Predicting The Biggest Box Office Bombs Of 2027

Somehow, 2026 is starting to wind down. Though there's multiple months and several major motion pictures left in the year, it's clearer than ever there's only a finite amount of time left in the year that gave the world "You Can See Everything" and "Obsession." With that reality in mind, it's time to start looking to the future. More specifically, to examine what 2027 and its cinema scene are starting to look like. If 2026 was the year cinema finally "came back" after 2020's COVID shutdowns, then all eyes will be on 2027 to keep the momentum going. Given the stacked release schedule of 2027, there's a good chance this year will extend the cinematic goods.

However, even the most lucrative years in cinema history have their share of box office bombs. If nothing else, there should be enough new theatrical releases annually that the existence of flops is inevitable. 2027 is bound to have such releases. From afar, certain 2027 movies already seem to have deeply precarious financial prospects. The biggest potential box office bombs of 2027 are films that inspire caution from all angles. 

Some of them inhabit genres that rarely yield hits. Others have been plagued by pre-release problems that won't bode well for their theatrical runs. These are just two of the endless potential reasons why certain 2027 movies seem doomed to box office misery.

Director Peter Atencio began shooting "Animal Friends" in June 2023. This R-rated live-action/CG hybrid stars Ryan Reynolds as Pony and Jason as Bear, a pair of oddball animals working together on an epic voyage while dealing with the machinations of DEA agent Billie (Aubrey Plaza) and a Fish & Wildlife ranger (Daniel Levy). This Legendary Pictures-financed production has gone through two different distributors (first Columbia Pictures and now Warner Bros. Pictures) as well as various release dates. Once, this was planned to be a mid-August 2025 R-rated comedy in the vein of "Tropic Thunder" and "Good Boys."

Since then, it has shifted across various 2025 and 2026 slots before settling on its current late January 2027 date. The uncertainty over where to place this feature alone suggests that Warner Bros. is having difficulty figuring out what to do with it. Meanwhile, the movie's two entirely digital starring creatures suggests that "Animal Friends" isn't a cheap R-rated yukfest like "Bottoms" or "Booksmart." Something with lots of digital effects plus a cast that includes Reynolds and Momoa will need a lot of moolah to turn a profit.

Right now, with no public marketing to speak of and so many worrisome delays under its belt, it sure looks like "Animal Friends" is destined to become a box office bomb. That'd be a mighty frustrating end for a story that's stretched much longer than those involved in "Animal Friends" could've imagined.

There's few things major Hollywood studios love more than ignoring original films in favor of rehashing brand names that have never been all that popular at the box office. "Tron" has never quite taken off financially, yet Disney sunk hundreds of millions into "Tron: Ares," which bombed at the box office. The first two "Street Fighter" films weren't massive hits, yet $82 million was sunk into 2026's "Street Fighter" reboot. And despite "The Crow" not being a gargantuan property, $50 million was plunked down for a 2024 rehash nobody remembers.

Seemingly guaranteed to continue this trend is the Amazon MGM Studios "Highlander" reboot set for a 2027 release from director Chad Stahleski. Not a single "Highlander" film has ever grossed more than $14.18 million worldwide. Even adjusting these grosses for inflation, this saga has never been a major draw for general audiences. Still, it's a brand name from the 1980s, so a revival must be prioritized. Thus, Amazon MGM Studios/United Artists have invested a whopping $180 million into this Henry Cavill-headlined enterprise. That former DC Extended Universe fixture has exclusively starred in bombs outside of "Mission: Impossible – Fallout" between "Argylle," "In the Grey," and "The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare."

Don't expect Cavill or even goodwill form Stahleski's "John Wick" exploits to bring "Highlander" anywhere near profitability. After all, if the brand name wasn't big in the '90s, why would it be relevant (or worth $180 million) to 2020s audiences?

Credit where credit is due, the most seminal characters in Sylvester Stallone's best movies are so iconic that Hollywood is scrambling to find ways to keep them going with non-Stallone performers. November 2026 will see Anthony Ippolito portray Stallone himself trying to get Rocky Balboa off the ground in "I Play Rocky," an attempt to translate the inspirational spirit of "Rocky" into the mold of a biopic. Then there's June 2027 "John Rambo," a prequel to the "Rambo" movies starring Noah Centenio as the titular lead and "Sisu" director Jalmari Helander leading the project.

While Spider-Man, Batman, and James Bond gracefully switched up performers across decades of film history, they're the exception, not the rule. Titles ranging from "Hannibal Rising" to "Solo: A Star Wars Story" have made it clear audiences largely don't care for seeing their favorite characters suddenly inhabited by new, younger faces. With apologies to author David Morrell and his 1972 novel "First Blood" that inspired Stallone's Rambo, John Rambo is a character people only care about because Stallone plays him.

Plus, even with Stallone playing the lead role, the Rambo saga has been on a box office downturn since "Rambo: First Blood Part II" in 1985. Suddenly sliding in Centenio into the lead role and going the prequel route isn't bound to suddenly get this franchise back to massive numbers. From afar, "John Rambo" sounds like one of the biggest no-brainer box office duds of 2027. 

The incoming remake of Andrzej Żuławski's 1981 masterpiece "Possession" from filmmaker Parker Finn sounds like such a non-starter that it's baffling it ever got off the ground. The original "Possession" is one of the greatest horror movies ever made, and a stunning showcase for a gung-ho Isabelle Adjani performance. It's also not a horror franchise like Friday the 13th or Child's Play that constantly spawns merchandise or Halloween costumes, so it's not like a remake is needed to keep the ancillary revenue streams chugging. Instead, it's one of those titles where the general public will undoubtedly have no idea what "Possession" even is.

Meanwhile, those aware of the initial film are bound to be understandably hostile to an American remake. After all, how can you expand or improve upon something that's not only glorious, but rooted in specific historical events and Żuławski's own divorce? The two "Smile" movies made money at the box office, but didn't come close to establishing Parker Finn as a Jordan Peele/Curry Barker/Zach Cregger name that audiences will follow into any project, let alone one with so many warning signs.

The fact that "Possession" is being shoved out into a summer moviegoing season where distributor Paramount Pictures has many other horror films on the docket (like new "Paranormal Activity," "Crawl," and "A Quiet Place" sequels) suggests this remake could get lost in the shuffle. That only accentuates the inexplicable nature of this puzzling endeavor.

In December 2027, the Lord of the Rings franchise returns to movie theaters with "The Lord of the Rings: The Hunt for Gollum." This Andy Serkis directorial effort will be a prequel following Aragorn (Jamie Dornan) as he hunts for Gollum (Andy Serkis) just before the events of "The Fellowship of the Ring." Surely Warner Bros. and New Line Cinema executives salivated at the idea of not only expanding upon the lucrative saga, but also creating a motion picture focused on the heavily merchandisable Gollum. One wonders why they didn't name this endeavor "Gollum: A Lord of the Rings Story."

While it's doubtful "The Hunt for Gollum" crashes and burns, it's also doubtful that it takes off as a phenomenon. For one thing, this is a prequel, a type of production audiences are often hesitant to invest in long-term (as seen by the steep box office drop between the "Harry Potter" and "Fantastic Beasts" movies). Moviegoers want stories to expand, not dawdle around in the past. This is not 2009, where the concept of live-action Lord of the Rings media is the gold standard of genre cinema. 

A trilogy of "Hobbit" movies and an Amazon "Rings of Power" TV show have ensured that the novelty of seeing Middle-Earth in live-action has been greatly diminished. Don't be surprised if audiences greet this prequel with a shrug rather than excitement.

Despite the artistic legacy of the best pirate movies ever made, swashbuckling adventures set on the high seas have a troubled box office track record. Titles like "Cutthroat Island" and "Treasure Planet" have kept the world of pirates away from automatic box office success unless they're connected to the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise. That means there's a massive financial hurdle for the forthcoming Keanu Reeves star vehicle "Shiver" to overcome. This title (hailing from "Deadpool" director Tim Miller) is an original project concerning a smuggler who already has his hands full dealing with pirates and other water bound threats.

Then he ends up in a time loop that he struggles to break out of. In other words, it's Keanu Reeves doing "John Wick" action in a pirate version of "Edge of Tomorrow." That's not a bad pitch, but the box office track record of pirate movies makes it difficult to ascertain if audiences will give this one a shot. To boot, "Shiver" will emerge as one of the Warner Bros. Pictures released by Skydance in 2027. With so many motion pictures on the docket for this corporation, some films are bound to slip through the cracks. 

Unfortunately, it's easy to see Skydance overlooking "Shiver" while prioritizing new "Minecraft" and (at sister company Paramount Pictures) "A Quiet Place" movies. Avast matey, treacherous box office waters are inbound.

Of all the 2005 movies that could get a legacy sequel, the Nicolas Cage star vehicle "Lord of War" had to be low on people's lists of potential candidates. This film, which followed Cage as arms dealer Yuri Orlov lining his pockets and evading capture, scored mixed critical reviews and hasn't exactly dominated pop culture. Bizarrely, though, a follow-up is indeed dropping in 2027, with writer/director Andrew Niccol returning alongside Cage as the film's lead. This time, rather than focusing on two siblings, "Lords of War" is a father/son saga, with Yuri contending with his son, Anton (Bill Skarsgård), spreading more blood-drenched war across the planet.

"Lord of War" only made $24.1 million domestically back in 2005, when adult-skewing dramas had more of a shot at theatrical success. It also had a more star-studded cast that included Jared Leto, Ian Holm, and Ethan Hawke. The most famous supporting player in "Lords of War," meanwhile, is Skarsgård. Furthermore, "Lords of War" is being distributed by Vertical Entertainment, a label that hasn't released a single film (as of this writing) that's cracked $15 million domestically. None of this bodes well for this puzzling sequel and that's before getting into Cage's mixed modern box office track record.

Perhaps there's an unknown massive "Lord of War" fanbase that'll suddenly come out in droves for "Lords of War" when it hits theaters. Barring that miracle, this will be a bigger bomb than one of Yuri Orlov's items.

The marketing campaign for "Day Drinker" seems to be entirely resting on leading man Johnny Depp. This original thriller isn't based on any famous source material nor does it have a big director attached. That's not the greatest sign, since leading men that drove the box office in the mid-2000s aren't exactly still drumming up massive numbers in the 2020s. Just ask Tom Cruise how "Digger" went. To boot, "Day Drinker" will open only a few months after another Depp star vehicle, "Ebenezer," so anyone desperate to see this performer on the big screen will have already gotten their fill.

More pressingly, though, is that "Day Drinker" hails from filmmaker Marc Webb, whose post-"Amazing Spider-Man 2" exploits have almost exclusively been infamous bombs like "The Only Living Boy in New York" (which failed to clear $1 million domestically) and 2025's "Snow White" debacle. It's doubtful "Day Drinker" will suddenly mark a momentous about-face for his dismal box office track record. Speaking of which, Depp's abysmal streak of mid-2010s flops (like "Transcendence" and "Mortdecai") don't inspire confidence that he can propel what looks like a generic mystery thriller to grand box office figures.

As if to seal its box office fate, "Day Drinker" will open the same day as "Godzilla x Kong: Supernova," which is bound to have infinitely more mainstream appeal. With all this in play, prepare for "Day Drinker" to become another forgotten failure from Johnny Depp.

The "Cliffhanger" reboot is largely a standalone affair eschewing the core plot tenets of the initial Sylvester Stallone movie in favor of an original story following climber Naomi Cooper (Lily James). When her dad, Ray (Pierce Brosnan) and sister Sydney (Nell Tiger Free), are taken hostage by baddies, it's up to Naomi to use her skills in navigating cliffs to save the day. This movie comes courtesy of director Jaume Collet-Serra, a veteran of thrillers like "Non-Stop," "Carry-On," and "The Shallows," plus tentpoles like "Black Adam."

Much like with "John Rambo," it's puzzling to imagine that a Sylvester Stallone movie like "Cliffhanger" would have any value to the general public, even just as a brand name, with Stallone removed from the equation. "Cliffhanger" would honestly have a better shot if it was an original film rather than weighed down by a brand name. Also, like "Lords of War," "Cliffhanger" will be released by Vertical Entertainment. There's a clear (and low) box office ceiling for Vertical titles in North America and that's not going to be nearly enough for something that allegedly costs $100 million.

In other words, if audiences are weary of "Moana" and "Street Fighter" redos, it's difficult to imagine a "Cliffhanger" reboot being a must-see for moviegoers.

Eight years after "Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker" became one of the biggest mistakes the "Star Wars" franchise ever made, director J.J. Abrams will finally helm another feature length movie with the original Warner Bros. tentpole "The Great Beyond." This project is currently shrouded in secrecy, though it's apparently a fantasy feature involving an author that's confirmed to star Glen Powell, Jenna Ortega, Samuel L. Jackson, and Emma Mackey. Abrams also wrote the script and composed the score, while Oscar winner James Friend (of "All Quiet on the Western Front" fame) is the cinematographer.

Originally set for a November 2026 bow, "The Great Beyond" is now set to launch over the first weekend of October 2027. That autumn spot has been home to both lucrative ("Gravity") and unprofitable ("Digger") Warner Bros. ventures, so the jury's out on how the release date will affect this one. However, allegations that the film is preparing to undergo reshoots inspires worry over how this title will turn out, ditto the mixed track Abrams has had as of late. Then there's the fact that Powell and Ortega are not bulletproof at the box office, as seen by 2025 flops like "The Running Man" and "Death of a Unicorn."

A totally original project like "The Great Beyond" will be a massive test of their drawing power. Unfortunately, there's a good chance this becomes another original movie misfire from Warner Bros.

Director Ridley Scott has already had a tremendously frustrating 2026 with his latest film, "The Dog Stars," bombing at the box office. Just watch, though. If "The Dog Stars" was a catastrophic money-loser, Scott's big 2027 project sounds like it could be an even greater misfire. That production is a new take on "Treasure Island," with Hugh Jackman officially playing Long John Silver alongside Hugh Grant and Owen Cooper allegedly in talks to join the proceedings. Scott has gone on record declaring this could be his costliest directorial effort ever, which is easy to imagine given the track record of movies set on the high seas (just look at the $379 million budget of "Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides").

There hasn't been a single lucrative film adaptation of this Robert Louis Stevenson text since the 1950 feature headlined by Bobby Driscoll. On the contrary, titles like "Treasure Planet" have gone down as historic box office flops while typical pirate features have similarly sunk without a trace. Even more worryingly, Hugh Jackman, while a deeply talented and versatile performer, isn't a box office draw unless anchoring either a musical or X-Men film.

Heck, the last time he played a famous pirate baddie (Blackbeard in "Pan"), the result was one of 2015's most colossal box office duds. If there's any 2027 feature that's all but assured to be a box office non-starter, it's this "Treasure Island" movie from Ridley Scott.