The film industry is a tightrope walk, particularly when it involves blockbusters. Studios wager hundreds of millions on franchises, reboots, and adaptations, hoping to hit the mother lode with known brands and beloved characters. But in 2024, the house didn’t always win either. Even the most iconic IPs and Oscar-winning talent couldn’t ensure success, as a succession of high-profile bombshell flops demonstrated that audiences are more finicky—and volatile—than ever. Let’s dissect the five largest box office flops that shook Hollywood in 2024.
1. Joker: Folie à Deux
Lightning didn’t repeat itself for Warner Bros. and director Todd Phillips. Following the success of the original Joker as the highest-grossing R-rated film ever, earning more than $1.1 billion at the box office and taking home two Oscars, expectations surrounding the sequel were extremely high.
The studio doubled down with a budget rumored at $200 million, casting Lady Gaga as Harley Quinn opposite Joaquin Phoenix. But Joker: Folie à Deux grossed a muted $47 million opening weekend—less than half that of the original’s opening—and received a D CinemaScore and brutal reviews. The slow-burning, music-infused style of the movie didn’t warm audiences up, and the huge budget made a lackluster performance a fiscal failure, with Deadline citing a net loss of $144.25 million.
2. Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga
George Miller’s return to the wasteland was a gimme. Mad Max: Fury Road had been a box office and critical hit, but Furiosa—a prequel featuring Anya Taylor-Joy as a young version of Charlize Theron’s legendary character—never caught fire.
Even with a Cannes standing ovation and a Certified Fresh 90% on Rotten Tomatoes, Furiosa’s Memorial Day opening bombed. Lack of Theron, a campaign that was too similar to Fury Road in looks, and overall franchise fatigue all came together. Warner Bros. found out the hard way that even the most popular universes have their limit when it registered a net loss of $119.6 million.
3. Borderlands
Video game movies are always a risk, but Lionsgate’s Borderlands was an especially crazy ride. Drawing on the popular video game franchise, which grossed 68 million copies, the movie had an all-star cast, including Cate Blanchett, and a gonzo, Mad Max-meets-Tank Girl visual sense. But the film’s disastrous production—full of pandemic holdups, reshoots by Deadpool’s Tim Miller, and a 120 million dollar swelling budget—killed the movie before it even reached the box office.
Opening to just $8.6 million in the U.S., Borderlands was trounced by other summer releases and ultimately posted a net loss of $80 million. Even with strong foreign sales, the film’s shelf life and reshoot woes proved too much to overcome.
4. Megalopolis
Francis Ford Coppola’s passion project was decades in the making, but Megalopolis became a cautionary tale for auteur-driven epics. Coppola self-financed the $120 million movie, mortgaging his wine empire, and got a distribution arrangement with Lionsgate.
With a seven-minute ovation at Cannes and a novel IMAX release, the movie’s complicated plot and experimental art house form left critics and moviegoers equally perplexed. With a 45% Rotten Tomatoes and a D+ CinemaScore, Megalopolis failed to find its constituency, posting a net loss of $75.5 million. Even the movie’s clever marketing stunts weren’t enough to prevent it from box office oblivion.
5. Kraven the Hunter
Sony’s Spider-Man spinoff franchise stalled with Kraven the Hunter. Co-financed to spread risk, the movie’s $110 million price tag and poor reception were a bad combination. Kraven started weakly with just $11 million domestically—the weakest opening of any Sony/Marvel title—and stuttered to $62 million worldwide. Viewers were indifferent to the bare-chested antihero, and the C CinemaScore of the movie indicated widespread apathy.
Despite $40 million in worldwide home entertainment and $50 million in television and streaming income, Kraven still recorded a net deficit of $71 million. Sony CEO Tony Vinciquerra, who was CEO at the time, conceded that the studio had to rethink its strategy for Spider-Man spinoffs, describing the strategy as “snake-bitten.
The 2024 blockbuster season demonstrated that there is no such thing as a bulletproof franchise. Overinflated budgets, changing audience appetites, and the unrelenting cycle of sequels and spin-offs have raised the stakes higher than ever before. With every billion-dollar success, there’s a cautionary example of what goes wrong when the formula doesn’t work. The greatest Hollywood lesson? Nostalgia and IP are not sufficient—audiences crave something new, and they won’t hesitate to vote with their wallets.