In the film and media industry, if a film released in theatres fails to break even by a large amount, it is considered a box-office bomb (or box-office flop), thus losing money for the distributor, studio, or production company that invested in it. Due to the secrecy surrounding costs and profit margins in the film industry, figures of losses are usually rough estimates at best, and there are often conflicting estimates over how much a film has lost. To accommodate this uncertainty, the losses are presented as ranges where this is the case, and the list is ordered alphabetically in the absence of a definitive order. Because the films on the list have been released over a large span of time, currency inflation is a material factor, so losses are adjusted for inflation using the United States Consumer Price Index to enable comparison at equivalent purchasing power. Many box office bombs are films with average or negative critical reception, which can contribute to low theater attendance, but critically-praised films may still become box office bombs for other reasons, such as expansive budgets or release timing with other films.

Some films on this list grossed more than their production budgets yet are still regarded as flops. This can be due to Hollywood accounting practices that manipulate profits or keep costs secret to circumvent profit-sharing agreements, but it is also possible for films to lose money legitimately even when the theatrical gross exceeds the budget. This is because a distributor does not collect the full gross, and the full cost of a film can substantially exceed its production budget once distribution and marketing are taken into account. For example, tax filings in 2010 for Cinemark Theatres show that only 54.5 percent of ticket revenues went to the distributor, with the exhibitor retaining the rest. While the distributor's cut will vary from film to film, a Hollywood studio will typically collect half the gross in the United States and less in other parts of the world. Marketing often represents a substantial share of the overall cost of the picture too: for a film with an average sized budget the promotion and advertising costs are typically half that of the production budget, and in the case of smaller films it is not unusual for the cost of the marketing to be higher than the production budget. In some cases, a company can make profits from a box-office bomb when ancillary revenues are taken into account, such as streaming, home media sales and rentals, television broadcast rights, and licensing fees, so a film that loses money at the box office can still eventually break even.

There are some films notorious for large production budgets and widely seen as box-office bombs that have either broken even or turned a profit. Cleopatra nearly bankrupted 20th Century Fox with production and marketing costs of and numerous delays. It was among the top ten films of the 1960s, but still failed to recoup its investment during its theatrical release. It eventually broke even in 1966 when Fox sold the television broadcast rights to ABC for $5 million. The total costs for Waterworld (1995) exceeded $300 million and it was perceived as a disaster at the time, despite grossing $264 million worldwide. It also eventually broke even through other revenue streams. Such films are still cited as high-risk examples in evaluating the prospects of future productions. For example, Cleopatra is blamed for a decline in big-budget epic films in the 1960s.

The COVID-19 pandemic, starting around March 2020, caused temporary closure of movie theatres, and distributors moved several films to premier to streaming services such as HBO Max, Disney+, and Peacock with little to no box-office takes. While these films may have had successful runs on these services, the viewership or revenue from these showings are typically not reported and excluded from the box office. As a result, several films from 2020 to 2022 are included on this list, despite potentially having been profitable for their studios through streaming.

Biggest box-office bombs The following is a partial list of films that lost the most money, based on documented losses or estimated by expert analysis of various financial factors such as the production budget, marketing and distribution costs, gross box-office receipts and other ancillary revenues. The list is limited to films that are potentially among the highest box-office losses, adjusted for inflation (approximately upper-bound losses of $110 million or higher ).

§ indicates a film released for streaming less than 30 days after it was released theatrically.

+ Films that have accumulated the highest financial losses over full distribution lifecycle Title Year Net production budget Worldwide gross Estimated loss Nominal Adjusted for inflation 1999 $ The 13th Warrior Total worldwide gross: Production budget: Estimated loss: 2013 $ $96 47 Ronin Total worldwide gross: Production budget: Estimated loss: 2002 $100 $ $96 The Adventures of Pluto Nash Total worldwide gross: Production budget: Estimated loss: 2000 $ $63.5 The Adventures of Rocky & Bullwinkle Total worldwide gross and production budget: Production budget and estimated loss: 2004 $107 $ $94 The Alamo Total worldwide gross: Production budget: Estimated loss: Alexander 2004 $155 $ $71 Alexander Total worldwide gross: Production budget: Estimated loss: Ali 2001 $107 $ $63 Ali Total worldwide gross and production budget: Estimated loss: 2016 $85 $ Allied Total worldwide gross and production budget: Expected loss: Amsterdam 2022 $80 $ $108 Amsterdam Total worldwide gross: Production budget and estimated loss: Around the World in 80 Days 2004 $110 $ $74 Around the World in 80 Days Total worldwide gross: Production budget: Estimated loss: 1999 $75 $ $65 The Astronaut's Wife Total worldwide gross and production budget: Estimated loss: Ballistic: Ecks vs. Sever 2002 $70 $ $70.1 Ballistic Total worldwide gross and production budget: Estimated loss: Battlefield Earth 2000 $ $73.3 Battlefield Earth Total worldwide gross and production budget: Estimated loss and production budget: Battleship 2012 $ Battleship Total worldwide gross and production budget: Estimated loss (upper-bound) and production budget: Estimated loss (lower-bound): Beloved 1998 $80 $ $68.5 Beloved Canadian and U.S. gross and production budget: Estimated loss: Ben-Hur 2016 $100 $ Ben-Hur Total worldwide gross and production budget: Expected loss (lower-bound): Expected loss (upper-bound): 2016 $140 $ The BFG Total worldwide gross and production budget: Estimated loss (lower-bound): Expected loss (upper-bound): Black Adam 2022 $ Black Adam Total worldwide gross: Production budget: Estimated loss: Blackhat 2015 $70 $ Blackhat Total worldwide gross and production budget: Estimated loss (lower-bound): Estimated loss (upper-bound): Borderlands 2024 $120 $ Borderlands Total worldwide gross: Production budget and estimated loss (lower-bound): Estimated loss (upper-bound): 2020 $ The Call of the Wild Total worldwide gross: Production budget: Expected loss (lower-bound): Expected loss (upper-bound): Cats 2019 $ Cats Total worldwide gross: Lower-bound production budget and loss: Upper-bound production budget and loss: Chaos Walking 2021 $100 $ $112 Chaos Walking Total worldwide gross: Production budget: Estimated loss: Chill Factor 1999 $34–70 $ $64 Chill Factor Canadian and U.S. gross and production budget (upper-bound): Estimated production budget (lower-bound): Estimated loss (based on upper-bound budget): 2009 $ A Christmas Carol Total worldwide gross and production budget: Production budget: Estimated loss: 2004 $ The Chronicles of Riddick Total worldwide gross: Production budget and estimated loss: Cutthroat Island 1995 $98 $ $105 Cutthroat Island Total worldwide gross: Production budget: Estimated loss: Dark Phoenix 2019 $200 $ Dark Phoenix Total worldwide gross: Production budget and estimated loss (upper-bound): Estimated loss (lower-bound): 2016 $ Deepwater Horizon Total worldwide gross: Production budget: Expected loss (lower-bound): Estimated loss (upper-bound): Devotion 2022 $90 $ Devotion Total worldwide gross: Production budget and estimated loss (lower-bound): Estimated loss (upper-bound): Dolittle 2020 $175 $ Dolittle (2020) Total world gross and production budget: Estimated loss (lower-bound): Estimated loss (upper-bound): Driven 2001 $94 $ $67 Driven Total worldwide gross and production budget: Estimated loss: Dudley Do-Right 1999 $70 $ $65 Dudley Do-Right Canadian and U.S. gross and production budget: Estimated loss: Evan Almighty 2007 $175 $ $87 Evan Almighty Total worldwide gross: Production budget: Estimated loss: 1964 $18.4 $ $14.3 The Fall of the Roman Empire Canadian and U.S. gross: Production budget: The New York Times. August 6, 1965. "$18,436,625" Estimated loss: Fantastic Four 2015 $ Fantastic Four Total worldwide gross and production budget: Expected loss and production budget: Fathers' Day 1997 $85 $ $67 Father's Day Total worldwide gross: and production budget: Estimated loss: Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within 2001 $137 $ $94 Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within Total worldwide gross and production budget: Production budget: Estimated loss: 2023 $200 $271.3 $155 Flash Total worldwide gross: Production budget and estimated loss: 2006 $149 $178.3 $109 Flushed Away Total worldwide gross and production budget: Estimated loss: Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga 2024 $ Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga Total worldwide gross: Production budget and estimated loss: 2019 $138 $ $111.1 Gemini Man Total worldwide gross and production budget: Expected loss: Ghost in the Shell 2017 $ Ghost in the Shell Total worldwide gross: Production budget and expected loss: Gigli 2003 $75.6 $ $72 Gigli Total worldwide gross: Production budget: Estimated loss: Gods of Egypt 2016 $140 $ Gods of Egypt Total worldwide gross and production budget: Estimated loss (lower-bound): Expected loss (upper-bound): 2015 $ $85 The Good Dinosaur Total worldwide gross: Production budget: Expected loss: 2005 $80 $ $75 The Great Raid Total worldwide gross: Production budget: Estimated loss: Green Lantern 2011 $200 $ Green Lantern Total worldwide gross: Production budget: Estimated loss (lower-bound): Expected loss (upper-bound): Hard Rain 1998 $70 $ $60 Hard Rain Canadian and U.S. gross and production budget: Estimated loss: Hart's War 2002 $ $62.7 Hart's War Total worldwide gross and production budget: Estimated loss and production budget: Haunted Mansion 2023 $150 $117.4 Haunted Mansion Total worldwide gross: Production budget and estimated loss (lower-bound): Estimates loss (upper-bound): Heaven's Gate 1980 $44 $ $40.5 Heaven's Gate Canadian and U.S. gross and production budget: Estimated loss: Home on the Range 2004 $110 $ $71.8 Home on the Range Total worldwide gross and production budget: Estimated loss: How Do You Know 2010 $100 $ $104 How Do You Know Total worldwide gross: Production budget: Estimated loss: Hudson Hawk 1991 $65 $ $47.8 Hudson Hawk Canadian and U.S. gross and production budget: Estimated loss: Hugo 2011 $ $91 Hugo Total worldwide gross: Production budget: Estimated loss: Inchon 1981 $46 $ $40.8 Inchon Canadian and U.S. gross: Estimated loss: Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny 2023 $326 $384 Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny Total worldwide gross and production budget: Estimated loss (lower-bound): Estimated loss (upper-bound): Instinct 1999 $80 $ $63 Instinct Canadian and U.S. gross and production budget: Estimated loss: 2007 $80 $ $71 The Invasion Total worldwide gross and production budget: Estimated loss: Ishtar 1987 $ $40.6 Ishtar Canadian and U.S. gross and budget: Production budget: