9. The Fall of the Roman Empire
Estimated Loss: ~$106,000,000 (adjusted for inflation)
A case of a budget that may seem okay but when adjusted for inflation, it’s one of the biggest bombs imaginable. A stand-out of the “swords and sandals” era of the 1950s and ‘60s, it boasted a great cast of Christopher Plummer, Sophia Loren, Alec Guinness and Omar Sharif and excellent detail and many reviews have noted it as far better than most of its ilk. Sadly, that wasn’t enough for moviegoers in 1964 as the film’s budget reached a then-unheard of $20 million and while much of it is on screen, it still stands as a very costly disaster. When adjusted for inflation, its losses are close to $125 million and while the movie is regarded as something of a classic by critics today, it didn’t help Samuel Bronston at the time and helped kill the entire massive epic of the day, a shame considering it’s an actually good flick.
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8. R.I.P.D.
Estimated Loss: $90,837,890—114,837,890
The cult comic book this 2013 movie was based on had a cool premise: Lawmen killed throughout history are given the chance to go back to Earth and protect humans from demonic evil. Ryan Reynolds played their newest recruit with Jeff Bridges as the Old West marshall acting as his partner and some major big-budget FX in fights with demons. Sadly, from the first trailers, the movie was doomed thanks to the inevitable comparisons to Men in Black and the studio didn’t help by moving it to a pretty crammed period in July. Rising to a reported $160 million budget, the movie grossed less than $80 million with a loss for the studio of nearly $120 million and standing as one of the worst comic book adaptations ever as well as a major flop on its own.
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