The sci-fi genre has seen the release of many classic movies over the years. This has seen sci-fi establish itself as one of the most consistently successful and popular genres, especially when it comes to big-budget cinematic spectacle. Many of the best sci-fi movies earn considerable attention from fans and critics alike, although there are always titles that don’t fare so well. In the climate of modern cinema, box office figures are always closely scrutinized, as poor financial performance not only marks a movie as a failure, but also scuppers any chance of a follow-up or franchise continuing its narrative.
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Over the years, there have been many sci-fi movie flops that have been remembered for all the wrong reasons. The relatively high budgets associated with making good sci-fi might often lead to an impressive return, but when things go wrong, we instead witness major box office disasters. Failing to make back their budget at the box office marks movies as embarrassing flops, and sometimes, this even happens to movies that initially seemed destined for success.
5) Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets (2017)
Luc Besson is a director whose career has seen him deliver a number of action and sci-fi masterpieces, though not all of his films have achieved the widespread success of his best efforts. For example, his 1997 movie The Fifth Element is an absolutely incredible sci-fi movie, but his 2017 attempt at delivering another gripping space opera fell decidedly flat. The independently funded Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets was notoriously expensive for Besson to make, but its box office take saw it go down in sci-fi history as a disappointing flop.
With Dane DeHaan and Cara Delevingne starring alongside a supporting cast of Clive Owen, Rihanna, Ethan Hawke, and Rutger Hauer, Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets had some major star power working in its favor. Additionally, Besson’s own directorial track record indicated the movie’s potential, and the cult following of its sci-fi comic book source material should only have helped it find greater success. Unfortunately, mixed reviews and the movie’s bloated budget prevented the movie from performing well at the box office, and Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets is now remembered as a painful sci-fi movie flop despite its initial potential.
4) The Creator (2023)
The Creator stands out as an example of a great recent sci-fi movie that doesn’t receive the attention it deserves. Directed by Gareth Edwards, who cut his sci-fi teeth on the exceptional Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, its story takes place in 2070, where humanity is locked in a bitter war against AI. Starring John David Washington, Gemma Chan, Ken Watanabe, Sturgill Simpson, and Alison Janney, The Creator certainly isn’t short of talent both on-screen and behind the camera.
Sadly, The Creator severely underperformed at the box office, not even reaching half of what it needed to be considered a financial success. This is widely attributed to the movie’s promotion, which many claim failed to properly communicate what to expect from the film, and the 2023 Hollywood Strikes, which prevented its cast from engaging in publicity for the movie ahead of its release. Simply put, The Creator didn’t create enough buzz to establish itself as a box office success, despite the obvious appeal of the film to sci-fi fans and its societally relevant narrative ideas.
3) The Adventures of Pluto Nash (2002)
2002’s The Adventures of Pluto Nash is now remembered only as one of the biggest box office bombs of all time. Starring Eddie Murphy as the eponymous retired smuggler, The Adventures of Pluto Nash also boasts an impressive ’00s cast of Randy Quaid, Rosario Dawson, Joe Pantoliano, Luis Guzmán, James Rebhorn, Peter Boyle, John Cleese, Pam Grier, and Alec Baldwin. Despite this major star power — led, of course, by Murphy, whose own celebrity was at its absolute zenith — The Adventures of Pluto Nash performed embarrassingly poorly at the box office.
The reason The Adventures of Pluto Nash has gone down in history as one of the most disastrous sci-fi movies of all time is simple: it was universally panned. Critics hated it, audiences hated it, and it has since come to be known as one of the worst movies ever made. Despite Eddie Murphy’s involvement being a true golden touch at the time, The Adventures of Pluto Nash‘s lack of substance or quality saw it defy all odds and flop.
2) Blade Runner (1982)
Blade Runner released at a time when sci-fi was on the rise, especially on the big screen. It’s the movie that arguably cemented Ridley Scott as one of the greatest sci-fi directors of all time, with its bleak dystopian story based on Philip K. Dick’s Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? cementing it as a sci-fi masterpiece in the years since its release. However, when it hit theaters in 1982, Blade Runner underperformed, proving to be something of a sci-fi movie flop.
Though the release of Star Wars: A New Hope and The Empire Strikes Back established Harrison Ford as an excellent sci-fi actor, Blade Runner‘s slower-paced, gritty noir story did the movie no favors. Not only was it unfavorably compared to Star Wars, but it was also in direct competition with E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial, which had released just two weeks prior. The result was that Blade Runner became considered something of a flop, even though it has since become known as one of the best sci-fi movies of all time.
1) John Carter (2012)
When it comes to sci-fi movies that never should have bombed, John Carter is often mentioned. Based on Edgar Rice Burroughs‘ seminal sci-fi work A Princess of Mars, the movie had its basis in the very roots of the sci-fi genre. Conceived as a big-budget sci-fi action-adventure spectacle, John Carter initially seemed set to enrapture audiences and deliver the latest major sci-fi franchise. With such beloved source material, it seemed a sure thing that John Carter would succeed.
Unfortunately, this wasn’t the case, and John Carter instead became known as one of the biggest box office bombs in history. The movie’s bloated $350 million budget made box office success all but impossible, and killed any chance of a resulting franchise. The saddest part is that the movie itself is actually incredibly underrated, and deserved far better than to be disregarded and its sequel plans to be scrapped. Ultimately, being a box office disappointment killed the John Carter franchise on arrival, and while it’s understandable considering the scope of its failure, it’s still incredibly disappointing, as the movie deserved better.
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