Continuing our rundown of the worst performing films of 2023, here are the top-10 fiascos. Here is our first entry in order to look over the first portion of the failures. 

10. MISSION IMPOSSIBLE: DEAD RECKONING

This was something of a surprise given Tom Cruise was sailing off last year’s massive “Maverick” performance, and the prior franchise release was a big hit. But this title arrived right in the midst of the “Barbie”-”Oppenheimer” hysteria and was overlooked. Despite a massive $567m drawn in theaters, the oft-delayed production cost close to $300m, and factoring the sales costs this was a massive disappointment on the ledger sheet.

9. THE CREATOR

Disney had a dismal year and this one is a bit of a standout because unlike the studio’s established franchises this was a standalone property with plenty of pre-release hype. The marketing was somewhat heavy but the dystopian future involving AI problems did not garner interest, as it opened to a meager $14m on a budget of $80m, or so. The global haul might have made back its budget amount, but considering this needed to pull over $200m to begin seeing profits makes it a significant bust.

8. SHAZAM! FURY OF THE GODS  

Much like Disney, DC-Warners had a horrendous year in theaters. This sequel not only came in well below its favored predecessor, it stands (aside from pandemic releases) as the worst DC comic debut.  

7. TRANSFORMERS: RISE OF THE BEASTS

One reason I enjoy covering the business of Hollywood is how a film that earned $436million can be regarded as a failure. This new entry in the robotic canon was a summer release that was quickly bypassed. A tepid run of just over $150m here was boosted by a better overseas performance, but the studio needed to see at least a $600m return before earning on its investment.

6. NAPOLEON

Ridley Scott’s sweeping historical epic is up against challenges of historical biopics, an R-rating, and its length of two and half hours. Budgeted at $200 million and carrying a large marketing campaign, this Oscar-bait bio-pic is limping towards a $200m global take, and is in need of at least $500 million. It is still running, and any awards season benefit is needed, but even months of Best Picture trophies will make profitability a challenge.

5. HAUNTED MANSION

Another Disney debacle as the studio looked desperate to invigorate this into a franchise. Its theme park ride effort flopped, barely crossing $100m in the summer as at least $350m could be seen as the best attempt at breaking even.

4. WISH

For the second year in a row Disney saw its treasured Thanksgiving animation window deliver a disaster. “Wish” appeared like a marketing ploy by committee, coming up with a fabricated excuse to tie a film to the company’s 100th anniversary, and few were swayed by the synergy. It is creeping towards a soft $150m global total as it cost well more to create it, and had a huge marketing push. This is another monumental loss for the Mouse House.

3. THE FLASH

This was an infamously long-troubled release. Beginning with a poor showing by “The Justice League”, this character launch was imperiled by the pandemic, and then the numerous delays gave way to star Ezra Miller showing to have legal troubles across the globe, leading to massive negative backlash. Less-than-helpful reviews and the strong performance of “Spider-man: Across the Spider-verse helped drive this down as one of the largest bombs in Warners history.

2. INDIANA JONES AND THE DIAL OF DESTINY

It was staggering to see how audiences almost outwardly avoid this new entry in the beloved franchise. This was the second attempt to have a torch-passing take place on screen, and this time people turned away from another example of Disney playing a bait-and-switch with characters, as Indy was sidelined a bit in favor of pushing a female lead. A $300m budget and huge promotional push means at least $650m was needed to be earned, and the take of $383m globally is a disaster bigger than seen on screen.

1.THE MARVELS

Compounding Disney’s travails was not only another failed Marvel release, but one that was historically bad. After having its projections scaled down repeatedly ahead of release, it set new records no studio is bragging about: Worst Marvel opening, biggest second week drop, and ultimately the worst final performance in the MCU. The first “Captain Marvel” film made over $1 billion; this second effort earned about 15% of that figure.