Hollywood’s films have lost almost $1 billion (€890 million) in box office takings this summer - almost double that of its deficit of $546.3 million this time last year.
Bloomberg reports that studios have lost approximately $915.6 million, the equivalent of €815 million.
Big budget blockbusters such as Ben-Hur, Independence Day: Resurgence, and The Legend of Tarzan have all received negative reviews from critics, while studios continue to pump millions into sequels and reboots.
Using figures from cinema data site TheNumbers.com, which takes into account box office receipts, projected home entertainment, and TV sales, along with production and marketing cost estimates, it shows the top 10 projected ‘losers’ of this year’s blockbuster season.
Mark Rylance as the BFG in Spielberg's big-screen adaptation
Paramount studios’ reboot of Ben-Hur has been the biggest loser so far, only reclaiming just about half of its budget to date, and is closely followed by Steven Spielberg and Disney’s The BFG, which stands to lose $117 million (€104 million).
Disney’s Alice Through the Looking Glass came in a close third; the sequel is on track to lose around $90 million (€80 million).
While Ben-Hur has been savaged by critics, currently holding just 28% on ratings aggregate site Rotten Tomatoes, The BFG is ‘certified fresh’ on the website at 75%.
However, quality has obviously not helped Spielberg’s fantasy adaptation of Roald Dahl's book.
Speaking to Bloomberg, analyst Doug Creutz said “Overall it was pretty awful. People aren’t going to the box office as much as they used to. The only way out of this problem for Hollywood is to have fewer studios, and that ain’t going to happen."
Star Trek Beyond - not boldly going to box office glory
Another well-received film, Kubo and the Two Strings (currently holding a 96% rating on Rotten Tomatoes), will reportedly be the fourth biggest loser, losing $80 million (€71 million) for Universal Studios.
Star Trek Beyond (also ‘certified fresh’ at 83%) is estimated to be the fifth biggest loser, only making $4 million more than Kubo.
Rounding off the final top 10 losers are War Dogs (losing Warner Bros $67.7 million), Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 2 (losing Paramount the same), Pete’s Dragon (around $63 million), Ghostbusters (losing Sony around $58 million), and Andy Samberg’s Popstar: Never Stop, Never Stopping (almost $36 million).
