,000
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Fierce CreaturesBudget: $27 million
Financed by: Universal
Domestic Box Office: $9,381,260
Overseas Box Office: $31,908,000
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Fire Down BelowBudget: N/A
Financed by: Warner Bros
Domestic Box Office: $16,228,448
Overseas Box Office: N/A
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For Richer or PoorerBudget: $35 million
Financed by: Universal
Domestic Box Office: $31,642,995
Overseas Box Office: $1,106,000
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Free Willy 3: The RescueBudget: N/A
Financed by: Warner Bros; Regency
Domestic Box Office: $3,446,539
Overseas Box Office: N/A
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GattacaBudget: $36 million
Financed by: Sony
Domestic Box Office: $12,532,777
Overseas Box Office: $3,600,000
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Gone Fishin’Budget: $30 million
Financed by: Caravan Pictures (Disney)
Domestic Box Office: $19,745,922
Overseas Box Office: $40,123
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HoodlumBudget: $30 million
Financed by: MGM
Domestic Box Office: $23,499,102
Overseas Box Office: N/A
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Kull the ConquerorBudget: $30 million
Financed by: Universal
Domestic Box Office: $6,112,613
Overseas Box Office: $212,516
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Mad CityBudget: $50 million
Financed by: Warner Bros
Domestic Box Office: $10,541,523
Overseas Box Office: N/A
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McHale’s NavyBudget: $42 million
Financed by: Universal
Domestic Box Office: $4,529,843
Overseas Box Office: $0
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Midnight In The Garden Of Good And EvilBudget: $30 million
Financed by: Warner Bros
Domestic Box Office: $25,105,255
Overseas Box Office: N/A
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Murder At 1600Budget: N/A
Financed by: Regency; Warner Bros
Domestic Box Office: $25,804,707
Overseas Box Office: $15,300,000
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One Night StandBudget: $24 million
Financed by: New Line
Domestic Box Office: $2,642,983
Overseas Box Office: $5,427,095
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Out To SeaBudget: $33 million
Financed by: FOX
Domestic Box Office: $29,022,252
Overseas Box Office: $1,694,649
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Red CornerBudget: $49 million
Financed by: MGM
Domestic Box Office: $22,459,274
Overseas Box Office: $13,300,000
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RosewoodBudget: $31 million
Financed by: Warner Bros
Domestic Box Office: $13,130,349
Overseas Box Office: $0
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Shadow ConspiracyBudget: $37 million
Financed by: Cinergi Pictures; Disney
Domestic Box Office: $2,312,463
Overseas Box Office: N/A
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Smilla’s Sense of SnowBudget: $35 million
Financed by: Constantin; German Federal Film Board; FilmFernsehFonds Bayern; Danish Film Institute; Nordic Film & TV Fund
Domestic Box Office: $2,372,903
Overseas Box Office: $15,626,448
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Speed 2: Cruise ControlBudget: $145 million
Financed by: FOX
Domestic Box Office: $48,608,066
Overseas Box Office: $115,900,000
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Starship TroopersBudget: $105 million
Financed by: Sony; Disney
Domestic Box Office: $54,814,377
Overseas Box Office: $66,400,000
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SteelBudget: $23 million
Financed by: Warner Bros
Domestic Box Office: $1,710,972
Overseas Box Office: $0
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SwitchbackBudget: $37 million
Financed by: Rysher
Domestic Box Office: $6,492,660
Overseas Box Office: N/A
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That Old FeelingBudget: $35 million
Financed by: Universal
Domestic Box Office: $16,574,176
Overseas Box Office: $3,822,000
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The Devil’s OwnBudget: $86 million
Financed by: Sony
Domestic Box Office: $42,868,348
Overseas Box Office: $97,939,199
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The EdgeBudget: $30 million
Financed by: FOX
Domestic Box Office: $27,873,386
Overseas Box Office: $15,438,908
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The Man Who Knew Too LittleBudget: N/A
Financed by: Regency
Domestic Box Office: $13,717,039
Overseas Box Office: N/A
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The PostmanBudget: $80 million
Financed by: Warner Bros
Domestic Box Office: $17,626,234
Overseas Box Office: $9,400,000
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The RelicBudget: $40 million
Financed by: Mutual Film Company; Paramount; Polygram; Tele München, BBC, Toho-Towa
Domestic Box Office: $33,956,608
Overseas Box Office: $14,068,304
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TurbulenceBudget: $60 million
Financed by: Rysher
Domestic Box Office: $11,538,235
Overseas Box Office: $5,123,697
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Vegas VacationBudget: $25 million
Financed by: Warner Bros
Domestic Box Office: $36,400,360
Overseas Box Office: $927,232
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Great year.
Will any of these films be added to the list at some point?
Metro
Absolute Power
Paradise Road
Trial and Error
She’s So Lovely
The Game
The Ice Storm
Most Wanted
The Rainmaker
Amistad
Deconstructing Harry
An American Werewolf in Paris
Kundun
Mr Magoo
All that’s left for December is Amistad, For Richer or Poorer, American Werewolf in Paris, Mr Magoo, and The Postman
And then it’s off to 1996 and hopefully Theodore Rex makes the cut.
Wait, are we really going back even further? Sweet.
So many movies from that year at least around $20M in budget (even more if we consider movies closer to $15M but I doubt that would happen). The Juror, White Squall, Mr Wrong, Muppet Treasure Island, Before and After, Mary Reilly, Unforgettable, Ed, Two Much, Diabolique, Sgt Bilko, James and the Giant Peach, Mrs Winterbourne, Mulholland Falls, Flipper, Heaven’s Prisoners, The Arrival, Eddie, The Phantom, Kazaam, Multiplicity, Fled, The Frighteners, The Adventures of Pinocchio, Chain Reaction, Matilda, Escape from LA, Jack, Alaska, The Fan, The Island of Dr Moreau, Solo, The Stupids, Bogus, Last Man Standing, Extreme Measures, The Glimmer Man, The Chamber, The Long Kiss Goodnight, Michael Collins, Dear God, Larger Than Life, Mars Attacks, Ghosts of Mississippi, My Fellow Americans, The Evening Star, & The People vs Larry Flint. 45 potential write-ups…
Down Periscope, Up Close and Personal, Executive Decision, Spy Hard, Dragonheart, The Cable Guy, Striptease, Kingpin, Tin Cup, That Thing You Do, The Ghost and the Darkness, & Daylight are debatable too.
I’m assuming U-Turn cost less than $19 million (the number reported on BOM) and that’s why it was skipped over.
I believe it cost $20M. So, I’ll add it soon.
Okay, just wondering. By the way, nice work on the site!
Thanks Nightman
Less than 3 months until legendary CostnerBomb The Postman makes its inevitable appearance.
Was the Saint also a break even movie? I thought it also went over budget due to Val Kilmer’s ego and reshoots?
Some outlets back then reported The Saint grossed $170m worldwide. I’m going by that figure.
I doubt it. $61,363,304 so far.
What about the Christian Slater vehicle “Julian Po?” Or was that too limited release?
I had to look that one up, I have no memory of it whatsoever! Yeah, it appears to be a small picture and I’m trying to leave most films off the site that cost under $20M.
You skipped over Masterminds and Mimic. Was it because they were inexpensively budgeted?
Masterminds was cheap, yes. The total overseas numbers for Mimic are very hard to find and what I’ve found so far has been about $20M from its run, but there were still markets left to open with that number. It definitely underperformed, but it was probably a break even type of picture.
Maybe Conspiracy Theory and Spawn bombed?
Do you think The Wiggles Movie is a good candidate for this list? From what I read, its rather large budget ($31M) did not seem to break even in theatrical release, although I found nothing on box office receipts.
Never even heard of that one! Just looked it up and that budget figure is in not in USD. The trades from the day also never listed the budget anywhere. If I find any more info, I’ll post it.
The budget was A$31 million, which adjusted to US in 1997 would be around $20.2 million, give or take a couple hundred thousand.
Any link to that budget figure, from the trades back then?
I assume Wild America was a cheap film and that’s why it wasnt included
The $46m budget floating around seems crazy. I saw a few figures around $7m but nothing from the trades of the day.
So no updates here until what out to sea? Contact?
How about these:
Tomorrow Never Dies
Mouse Hunt
As Good As It Gets
Jackie Brown
An American Werewolf in Paris
The Postman
Mr. Magoo
Tomorrow Never Dies and As Good as It Gets will definitely not make it on this site. The Postman and Mr. Magoo definitely well make it on the site.
Neither will Mouse Hunt or Jackie Brown. MH made $122 million worldwide off a $38 million budget, while JB grossed $74 million worldwide off a budget of $12 million.
Speed 2 on Thursday. Keanu good man
How did metro not end up on here?
But otherwise great work love the site
Thanks! As for Metro, the budget was $40M not the $55M figure that has circulated and it grossed $74.4M worldwide. It’s a disappointment for sure, but close to a break even movie by 1997 standards.
Today is “Father’s Day”‘s 22nd anniversary. Will you get to that film soon?
Will Clint Eastwood’s Absolute Power (Castle Rock [WB] (through Sony)) be added later on?
Absolute Power grossed $82M worldwide. Like most of Eastwood’s productions, it came in under budget and finished filming early and was expected to cost just over $40M. This was more a break even type of movie.
Did you remember to add Cats Don’t Dance for thursday?
What about Rosewood? It’s a great movie but it was still a bomb
Rosewood is already posted.
Will Batman & Robin be included on this list at all?
As wonderfully awful as it is, it is not a money loser.
How much do you suppose was spent on it?
You know, I always thought it was $110M, but I’ll take another look into what the trades said back then a bit closer to its release.
Disregard what I said earlier — in interviews with George Clooney, he says the budget weas $160M. So, expect a write-up for this amazing travesty.
Will Titanic be up here?
Uh, over a $1 billion worldwide.
Yea, it was the biggest flop until Avatar came around.
LOL!!!
Which was in turn the biggest flop ever until Avengers: Endgame arrived.
The Butcher Boy came out this year 🙂
?
The saddest one to see up here will be Starship Troopers
Yea, it’s a glorious flop. A demented Verhoeven masterpiece.
Honestly one of the best Box Office flops with “On Deadly Ground”. In a un-intentionally funny way.
Ok 1997! Here is what we got throughout this year on what will be on this site.
January: Metro, Fierce Creatures, Shadow Conspiracy
February: Dante’s Peak, Dangerous Ground, Rosewood, Blood and Wine, Smilla’s Sense of Snow
March: The Devil’s Own, Cats Don’t Dance
April: Double Team, That Old Feeling, McHale’s Navy, Volcano
May: Warriors of Virtue, Fathers’ Day, Gone Fishin’, Trial and Error
June: Buddy, Speed 2: Cruise Control
July: Wild America, A Simple Wish
August: 187, Free Willy 3: The Rescue, Event Horizon, Steel, Mimic, Excess Baggage, Hoodlum, Kull the Conqueror
September: Fire Down Below, A Thousand Acres, The Edge
October: U-Turn, Most Wanted, Seven Years in Tibet, Red Corner, Switchback
November: Starship Troopers, Mad City, The Man Who Knew Too Little, One Night Stand, Mortal Kombat: Annihilation, Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil
December: For Richer or Poorer, An American Werewolf in Paris, Kundun, Mr. Magoo, The Postman
I would also add Murder at 1600 for April, That Darn Cat for Febuary, Rocket Man and Gattaca for October
The ad spend must have been astronomical for Murder at 1600, 22 years on and I still remember that there were a ton of commercials for that.
I also remember Song 2 by Blur being in the Starship Troopers commercial. Heinlein rolling in his grave.