Unexpected Movie Flops of 2024

Have you ever been so excited about a movie after seeing the trailer months before, only to be disappointed? You’re not the only one. There are so many times when the film doesn’t live up to its hype, and after a few days of showing, word travels fast that the movie isn’t worth your time or money.

There are also other reasons why a movie flops, such as it being a book adaptation where the creative liberties the director took didn’t sit well with the fans, who then boycotted the movie. Or perhaps the marketing department didn’t do their job well, the movie’s lead was involved in a controversy before the release date, or the critics’ negative reviews affected box office sales. 

This year, a lot of movies of different genres flopped unexpectedly. 

Kraven the Hunter broke box office records, but not in the way Sony would like. According to GameRant, Kraven’s opening is the worst for any Sony Marvel movie to date. The studio had high hopes for the film, expecting it to develop into a franchise. However, the Aaron Taylor-Johnson-led movie disappointed, as Madame Web, also considered a box-office bomb, still performed better. 

You wouldn’t think that a movie starring Cate Blanchett would be received poorly. Sadly, that was the case with Borderlands. The film, which is based on a video game, faced backlash as soon as the trailer dropped, with audiences quickly realizing it wasn’t worth seeing. Due to the negative reception, Lionsgate pulled the movie from theaters less than a month after its release, per Gamesradar+. It was sent to streaming afterward, but it’s still underperforming. It's one of the worst movie flops of this year.

Channing Tatum and Scarlett Johansson are movie stars who can bring in crowds. Put them together in a rom-com, and you’d think you’d have a hit. After all, both have starred in successful rom-coms (well, with other people). Fly Me to the Moon flew under many people’s radars, and they only knew of the movie after it became part of a list like this. The movie earned only $42.2 million on a budget of $100 million. 

Fans of the movie The Sixth Sense still can’t stop talking about the “I see dead people” twist at the end, and they’re expecting a similar level of twist in his 2024 movie starring Josh Hartnett. However, according to a review by ABC News, the “twist” was already evident in the trailer and the first few minutes of the movie. It seems M. Night Shyamalan has lost his touch.

The first Joker earned $1.079 billion on a budget of $55–$70 million. Suffice it to say, these figures made it easy for Warner Bros. Pictures to invest in a sequel, hoping it would perform the same as its predecessor at the box office. After all, they added Lady Gaga to the mix. Sadly, that wasn’t the case, as Joker: Folie à Deux was a critical and commercial failure, per CNBC. It only earned $206.4 million on a budget of $200 million. Not only did it fail to earn big bucks like the first movie, but it was also more expensive. 

You might think, “Who wouldn’t want to spend money to see Henry Cavill in all his glory?” The answer? A lot of people. Argylle, Cavill’s $200 million movie, underperformed at the box office because the early reviews were bad, the trailer was confusing, its release date of February 2 played a factor (movies released early in the new year tend to underperform), and the plot was too convoluted, according to Screen Rant. 

Another movie where the lead actors who are usually able to draw in crowds, failed. Ryan Gosling (Barbie’s Ken) and Emily Blunt (A Quiet Place) starred in The Fall Guy, a movie about the romance between a stuntman and camera operator turned director. In this review from The Daily Beast, there seems to be nothing inherently wrong with the film. It’s just that people weren’t willing to see it. It's sad to see it included in the list of 2024's movie flops.