Cleopatra is the biggest box-office bomb of all time. Factoring inflation, its enormous budget caused it to lose $106 million upon initial release.

The phrase box office bomb refers to a film for which the production and marketing costs greatly exceeded the revenue retained by the movie studio. This should not be confused with instances when official figures show large losses, yet the movie is a financial success; see Hollywood accounting. Image File history File links Cleopatra_sheet. ... Image File history File links Cleopatra_sheet. ... Cleopatra is a 1963 film directed by Joseph L. Mankiewicz. ... Film is a term that encompasses individual motion pictures, the field of film as an art form, and the motion picture industry. ... Wikibooks has more about this subject: Marketing Look up marketing in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... Revenue is a U.S. business term for the amount of money that a company earns from its activities in a given period, mostly from sales of products and/or services to customers. ... A film studio is a controlled environment for the making of a film. ... In accountancy, Hollywood accounting is the practice of distributing the profit earned by a large project to corporate entities which, though distinct from the one responsible for the project itself, are typically owned by the same people. ...

A film's financial success is often measured by its gross revenue. Studios expect that a film's "domestic" (which the American film industry defines as the United States and Canada) box office gross revenue will exceed production costs. This does not make the film profitable: typically, the exhibiting theater keeps 45% of the gross, with the remainder paid to the studio as the rental fee. However, if a film has a higher domestic gross than its production and marketing costs, it will almost certainly turn a profit once the overseas gross is included. For the tax agency in the UK of the same name , see HM Revenue and Customs. ... The film industry consists of the technological and commercial institutions of filmmaking: i. ... Revenue is a U.S. business term for the amount of money that a company earns from its activities in a given period, mostly from sales of products and/or services to customers. ...

If a film recoups production and marketing costs, then it can be considered a success; otherwise, if it fails to do so by a significant margin, it is referred to as a box office bomb, even though international distribution, sales to television syndication, and home video releases often mean some films considered flops in North America eventually make a profit for their studios. For example, Head, a 1968 film featuring The Monkees, was a flop which became profitable for the studio years later when its cult film status led to its sale to Rhino Entertainment and its re-release in various video formats. The popularity (and profitability) of DVD sales has increased this trend significantly, leading many to doubt the significance of domestic grosses as a predictor of a film's overall success. In the television industry (as in radio), syndication is the sale of the right to broadcast programs to multiple stations, without going through a broadcast network. ... The home video business rents and sells videocassettes and DVDs to the public. ... Head is a motion picture released in 1968, starring TV rock group The Monkees (in credit order: Peter Tork, Davy Jones, Micky Dolenz and Michael Nesmith), and distributed by Columbia Pictures. ... // October 30 - The film The Lion in Winter, starring Katharine Hepburn, debuts. ... The Monkees were a pop-rock quartet created and based in Los Angeles in 1965 for an NBC American television series of the same name. ... Cult film is a colloquial term for a film that has accrued a highly devoted group of fans. ... Rhino Entertainment Company is an American specialty record label. ...

Different genres of film are subject to different standards of success. For example, action movies typically have higher production and promotion costs than love stories. Typically, the most notorious flops are summer blockbusters, which often entail huge costs to produce and face a highly competitive market. Advertising costs are not included in a movie's production costs, and can make a bomb's failure all the more crushing for the studio. Action movies usually involve a fairly straightforward story of good guys versus bad guys, where most disputes are resolved by using physical force. ... While most films have some aspect of romance between characters (at least as a subplot,) a romance film can be loosely defined as any film in which the central plot (the premise of the story) revolves around the romantic involvement of the storys protagonists. ... Blockbuster motion picture is a term used by the motion picture industry to describe any movie that has achieved $100 million in ticket sales. ...

Waterworld and Ishtar are considered Hollywood's two most infamous "bombs".

In extreme cases, a single film's poor performance can push a studio into bankruptcy or equivalent financial ruin, as happened with United Artists (Heaven's Gate), Carolco Pictures (Cutthroat Island), The Ladd Company (The Right Stuff), Film Threat (My Big Fat Independent Movie)[1], (Twice Upon a Time), Gold Circle Films (Slither)[2][3][4], Square's Square Pictures (Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within) and ITC Entertainment (Raise the Titanic!). Some have changed a company's agenda, such as Walt Disney Pictures's decision to make only 3-D animation which stemmed from the failure of Treasure Planet. Image File history File links Download high resolution version (507x755, 78 KB)Waterworld File history Legend: (cur) = this is the current file, (del) = delete this old version, (rev) = revert to this old version. ... Image File history File links Download high resolution version (507x755, 78 KB)Waterworld File history Legend: (cur) = this is the current file, (del) = delete this old version, (rev) = revert to this old version. ... Waterworld is a 1995 film that was co-produced by Kevin Costner and directed by Kevin Reynolds. ... Ishtar is a 1987 motion picture comedy, directed by Elaine May and starring Dustin Hoffman and Warren Beatty as Rogers and Clarke, a duo of incredibly untalented lounge singers who stumble into a political conflict in the fictional North African nation of Ishtar. ... Notice of closure stuck on the door of a computer store the day after its parent company, Granville Technology Group Ltd, declared bankruptcy (strictly, put into administration - see text) in the UK. Bankruptcy is a legally declared inability or impairment of ability of a individuals or organizations to pay their... The current United Artists logo (a variant was used during the 1980s). ... This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ... The Carolco Pictures logo. ... Cutthroat Island is a pirate-themed action film starring Geena Davis and directed by her then-husband Renny Harlin, filmed in various locations around Malta. ... The Ladd Company is a film production and distribution company founded by Alan Ladd, Jr. ... The Right Stuff is both a 1979 book by Tom Wolfe, and a 1983 film adapted from the book. ... Film Threat is the name of a magazine and website devoted to coverage of independent film. ... My Big Fat Independent Movie (2005) is an independent movie that is a spoof of other independent films. ... Twice Upon a Time is a 1983 animated movie directed by John Korty and Charles Swenson. ... Gold Circle Films is an independent film production company. ... Slither is a 2006 Universal horror / comedy film, written and directed by James Gunn. ... Square Co. ... Square Pictures, located in Honolulu, Hawaii, was a computer-animated film division of Square Co. ... Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within is a science fiction movie by Hironobu Sakaguchi, the creator of the Final Fantasy series of video games. ... The ITC Entertainment logo The Incorporated Television Company (ITC) was founded by television mogul Lew Grade in 1954. ... Raise the Titanic! is the name of a 1976 novel by Clive Cussler. ... Walt Disney Pictures logo (2006-present) Walt Disney Pictures is an American film studio, with off-shoot studios in Japan and other sites in the United States. ... Treasure Planet is a 2002 science fiction animated feature film produced by Walt Disney Feature Animation, and released by Walt Disney Pictures on November 27, 2002. ...

During the 1980s the performance of a film on its opening weekend became crucial to its perception with a film suffering a poor opening weekend often being dropped by cinemas. With the growth of the Internet during the 1990s, chat rooms and websites such as Ain't It Cool News enable negative word of mouth to spread rapidly. Screenshot of Aint It Cool News. ... For the Ludacris album, see Word of Mouf. ...

Most flops are not career-ending for the film's main cast and crew. Duck Soup, for example, a critical and box-office flop in 1933, got the Marx Brothers fired from Paramount Pictures, yet two years later, with help from Irving Thalberg, they starred in the successful A Night at the Opera and Duck Soup has since become one of the most highly regarded of the Marx Brothers' films. Ishtar was a notorious flop but both its stars Warren Beatty and Dustin Hoffman revived their careers. This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ... See also: 1932 in film 1933 1934 in film 1930s in film years in film film // Events British Film Institute founded. ... Groucho, Gummo, Minnie (mother), Zeppo, Frenchy (father), Chico and Harpo. ... Paramount Pictures Corporation is an American motion picture production and distribution company, based in Hollywood, California. ... Irving Grant Thalberg (May 30, 1899 - September 14, 1936) was an American film producer during the early years of motion pictures. ... A Night At the Opera is a 1935 comedy film starring the Marx Brothers. ... Ishtar is a 1987 motion picture comedy, directed by Elaine May and starring Dustin Hoffman and Warren Beatty as Rogers and Clarke, a duo of incredibly untalented lounge singers who stumble into a political conflict in the fictional North African nation of Ishtar. ... Henry Warren Beaty (born March 30, 1937), better known as Warren Beatty, is an Academy Award and Golden Globe-winning American actor, producer, screenwriter, and director. ... This does not cite its references or sources. ...

Recently, the independent movie Zyzzyx Road made just $30 at the box office. The film, starring Tom Sizemore and Katherine Heigl and with a budget of $2 million, may owe its tiny revenue to its limited box office release: just six days in one Texan theater^[1] where, according to director Leo Grillo, it sold 6 tickets, 2 of which were to cast members^[2]. Previously a British film, Offending Angels, became notorious because it took, depending on the sources, £89 ^[3] or £79 ^[4] at the box office. It had a £70k budget but was panned by critics including the BBC, "truly awful pile of garbage"^[5], and Total Film, "Irredeemable"^[6]. Zyzzyx Road is a 2006 independent thriller film. ... Thomas Edward Sizemore Jr. ... Katherine Marie Heigl (born November 24, 1978) is a Golden Globe-nominated American actress. ... The British Broadcasting Corporation, usually known as the BBC (and also informally known as the Beeb or Auntie) is the largest broadcasting corporation in the world in terms of audience numbers, employing 26,000 staff in the United Kingdom alone and with a budget of more than GB£4 billion... Total Film, published by Future Publishing, is the United Kingdoms second best-selling film magazine, after the longer-established Empire from Emap. ...

References

2007 (MMVII) is the current year, a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar and the Anno Domini (common) era. ... January 2 is the second day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... The Guardian is a British newspaper owned by the Guardian Media Group. ... 2007 (MMVII) is the current year, a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar and the Anno Domini (common) era. ... January 15 is the 15th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... 2007 (MMVII) is the current year, a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar and the Anno Domini (common) era. ... January 16 is the 16th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... The Internet Movie Database (IMDb) is an online database of information about motion pictures, actors, movie stars, TV shows, TV stars, production crew personnel, movie pictures, cast, crew as well as video games. ... The British Broadcasting Corporation, usually known as the BBC (and also informally known as the Beeb or Auntie) is the largest broadcasting corporation in the world in terms of audience numbers, employing 26,000 staff in the United Kingdom alone and with a budget of more than GB£4 billion... 2007 (MMVII) is the current year, a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar and the Anno Domini (common) era. ... January 16 is the 16th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... Total Film, published by Future Publishing, is the United Kingdoms second best-selling film magazine, after the longer-established Empire from Emap. ... 2007 (MMVII) is the current year, a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar and the Anno Domini (common) era. ... January 16 is the 16th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ...

See also

• List of U.S. box office bombs
• Films considered the worst ever
• List of highest-grossing films

The following is a partial list of U.S. box office bombs, films with low box office revenue. ... Plan 9 from Outer Space, considered so bad its good by some, is also a contender for Worst Movie Ever Made. The films listed here have achieved a significant level of infamy through critical and popular consensus to be considered by some people to be among the worst films... The following are two non-definitive lists of the all-time highest-grossing films. ...

External links

• The Numbers - Movie Budgets
• Movies that were box office bombs - Boston.com
• The top 10 biggest box office failures
• What's the biggest box office bomb ever?