Movies That Were Box Office Disasters, In Honor of ‘After Earth’

Movie #2 – Cutthroat Island

Year – 1995

By the ‘90s pirate movies were a non-starter in Hollywood having been deemed too costly; they require elaborate costumes and shooting on water is expensive. But Renny Harlin (Die Hard 2, Cliffhanger) aimed to change all that with his then-wife Geena Davis. Now, trusting the opening of a major blockbuster to Davis might seem crazy today but at the time she had put together and impressive string of hits (The Fly, The Accidental Tourist, Thelma & Louise, A League of Their Own). Turning her into an action star didn’t seem out of the realm of possibility. Harlin even got Michael Douglas to costar.

There were just two things – Douglas needed to start filming immediately because of prior commitments and he wanted more screen time. However, after rewrites her role became larger and at his character’s expense so he pulled-out. But Davis was already contractually obligated to finish the film. So the film was offered to Keanu Reeves, Liam Neeson, Jeff Bridges, Ralph Fiennes, Charlie Sheen and Michael Keaton…all of who passed. They finally got Matthew Modine to take the role because…wait for it…he liked to fence.

The movie itself has mildly clever premise – Davis is the pirate while Modine is her “damsel” in distress – but never takes the time to fully explore it. The film quickly devolves into a series of action set-pieces in desperate search of story.

Made for $98 million (that was real money back in 1995) the film grossed just $10 million. That’s not an opening weekend figure, mind you. That’s its entire domestic gross. At one time it was listed in the Guinness Book of World Records as the biggest flop in film history. Adjust it for inflation and it still is coming in at a whopping loss of $145 million (adjusted).