The box office hasn’t been all too kind to numerous crucial and expected-to-be-remarkable movies in 2023–especially to those that had been created over a whopping budget of or exceeding $200 million. And surprisingly (or unsurprisingly) enough, among these are films from both the DC Universe and the Marvel Cinematic Universe as well.
Although most of the movies in this list have grossed well above their budget, they still have hurt the reputation of their respective franchises. Furthermore, considering the massive box office success of 2023 films like Barbie, Oppenheimer, and Five Nights at Freddy’s, all of which, despite having a budget of less than $200 million, grossed almost or more than 10x their budgets, the below listed 7 movies in 2023 are nothing short of box office disappointments.
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The Box Office Failed To Support These 7 Movies in 2023
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1. The Flash
This was most certainly the most expected movie on this list. Despite having a great script, both DC and Warner Bros. were down with a massive loss with Ezra Miller‘s The Flash.
Ranked #20 domestically, the much-hyped film couldn’t make more than $271 million worldwide with $100 million being earned domestically over its budget of $200 million to $220 million, ending up as one of the most epic box-office bombs by the DC Universe of all time.
2. Fast X
Made on a budget of a whopping $340 million, the most numbers that Fast X could bring in for Universal Studios from worldwide box offices was $714 million, with $145.96 being its domestic gross and a domestic rank of #17 as of this writing.
However, despite grossing more than twice its budget, the numbers this film brought in were not one of the finest from the Fast & Furious franchise.
3. Elemental
Elemental may have brought in more than twice its budget, but the movie is nothing short of a box-office disappointment if compared to Disney’s other projects.
With its domestic rank being #15, the animated film crossed the $400 million mark globally with $96 million more (with $154.4 million being domestic earnings) by grossing more than 2x its budget of $200 million.
4. Transformers: Rise of the Beasts
Ranking on the 13th number domestically and made on a budget of $195-200 million, this year’s Transformers installment’s revenue stands at almost $439 million with $157 million being its domestic gross only.
Paramount may have faced some success with Transformers: Rise of the Beasts as the film grossed more than 2x its budget worldwide, but the movie still serves as a decline for the billions-worth Transformers franchise.
5. Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One
Although a masterpiece, thanks to Tom Cruise‘s famous jumping-his-motorcycle-off-a-cliff scene performed himself among others, Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One couldn’t bring in more than $568 million on its budget of $291 million.
Currently ranked #12 on the domestic charts, even the domestic revenue wasn’t satisfactory enough–$172 million–as compared to the other movies from the film series. But then again, the timing of the release is more or less to blame for the loss of the most anticipated MI movie.
6. Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny
Harrison Ford may have succeeded in capturing his audience’s hearts and attention back in the 1980s and even up until the early 2000s with his massively successful Indiana Jones film series, but his most recent installment from the franchise seems to be failing to work that charm anymore.
Not only did it suffer a massive, massive loss as it grossed $384 million worldwide ($174.48 million domestically included) over its budget of $295 million-$300 million, but it also served as one of the worst last films from a franchise of all time.
7. Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania
Last but not least, Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania. Although it brought in some big bucks for Marvel as it crossed its budget of $200 million with its worldwide gross of $476 million, the movie was still a substantial downfall for the MCU.
Ranked at #7 domestically, the most that Disney could milk out of it from the domestic box offices was $214.5 million–something that was probably seen by the Marvel Cinematic Universe for the first time in a long time.
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Besides these, MCU’s most recent The Marvels, DC’s upcoming Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom, and Martin Scorsese‘s Killers of the Flower Moon have projected box office numbers worthy of being on this list as well:
The Marvels, created on a budget of $220 million, is expected to bring in the same amount from the global box offices; Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom‘s budget stands at $205 million but its domestic box office scores are predicted to be very low-only between $105-168 million; and Killers of the Flower Moon, made on about $200 million, is projected to gross $160 million worldwide.
However, since they are still in the theatres or yet to be released, finalizing their numbers even before they’re out for streaming sounds like an injustice. Thus, so far, the above-listed 7 movies are some of the most crucial films out of all the big-budget movies released in 2023.
