The Biggest Box Office Bombs of 2006 (with poll)

News Type: Opinion — Wed Dec 27, 2006 7:52 AM EST

entertainment, movies, film, poll, box-office, cinemas

Michael Sautter

Live Poll

What is the worst movie of 2006?

1. A Good Year
0%
2. Wicker Man
0%
3. All the King's Men
0%
4. Lady in the Water
11%
5. Poseidon
11%
6. Basic Instinct 2
38%
7. Flyboys
0%
8. Flushed Away
5%
9. The Fountain
14%
10. Freedomland
8%
11. Other, please leave in comments
14%

Total Votes: 37

What is the worst movie of 2006?

The Biggest Box Office Bombs of 2006

(according to Variety)

I thought that this would be a good place to start looking for bad movies.

1. A Good Year

Russell Crowe in a romantic comedy.

2. Wicker Man

Nicolas Cage in a re-make.

3. All the King's Men

Sean Penn in a re-make.

4. Lady in the Water

M. Night's first box office bomb.

5. Poseidon

Another re-make.

6. Basic Instinct 2

Was this sequel really necessary?
Continued Sharon Stone's 11-year string of bombs.

7. Flyboys

About pilots in World War 1, partially financed
by software billionaire Larry Ellison of Oracle.

8. Flushed Away

Animated, with a $90 million shortfall
between cost and domestic sales.

9. The Fountain

A transcendental love story (for all those
people tired of romantic comedies).

10. Freedomland

An urban kidnapping thriller.

11. Other

Please leave in comments.

Note: I got this list from the Reuters article Crowe and Cage in year's biggest bombs .

15 Votes
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7.9

4.0

1.6

{"commentId":447109,"authorDomain":"michaelsautter"}

Michael Sautter

I'm not going to vote since I haven't seen most of these movies. I would be inclined to vote for Lady in the Water since it's not a sequel or re-make (which are usually bad to anyway) and from M. Night who has a decent track record.

{"commentId":447109,"threadId":"63817","contentId":"496401","authorDomain":"michaelsautter"}

1 vote

#1 - Wed Dec 27, 2006 8:29 AM EST

{"commentId":448416,"authorDomain":"DigitalRob"}

DigitalRob

I just watched Lady in the Water. I liked it, but I understand why it didn't do well at the box office.

1) The trailer didn't help potential views grasp any concept of the plot.
2) The movie's pacing, like The Village, was slow.
3) To me, it appears to be a unique story, not something that many movie goers appreciate.

I'm a big fan of Shyamalan. He takes time to tell his stories, and he loads on the symbolism and metaphors, which I've noticed most people don't even notice.

In Lady in the Water, I think the use of the critic to point out the obvious metaphor & film stereotypes was hilarious.

I agree that Lady was a bomb, but I from the previews, I never thought it would be successful.

Before having kids, my wife and I went to the movies every weekend. This year, 2006, I thought it was odd that there were numerous weekends where there wasn't a single movie I had any desire to see. Since I like just about everything, I'd say that the movies released this year lacked some pizzaz.

-Rob

{"commentId":448416,"threadId":"63817","contentId":"496401","authorDomain":"DigitalRob"}

2 votes

#1.1 - Wed Dec 27, 2006 11:16 PM EST

{"commentId":448419,"authorDomain":"DigitalRob"}

DigitalRob

BTW, I voted for Poseidon, which I think lost the most money this year.

Sorry for the double post.

-Rob

{"commentId":448419,"threadId":"63817","contentId":"496401","authorDomain":"DigitalRob"}

1 vote

#1.2 - Wed Dec 27, 2006 11:17 PM EST

{"commentId":447156,"authorDomain":"brianford"}

Brian Ford

I think "worst" is a bad word -- because many of these movies faired well critically. (I'm thinking Flushed Away in particular. I suspect it will earn it's money back in DVD rentals and sales.)

I would say: "Most unseen (underviewed?) movies of 2006"

I guess I just don't see bombing at the box office as an indicator of quality (or a lack thereof.)

{"commentId":447156,"threadId":"63817","contentId":"496401","authorDomain":"brianford"}

2 votes

#2 - Wed Dec 27, 2006 9:16 AM EST

{"commentId":447202,"authorDomain":"michaelsautter"}

Michael Sautter

I thought that this would be a good place to start looking for bad movies.

{"commentId":447202,"threadId":"63817","contentId":"496401","authorDomain":"michaelsautter"}

1 vote

#2.1 - Wed Dec 27, 2006 9:42 AM EST

{"commentId":447195,"authorDomain":"rhoward"}

Rick Howard

I only saw Lady in the Water and Freedomland. Freedomland lacked direction to be a good movie.

I actually liked Lady in the Water for what it was mean to be, a children's story.

Rick

{"commentId":447195,"threadId":"63817","contentId":"496401","authorDomain":"rhoward"}

1 vote

#3 - Wed Dec 27, 2006 9:40 AM EST

{"commentId":447568,"authorDomain":"greathoj"}

jgreath

I haven't seen any of these, nor have I even heard of five of the ten listed. Perhaps I should spend more time watching TV?

The only movie that came out this year that I can remember actually wanting to go see was "The Departed" (it's got Jack freakin' Nicholson!!), but I try to avoid theaters anymore. At $10 per ticket, it's just as cheap to wait for the damn movie to be released on DVD and buy it then.

{"commentId":447568,"threadId":"63817","contentId":"496401","authorDomain":"greathoj"}

2 votes

#4 - Wed Dec 27, 2006 1:38 PM EST

{"commentId":447680,"authorDomain":"tcervo"}

gecko85

Basic Instinct 2...by far. While the others listed were avoided for one reason or another, I think you could argue at least one redeeming quality of each. The same cannot be said for Basic Instinct 2.

{"commentId":447680,"threadId":"63817","contentId":"496401","authorDomain":"tcervo"}

1 vote

#5 - Wed Dec 27, 2006 2:51 PM EST

{"commentId":447706,"authorDomain":"thevineofhob"}

Adam Hobson

I don't know. Did anyone actually expect Basic Instinct 2 to be even decent? It's like kicking a man that is already down. When I choose a bad movie as worst of the year, I like to aim for the movie that tried real hard and still fell flat on its face in failure.

{"commentId":447706,"threadId":"63817","contentId":"496401","authorDomain":"thevineofhob"}

2 votes

#5.1 - Wed Dec 27, 2006 3:05 PM EST

{"commentId":447770,"authorDomain":"Paradox460"}

Paradox460

Snakes on a plane.

{"commentId":447770,"threadId":"63817","contentId":"496401","authorDomain":"Paradox460"}

8 votes

#6 - Wed Dec 27, 2006 3:36 PM EST

{"commentId":447787,"authorDomain":"brianford"}

Brian Ford

AMEN!

{"commentId":447787,"threadId":"63817","contentId":"496401","authorDomain":"brianford"}

3 votes

#6.1 - Wed Dec 27, 2006 3:44 PM EST

{"commentId":447883,"authorDomain":"stolte-sawa"}

Ryan Stolte-Sawa

Killjoys. :P

{"commentId":447883,"threadId":"63817","contentId":"496401","authorDomain":"stolte-sawa"}

2 votes

#6.2 - Wed Dec 27, 2006 4:53 PM EST

{"commentId":447924,"authorDomain":"michaelsautter"}

Michael Sautter

Snakes on a Plane . . . the title has me intrigued, what's it about?

{"commentId":447924,"threadId":"63817","contentId":"496401","authorDomain":"michaelsautter"}

5 votes

#6.3 - Wed Dec 27, 2006 5:31 PM EST

{"commentId":448157,"authorDomain":"thepef"}

ThePef

Snakes on a Plane :)

{"commentId":448157,"threadId":"63817","contentId":"496401","authorDomain":"thepef"}

2 votes

#6.4 - Wed Dec 27, 2006 8:15 PM EST

{"commentId":448246,"authorDomain":"russrenshaw"}

Russ R.

My vote goes for those motherf***in' snakes on that motherf***in' plane!

{"commentId":448246,"threadId":"63817","contentId":"496401","authorDomain":"russrenshaw"}

2 votes

#6.5 - Wed Dec 27, 2006 9:19 PM EST

{"commentId":451203,"authorDomain":"Paradox460"}

Paradox460

Anyone seen the trailer for Epic Movie? It is going to be the new scary movie, especially the parodies on Narnia and SonaP

{"commentId":451203,"threadId":"63817","contentId":"496401","authorDomain":"Paradox460"}

2 votes

#6.6 - Fri Dec 29, 2006 5:52 PM EST

{"commentId":448131,"authorDomain":"behindmyscreen"}

Behind My Screen

Basically 2006 was rife with bombs... all equally bad... I do think however that this is the come back year where finally hollywood realizes people do not like crappy movies... so we are seeing movies like "the departed" and such come out which are high drama, low idiot action, intriguing story lines... etc.

{"commentId":448131,"threadId":"63817","contentId":"496401","authorDomain":"behindmyscreen"}

1 vote

#7 - Wed Dec 27, 2006 8:04 PM EST

{"commentId":448191,"authorDomain":"thevineofhob"}

Adam Hobson

There were quite a good deal of high quality or at least entertaining comedies this year. However, the dramas and thrillers were mostly pathetic.

{"commentId":448191,"threadId":"63817","contentId":"496401","authorDomain":"thevineofhob"}

2 votes

#7.1 - Wed Dec 27, 2006 8:32 PM EST

{"commentId":449056,"authorDomain":"behindmyscreen"}

Behind My Screen

I was excluding comedy... any comedy is a good comedy for me:-)

{"commentId":449056,"threadId":"63817","contentId":"496401","authorDomain":"behindmyscreen"}

2 votes

#7.2 - Thu Dec 28, 2006 12:57 PM EST

{"commentId":448232,"authorDomain":"dehehn"}

Deh Ehn

I have to say box office returns is not necessarily a sign of a bad movie. In many cases it simply means it wasn't mainstream enough and audiences weren't comfortable with it. I find I often disagree with American audiences opinions on a movies cinematic worth.

I would have to say the worst movie I've seen is for sure Eragon. Terrible script, cliched story, terrible editing, awful direction...nice special effects, overall terrible.

{"commentId":448232,"threadId":"63817","contentId":"496401","authorDomain":"dehehn"}

1 vote

#8 - Wed Dec 27, 2006 9:07 PM EST

{"commentId":448480,"authorDomain":"edomaniac"}

edomaniac

Phat Girlz, currently the worst movie ever made according to imdb.com, though Troll 2 is a close second.

{"commentId":448480,"threadId":"63817","contentId":"496401","authorDomain":"edomaniac"}

2 votes

#9 - Thu Dec 28, 2006 12:29 AM EST

{"commentId":448526,"authorDomain":"masem"}

Masem

Certainly as seeded, these are the financial bombs in terms of costs to make and box office receipts, but I think the better way, if you're polling bombs defined by critics, I'd use Rotten Tomatoes, which gives me this list (any with tomato ratings under 10%)(search terms I used)

Date Movie
Conversations with God
Big Momma's House 2
BloodRayne
Doogal
Basic Instinct 2
UltraViolet
Stay Alive
See No Evil
The Covenant
Zoom
Crossover
Deck the Halls

What there almost needs to be is a ratio of advertising and hype dollars to something similar to the Tomato ratings to really define the ultimate bombs - movies that the studio spends tons of money pushing out but resulting in terrible ratings.

{"commentId":448526,"threadId":"63817","contentId":"496401","authorDomain":"masem"}

2 votes

#10 - Thu Dec 28, 2006 1:44 AM EST

{"commentId":449573,"authorDomain":"dehehn"}

Deh Ehn

Much better list.

{"commentId":449573,"threadId":"63817","contentId":"496401","authorDomain":"dehehn"}

#10.1 - Thu Dec 28, 2006 6:42 PM EST

{"commentId":449436,"authorDomain":"celestina"}

Celestina

Ooh..Ultraviolet was so bad, I couldn't even finish it. I will watch pretty much anything just to watch Milla, but that was just...pathetic. It definitely gets my vote.

{"commentId":449436,"threadId":"63817","contentId":"496401","authorDomain":"celestina"}

3 votes

#11 - Thu Dec 28, 2006 4:52 PM EST

{"commentId":450304,"authorDomain":"fawnshore"}

Walt D

Larry the Cable Guy: Health Inspector.

{"commentId":450304,"threadId":"63817","contentId":"496401","authorDomain":"fawnshore"}

2 votes

#12 - Fri Dec 29, 2006 10:15 AM EST

{"commentId":450384,"authorDomain":"michaelsautter"}

Michael Sautter

That's not funny, I don't care who you are.

{"commentId":450384,"threadId":"63817","contentId":"496401","authorDomain":"michaelsautter"}

2 votes

#12.1 - Fri Dec 29, 2006 11:04 AM EST

{"commentId":455851,"authorDomain":"allpurpose"}

Chello

Lil Man or any Wayans Brother movie

{"commentId":455851,"threadId":"63817","contentId":"496401","authorDomain":"allpurpose"}

1 vote

#13 - Tue Jan 2, 2007 2:30 PM EST

{"canLink":false,"threadId":"63817","isPrivate":false}

MICHAEL SAUTTER

Backyard

The Biggest Box Office Bombs of 2006 (with poll)

Live Poll

The Biggest Box Office Bombs of 2006

1. A Good Year

2. Wicker Man

3. All the King's Men

4. Lady in the Water

5. Poseidon

6. Basic Instinct 2

7. Flyboys

8. Flushed Away

9. The Fountain

10. Freedomland

11. Other

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