Making a science fiction movie is risky. When everything is firing on all cylinders and the audience embraces a story, there can be a huge payoff. Just look at James Cameron’s Avatar movies, which can always be counted on to bring in at least $1 billion at the box office. However, anything below that benchmark is dangerous, because the franchise isn’t cheap to produce. Cameron and Co. spend a ridiculous amount on VFX alone, and they also have to worry about marketing and other expenses. Other sci-fi projects find themselves in a similar boat, even if it’s on a smaller scale.
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Every year, one of the big studios will market what they hope will be the next Avatar. In 2025, Disney tried to bring back Tron with Tron: Ares, but the return was not what the company expected, as the film grossed $142 million on an estimated $200 million budget. But Ares was fighting an uphill battle because it didn’t receive positive word of mouth. Plenty of other sci-fi films do get the reception they’re looking for and still fall on their faces. Here are seven sci-fi movies that bombed way harder than they deserved.
7) Ender’s Game
Reawakening a sleeping fanbase can be a real boon for a book adaptation. Lionsgate tried to do that in 2013 when it brought Orson Scott Card’s novel Ender’s Game to the big screen. The movie featured controversial changes to the source material, but it made up for them with its stellar cast. Harrison Ford, Ben Kingsley, Viola Davis, Hailee Steinfeld, Abigail Breslin, and Asa Butterfield all brought their A-game. Unfortunately, their efforts weren’t enough to turn the movie into a box office winner, as it only grossed slightly over $100 million.
6) Edge of Tomorrow
Tom Cruise knows what it takes to bring home gold at the box office. His 2022 sequel, Top Gun: Maverick, is one of the most successful movies in recent memory, bringing home $1.4 billion during its time in theaters. However, not every Cruise vehicle can hit the mark. Edge of Tomorrow, based on Hiroshi Sakurazaka’s Japanese light novel All You Need Is Kill, tells a fascinating story about a soldier who relives the same day over and over until he can stop an alien invasion. Despite its unique premise and star power, the movie only made $370 million.
5) Gattaca
It’s tough to imagine a great movie flopping in the ’90s, when it didn’t cost an arm and a leg to go to the theaters. Unfortunately, some movies are just ahead of their time. Gattaca found itself struggling at the box office because it didn’t feature giant action set pieces or aliens. Instead, it told the story of a regular man living in a genetically enhanced society that won’t let him live out his dream. At least Gattaca can take solace in the fact that it’s become a cult classic.
4) Donnie Darko
Speaking of cult classics, Donnie Darko always finds itself in the middle of conversations about movies that take time to find their audiences. Richard Kelly’s film follows the titular character as he starts sleepwalking and seeing visions of a strange figure in a rabbit costume. Audiences just didn’t get what Kelly and Co. were going for at the time, only buying enough tickets for a $7.5 million box-office haul.
3) Blade Runner 2049
Denis Villeneuve is helping the Dune franchise make a killing, and he still has at least one more installment to come. It’s nice to see the world embracing Villeneuve, who took one on the chin when he released his masterpiece Blade Runner 2049, which took the franchise to new heights with its story about humanity and its flaws. Bringing Harrison Ford back and putting Ryan Gosling in the lead role wasn’t enough to get the legacy sequel over the hump, as it failed to hit the $300 million mark.
2) Annihilation
Some movies, especially ones in the sci-fi genre, take more than one viewing to truly understand. Alex Garland’s Annihilation, about a group of scientists who travel into a mysterious area to learn its secrets, certainly fits into that category, but not enough people have seen it once for it to matter. During its theatrical run, Annihilation could only scrape together $43 million, which meant it failed to break even.
1) Starship Troopers
Comedy and sci-fi rarely work well together. After all, sci-fi typically maintains a serious tone. However, Starship Troopers pushes back against norms by delivering a hilarious story of humanity fighting an alien threat. The movie’s gamble has paid off in the long run, as it’s become a cult classic, but the world didn’t embrace it at the outset, as it grossed only $120 million on a $100 million budget.
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