The certainty of box office success is, unfortunately for Hollywood movie studios, virtually impossible to foretell. Even with a clear vision, a talented director, an internationally recognized and favored cast and some of the best crew in the business the guarantee that the end result will hold the top spot at the box office upon release is a gamble, and a gamble many Hollywood studios risk year in, year out with millions of dollars at stake. Today we will look at five (well six really) science fiction movies that on paper probably sounded like a potential goldmine, but in reality dropped faster than a piano tied to an anvil.
WATERWORLD
Following hot on the heels of the hot topic of the time - global warming - Universal Pictures teamed up with Robin Hood: Prince of Theives duo director Kevin Reynolds and star Kevin Costner to make a 'wet' Mad Max. Written by Peter Rader and Riddicks David Twohy, with a score by James Newton Howard and co-starring the late Dennis hopper as the leader of the Smokers, Waterworld must have seemed like priniting money to Universal back in 1995, and while the movie did recuperate its costs at the box office the reception from critics and the general public was far from favorable, with many calling the movie silly, outlandish and preposterous.
AFTER EARTH
Take one of the biggest stars of the nineties and noughties Will Smith and add up and coming star, and his son Jaden Smith, add director of Sixth Sense and Unbreakable M. Night Shyamalan and place them into a life-and-death situation in a hostile environment and theoretically the movie should be hit. Maybe on paper, but once the first teaser and trailers started circuating we here at Scified all collectively facepalmed. Being an obvious vehicle for the father and son duo, the movie just felt forced and a far cry away from the duos last outing together in The Pursuit of Happiness.
JOHN CARTER
Some actors just can't break through into superstardom, and despite his best efforts Taylor Kitsch is one of those actors. Having starred alongside Hugh Jackman in X-Men: Origins - Wolverine as Remy LeBeau aka Gambit, and then again in the board game adaptation Battleship alongside man of the moment Liam Neeson, one would have though that starring in the title role in a Disney mega-blockbuster would have secured his future as one of Hollywoods biggest stars. Yet John Carter, based on The Princess of Mars; the first in the Barsoom series of novels from Edgar Rice Burroughs crashed and crashed hard. Whats worse still is if Marvel Studios are planning on adapting the Planet Hulk storyline, its similarity to John Carter will surely be giving Disney cause for concern.
ROBOCOP
With Michael Bay enjoying some success with the Transformers franchise, FOX reaping the rewards for their reboot of the Planet of the Apes and the renewed interest in hit eighties properties such as the A-Team, GI Joe, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles etc. no one can really blame Sony Pictures for wanting a piece of the nostalgia cake. But from the very first concept art and on location images Jose Padhilas remake of the seminal 1987 video nasty Robocop was fighting an uphill battle. Battles between the studio and some websites over the nature and style of news coverage aside, the movies true testing ground was upon release and for most fans and critics it failed, miserably. While Paul Verhoevens original was a video nasty with layers of emotion, and commentaries on capitalism and social class, the PG-13 reboot was an empty shell with no subtsance beneath its glossy exterior, despite its awesome, star studded cast.
AMAZING SPIDER-MAN 1 & 2
While many studios have had the misfortune of funding and marketing a flop here and there, very few studios have done twice in succession. After the crtitcal panning that Sony Pictures got for Spider-Man 3, one woud have believed that, especially when considering the success and acclaim of the first two movies, the studio woud have handed the reigns back to director Sam Raimi and trusted in his direction and vision. For a while Raimi was indeed working on a Spider-Man 4, but it seems that from overbearing interference from the studio and executives that Raimi left the project. Keen to cash in on the continuation of the franchise and the rising popularity of the comic book movie Sony decided to reboot the franchise. On paper Marc Webbs approach was well thought out, and the casting of Andrew Garfield and Emma Stone was inspired, but the style and feel of both of the Amazing Spider-Man movies failed to rekindle the flame fans had felt in Sam Raimis first two instaments. No wonder that creator Marvel Studios are to helm the next attempt at realising the friendly neighbourhood web slinger on the big screen.
