The Dark Tower
Budget: $60 million
Domestic gross: $47.8 million
Worldwide gross: $101.4 million
Stephen King fans had been waiting to see the movie adaptation of the horror master’s magnum opus materialize for years, given that it’s been in development hell for so long. When it was announced that Idris Elba would be playing the Gunslinger and Matthew McConaughey would be portraying his nemesis the Man in Black, things were looking good.
Unfortunately, the resulting movie was a total bomb, not only in terms of the reception from critics and diehard fans alike, but also in its awful box office takings. Widely seen as incomprehensible for newcomers and a complete slap in the face for fans, just about everyone stayed away from the disappointingly generic fantasy movie.
For a film that’s beginning a unique cross-media franchise (a Dark Tower TV series is in the works), a mere $100 million total gross is far below expectations. Luckily for the studio, it was only made for a relatively small $60 million.