It’s clear that not all big-budget sci-fi movies automatically becomes a success, nor are all box office flops deserved. The proof is without going any further in these films that at the time they considered that they had all the potential to sweep among the spectators and they fell by the wayside. Now you have the possibility of recovering them in streaming and assessing for yourself if these 13 setbacks were sought or not.
Krull’ (1983)
Hodgepodge of influences from the eighties, from ‘Star Wars’ to ‘Conan’, whose intrahistory is almost more interesting than the result itself : abundant rewritings of a script that did not quite convince anyone and that turned a medieval fantasy into a project science fiction film, Peter Yates -director accustomed to more realistic productions- leaving the set to go on vacation to the Caribbean … abundant problems triggered the budget and gave rise to a washed-out and arrhythmic film but of undeniable charm.
- Budget: $ 27-30 million.
- Takings: 16.9 million dollars.
- You can see it in Filmin.
Dune’ (1984)
With the arrival of Villeneuve’s new and luxurious version of Frank Herbert’s space opera classic, much more faithful to the words of the original novel, it is worth recovering the fascinating and run-down version of David Lynch. A failed but very interesting experiment in its attempt to reconcile the genre blockbuster with the most solemn science fiction, and which has, despite its problems, innumerable visual discoveries.
- Budget: 40-42 million dollars.
- Collection: 30’9–37’9 million dollars.
- You can see it on Filmin, Movistar + and Starz
Strange Days’ (1995)
Monumental piece of pessimistic sci-fi movies around the turn of the century in which Ralph Fiennes traffics in memories stored on diskettes. A perfect balance between the noir spirit and deadly anticipation that stumbled loudly at the box office and sent Kathryn Bigelow out of the big leagues until her well-deserved rebirth in 2008, sadly already out of the genre, with ‘In Hostile Land’.
- Budget: $ 42 million.
- Collection: 8 million dollars.
- You can see it in Filmin.
‘Titan AE’ (2000)
The film that almost definitely alienated maestro Don Bluth from the world of big-budget animation and took Fox Animation Studios ahead of him was a box office failure of such caliber that even the previous success of ‘Anastasia’ (also by Bluth for Fox) was able to muffle. A shame, because the mixture of traditional and 3D animation works very competently and although it has been somewhat outdated today, it is still one of the few full-fledged science fiction proposals in animated format before the arrival of Pixar.
The treasure planet’ (2002)
The debacle of Disney’s traditional animation faction at the beginning of the century produced very interesting films that have not received the recognition they deserve , such as’ Lilo & Stitch ‘,’ Atlantis’ or this very special revision of Robert Louis’ pirate adventure classic Stevenson. Adapting the original to a science fiction environment with tremendous visual taste, it represents a technical pinnacle of the studio, which was already beginning to introduce 3D elements into films, in this case exceptionally well integrated. It is the most expensive traditional animated film in history.
- Budget: 140 million dollars.
- Collection: 109 million dollars.
- You can see it on Disney +
Dredd’ (2012)
One of the most undeserved failures of the past decade is this superb adaptation of the classic British satirical science fiction comic, which perfectly brought its explosive violence and critical component to the big screen. Perhaps because the shadow of Stallone’s lazy adaptation was too long, it fell far short of guaranteeing a projected Dredd adventure trilogy, but the good reception among fans and its transformation into a cult film has opened the possibility of a series in which it would be desirable to have Karl Urban repeating his leading role.
- Budget: 30-45 million dollars.
- Collection: 41.5 million dollars.
- You can see it in Movistar +
John Carter’ (2012)
We have repeatedly recommended this unmistakable pulp-flavored fun fantasy adventure originally written by Edgar Rice Burroughs, the creator of Tarzan. The film is interesting not only for its own values as a stupendous and fast-paced exotic adventure, but because it makes clear the immense influence that the original tales of the Princess of Mars have had on pop culture.
- Budget: $ 263 million.
- Collection: $ 284 million.
- You can see it on Disney +
Under the Skin’ (2013)
Of course, this almost experimental film by Jonathan Glazer was not destined to become a blockbuster, but it did not deserve to raise only half of the little it cost, and neither to remain in distribution limbo for years, as happened with Spain. Scarlett Johansson plays an alien and sexual predator who stalks the English countryside seducing and devouring men, in a hypnotic and cold version of the plot of ‘Species’.
- Budget: $ 13.3 million.
- Collection: 7.3 million dollars.
- You can see it in Filmin.
‘Valerian and the city of a thousand planets’ (2017)
This ambitious film by Luc Besson, which tried to update the spirit of the East, yes, the blockbuster of ‘The Fifth Element’, adapts a mythical comic from French science fiction. The result was not catastrophic, but it was modest enough (it was far from the expected 400 million) to frustrate any sequel: a shame, because it overflows with an imagination and a color that distances itself from the much more uniform, polished and predictable science -Hollywood-style fiction.
‘Power Rangers’ (2017)
Despite the hideous design of the new costumes, this reboot deserved better luck than the low-key box office that thwarted Lionsgate’s plans for a multi-movie franchise. It lacks the series ‘excellent combat sequences, which keep being produced and are getting more and more spectacular, but its gigantic good-action stretches and Elizabeth Banks’ tremendous Rita Repulsa are well worth a look. Of course, there is already talk of a new remake.
- Budget: $ 105 million.
- Collection: 142.3 million dollars.
- You can see her on HBO Max and Starz
Annihilation’ (2018)
Tremendously irregular, decidedly unsuccessful, but still an interesting proposal from Alex Garland , who dared to adapt Jeff VanderMeer’s practically abstract sensory sci-fi saga. Drinking from ‘Solaris’ as much as from the original novel, the film was released in theaters only in the United States, met with widespread misunderstanding by audiences and critics (and Paramount itself), and has been seen on Netflix for the rest of the year. world, where it has been gaining fame as a cult film.
- Budget: 40-55 million dollars.
- Collection: 43.1 million dollars.
- You can watch it on Netflix.
‘Han Solo: A Star Wars Story’ (2018)
Along with ‘Rogue One’, the film that marked a turning point of ‘Star Wars’ in theaters, with Disney finding that it was not an absolutely infallible franchise at the box office. Although it was not a major failure, it did disappoint enough to shelve the, on the other hand, interesting idea of the label ‘A Star Wars Story’, with stories far from the main saga. Possibly, if they had let Phil Lord and Christopher Miller do what they do best, the movie would have been more comedy-oriented, it would have pissed off fans and still flopped at the box office, but we would have a much more satisfying product.
- Budget: $ 275–300 million.
- Collection: 393.2 million dollars.
- You can see it on Disney +
‘Reminiscence’ (2021)
Despite its shortcomings, which are mainly due to the somewhat uncritical use of topics derived from the mixture of noir and science fiction, a very stimulating proposal of adult science fiction that deserved better luck. The complicated criminal plot, the setting in a Miami flooded by climate change, the excellent interpretations of Hugh Jackman, Thandiwe Newton and Rebecca Ferguson and the plot that delves into the classic concept of the agency that recovers memories for its clients give it an air special and classic to this proposal by Lisa Joy (‘Westworld’).
- Budget: 54-68 million dollars.
- Collection: $ 15 million.
- You can see it in Movistar +.
