Movie studios, if you don’t know, spend a lot of money on their movies—sometimes hundreds of millions. But sometimes, when these films arrive in theaters, the public just says, “Er, no thanks.”
That is the subject of Box Office Poison, by journalist Tim Robey. The author goes through some of the biggest and most famous failures in Hollywood history, from Intolerance (1916) to Cats (2019), revisiting along the way films like Freaks, Sorcerer, Dune (the 1984 version), Speed 2, Catwoman, and Speed Racer. There are many interesting behind-the-scenes stories, all very candid about some of the madness that dominates studios and executives.
Some of the movies that fail to recoup their budgets are victims of the megalomania of directors and producers, like The Adventures of Baron Munchausen (budget: US$ 43.6 million, US gross: 8 million), which also comes with the disturbing story that much of the crew was obsessed with seeing Uma Thurman naked, trying to catch a glimpse of the then 17-year-old actress during her nude scene. Other films failed due to their bonkers concepts, like Nothing But Trouble (budget: US$ 45 million, worldwide gross: 9.2 million), a dark and unfunny comedy written and directed by Dan Aykroyd and starring a very uninterested Chevy Chase. The Adventures of Pluto Nash (budget: US$ 100 million, worldwide gross: 7.1 million), fronted by Eddie Murphy (after Stallone dropped out), is another example of a comedy that misses all its cues—a complete disaster. On the other hand, spectacles like Sorcerer and Freaks were very good, but released at the wrong time.
Robey takes an in-depth look at 26 films and comments on many others that are similar or from the same period. For movie buffs, it is a lot of fun, even if you, like me, haven’t seen many of these films—indeed, that’s partly the point of the book: most of these movies failed precisely because they didn’t appeal to the general moviegoing audience.
The author does a great job for most of the book, but I wouldn’t give it a higher score because, in one chapter—about the sci-fi failure A Sound of Thunder (2005)—he throws some shade at the writer of the original story, the great Ray Bradbury, due to his conservative political views. In fact, A Sound of Thunder is so inconsequential and unworthy of mention that I found myself wondering whether it was included merely as an excuse to take a jab at Bradbury, even insinuating that he would support a “fascist” presidential candidate. And, of course, Trump is mentioned. Completely unnecessary politics, inserted as a footnote that adds nothing of real importance.
Box Office Poison (2025, Faber & Faber Limited)
By Tim Robey
338 páginas
Nota: 8 nerds (de 10) 😎😎😎😎😎😎😎😎
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