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It’s best to learn from the experts especially from those in Hollywood, even their mistakes can lead us aspirants to knowing what to avoid and what not to do: production problems, personal conflicts, weak story-telling.

Here is a list of major Hollywood box office bombs, arranged chronologically, with a plausible reason or two as to why they failed.

CLEOPATRA (1963)
Budget: $44 million, US Box Office: $26 million

Reason: Epic stage sets and costumes of mythical prices! If Less is More ergo More gets less!

HEAVEN’S GATE (1980)
Budget: $40 million, US Box Office: $3.5 million

Reason: Going over-budget and negative reviews gave a black mark on this film as well as harming and killing animals on-screen and off-screen is definitely BAD KARMA.

HOWARD THE DUCK (1986)
Budget: $38 million, US Box Office: $16 million

Reason: A wise-cracking, cigar-chomping duck is not cute and thus not a box-office draw.

HUDSON HAWK (1991)
Budget: $65 million, US Box Office: $17 million

Reason: A film with an identity crisis: was it supposed to be a crime film, a comedy, mystery, or a historical fantasy much like the Da Vinci Code? It’s not a entertaining sight to have adults act like children.

THE POSTMAN (1997)
Budget: $80 million, US Box Office $17.6 million

Reason: Kevin Costner didn’t take the big hint from Waterworld, now his directing career took a massive hit from “The Postman.”  The hint is epic post-apocalyptic films don’t do well at the box office.

BATTLEFIELD EARTH (2000)
Budget: $73 million, US Box Office: $21 million

Reason: 7 foot-Rastafari aliens invade, conquer Earth then reduce the human intelligence for slave labor. The humans plan and fight for independence. All things considered, this is a typical story familiar even to those who aren’t even interested in science fiction. Couple that with hammy acting and B-level special effects, no wonder that the film was humdrum in its box office earnings.

TOWN AND COUNTRY (2001)
Budget: $90 million, US Box Office: $6.7 million

Reason: Never take what is supposed to be a light, romantic comedy too seriously. Production problems, scheduling issues, and constant script rewrites is not fun, in fact it’s boring and that translate to box office performance.

THE ADVENTURES OF PLUTO NASH (2002)
Budget: $100 million, US Box Office: $4.4 million

Reason: Despite previous success with the Nutty Professor and the Klumps, Eddie Murphy should realize that science fiction and comedy do not mix well.

ZYZZYX Road. (2005)
Budget: $2 million, US Box Office: $30

Reason: The word “Zyzzyx” is unique as far as words go, but unappealing as a title. Other than that, having one of your main actors arrested during filming does not bode well and the story of a man doing the wrong thing with the wrong woman could lead to wrong results is already done so many times, it’s cliche– it’s even in the Bible.

MEET DAVE (2008)
Budget: $60 million, US Box Office: $11.6 million

Reason: Science fiction and comedy do not mix well!

SPEED RACER (2008)
Budget: $120 million, US Box Office: $44 million

Reason: Speed Racer might be a well-known name for any Asian and Anime fans near or over the age of 30 but there aren’t enough Asians and Anime fans making lines to the box office. Tip, to make your film succeed, know and focus on your target audience.

Bangkok Dangerous (2008)
Budget: $45 million, US Box Office: $7.8million (at posting of this article)

Reason: Hitman slowly being fed up with his line of work and getting in touch again with his humanity. Yeah, that’s new and cool~ NOT!