Christian Bale is known for his insane transformations and some of the most critically acclaimed roles in Hollywood. The 50-year-old Oscar winner has worked with some of the greatest directors and delivered some critically and commercially successful flicks. However, he also has a fair share of flop films in his career. Interestingly, many of these projects even came after his highly successful, The Dark Knight Trilogy.
Christopher Nolan’s The Dark Knight Trilogy is one of the most significant works in Christian Bale’s filmography. His incredible performance as the Caped Crusader in Nolan’s gritty world elevated the trilogy’s quality and made Bale a household name. Surprisingly, even that stardom could not save the American Psycho fame from some of the biggest flops in his career.
Here are 5 films by Christian Bale that did not get any help from his Batman stardom:
5. Exodus: Gods and Kings
Ridley Scott has been known for his grand-scale epics in films like Gladiator and Kingdom of Heaven in his career. However, he is also controversial for historical inaccuracies in his films, the latest example of it being 2023’s Napoleon.
Christian Bale’s film, Exodus: Gods and Kings, based on the biblical episode of Exodus also faced the same problem and earned only $268 million against a budget of $140 million (via The Numbers). The historical inaccuracies even led to the multistarrer big-budget flick being banned in Egypt and UAE.
4. Hostiles
Some films fail to do big at the box office even after getting critical acclaim. Hostiles is one such film that was appreciated by the critics but ended its run with only $35.7 million against a budget of $39 million (via Box Office Mojo). The Scott Cooper directorial focused on Christian Bale’s army cavalry officer escorting a Cheyenne war chief (Wes Studi) through a dangerous land. The 2017 film also had other big names like Rosamund Pike, Stephen Lang, Jesse Plemons, and Timothée Chalamet.
3. Out of the Furnace
Director Scott Cooper and Christian Bale reunite in this list once again for this 2013 crime-drama film. This is yet another multistarrer featuring Bale that failed at the box office.
Out of the Furnace featured a Pennsylvania-based steel mill worker, searching for his brother, an Iraq war veteran. Despite only collecting $15.7 million (via Box Office Mojo) at the box office, the film was appreciated by a certain group of critics and even found a place in many famous top ten lists of 2013.
2. The Promise
The Promise shows how a film can go terribly wrong even after having Christian Bale and Oscar Issac in the lead. The love triangle set in the final years of the Ottoman Empire formed the central plot of this 2016 period piece. Reportedly, the film led its distributor, Open Road Films to lose over $100 million (via The Hollywood Reporter). Although the performances were praised, the film received mixed reviews and as per Box Office Mojo, ended its run with only $12.4 million.
1. Amsterdam
When Christian Bale and David O. Russell reunited for 2022’s Amsterdam after 2013’s American Hustle, the fans did not anticipate such a film. The film starred the Patrick Bateman actor alongside Margot Robbie, and John David Washington alongside an ensemble supporting cast. However, such a massive and majestic star cast of names like Rami Malek, Robert De Niro, and many others could not save the period-political thriller from being a huge disaster.
Even though the production design and performances received praise, the film’s plot and direction were not appreciated. Deadline reported that including all the expenses, Amsterdam led the studio to lose $108.4 million.
