Movies that killed entire genres/subgenres
by dvc5159 | created - 22 May 2020 | updated - 22 May 2020 | PublicCritical and/or commercial flops that made studios go "we're not gonna make them anymore... at least for a while". Note that I genuinely like some of these films... but their financial performance disagrees with me
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1. Ballistic: Ecks vs. Sever (2002)
R | 91 min | Action, Crime, Mystery
Tasked with destroying each other, an FBI agent and a rogue DIA agent soon discover that a much bigger enemy is at work.
Director: Wych Kaosayananda | Stars: Antonio Banderas, Lucy Liu, Talisa Soto, Gregg Henry
Votes: 21,030 | Gross: $14.29M
Pre-"John Wick", this was the tolling bell for the beer-and-steak R-rated action movie, which would be mostly relegated to low-budgeted Direct-To-Video affairs not long after
2. Cats (2019)
PG | 110 min | Comedy, Drama, Family
A tribe of cats called the Jellicles must decide yearly which one will ascend to the Heaviside Layer and come back to a new Jellicle life.
Director: Tom Hooper | Stars: James Corden, Judi Dench, Jason Derulo, Idris Elba
Votes: 55,919
2012's "Les Miserables" brought back the lavish musical genre from the dead only for the very same director to put it back where it arose from, perhaps even deeper
3. Cutthroat Island (1995)
PG-13 | 124 min | Action, Adventure, Comedy
A female pirate and her companion race against their rivals to find a hidden island that contains a fabulous treasure.
Director: Renny Harlin | Stars: Geena Davis, Matthew Modine, Frank Langella, Maury Chaykin
Votes: 30,548 | Gross: $10.02M
Pre-"Pirates of the Caribbean", nobody wanted to touch pirate films, and this film's financial performance cemented that notion
4. Disaster Movie (2008)
PG-13 | 87 min | Comedy, Sci-Fi
Over the course of one evening, an unsuspecting group of twenty-somethings find themselves bombarded by a series of natural disasters and catastrophic events.
Directors: Jason Friedberg, Aaron Seltzer | Stars: Carmen Electra, Vanessa Lachey, Nicole Parker, Matt Lanter
Votes: 94,552 | Gross: $14.19M
No more Zucker-style parodies after this one, folks
5. Fantastic Four (2015)
PG-13 | 100 min | Action, Adventure, Sci-Fi
Four young outsiders teleport to an alternate and dangerous universe which alters their physical form in shocking ways. The four must learn to harness their new abilities and work together to save Earth from a former friend turned enemy.
Director: Josh Trank | Stars: Miles Teller, Kate Mara, Michael B. Jordan, Jamie Bell
Votes: 176,611 | Gross: $56.12M
We can never have dark and brooding cinematic takes on the superhero genre ever again after this colossal, Nolan-inspired misfire
6. From Justin to Kelly (2003)
PG | 81 min | Comedy, Musical, Romance
A waitress from Texas and a college student from Pennsylvania meet during spring break in Fort Lauderdale, Florida and come together through their shared love of singing.
Director: Robert Iscove | Stars: Kelly Clarkson, Justin Guarini, Katherine Bailess, Anika Noni Rose
Votes: 27,020 | Gross: $4.92M
If you'd thought Mariah Carey's "Glitter" or Britney Spear's "Crossroads" ended the singer-star-power-headlined film, you'd be wrong
7. Gigli (2003)
R | 121 min | Comedy, Crime, Romance
Larry Gigli is assigned by a crime boss to kidnap the brother of a prominent district attorney. A beautiful woman known only as Ricki is sent to stay with him to make sure he doesn't mess up the job.
Director: Martin Brest | Stars: Ben Affleck, Jennifer Lopez, Justin Bartha, Terry Camilleri
Votes: 50,717 | Gross: $6.07M
Not a lot of mega-star-couple-headed romantic comedies after this one
8. Gods and Generals (2003)
PG-13 | 219 min | Biography, Drama, History
The rise and fall of confederate general Thomas "Stonewall" Jackson, as he meets with military success against the Union from 1861 to 1863, when he is accidentally killed by his own soldiers.
Director: Ron Maxwell | Stars: Stephen Lang, Robert Duvall, Jeff Daniels, Donzaleigh Abernathy
Votes: 17,209 | Gross: $12.87M
Good luck trying to get another expensive Civil War movie out after this one
9. Hard Rain (1998)
R | 97 min | Action, Crime, Drama
The partner and nephew of an armored-truck driver tries to prevent three million dollars from being taken by a gang during a catastrophic flooding caused by a severe storm.
Director: Mikael Salomon | Stars: Morgan Freeman, Christian Slater, Randy Quaid, Minnie Driver
Votes: 37,305 | Gross: $19.82M
An eulogy to the pre-9/11, "Die-Hard-in-an-x" sub-genre that powered-up much of the 1990s R-rated action genre... at least until the "Olympus Has Fallen" films
10. Heaven's Gate (1980)
R | 219 min | Adventure, Drama, Western
During the Johnson County War in 1890 Wyoming, a sheriff born into wealth does his best to protect immigrant farmers from rich cattle interests.
Director: Michael Cimino | Stars: Kris Kristofferson, Christopher Walken, John Hurt, Sam Waterston
Votes: 17,153 | Gross: $3.48M
Not just the financial killer of the traditional studio Western film, it also demolished auteur control over studio pictures
11. Holmes & Watson (2018)
PG-13 | 90 min | Comedy, Crime, Mystery
A humorous take on Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's classic mysteries featuring Sherlock Holmes and Doctor Watson.
Director: Etan Cohen | Stars: Will Ferrell, John C. Reilly, Ralph Fiennes, Rebecca Hall
Votes: 39,401 | Gross: $30.57M
Yeah... we're not gonna get more theatrical broad comedies for a while after this poorly received one
12. John Carter (2012)
PG-13 | 132 min | Action, Adventure, Sci-Fi
Transported to Barsoom, a Civil War vet discovers a barren planet seemingly inhabited by 12-foot tall barbarians. Finding himself prisoner of these creatures, he escapes, only to encounter Woola and a princess in desperate need of a savior.
Director: Andrew Stanton | Stars: Taylor Kitsch, Lynn Collins, Willem Dafoe, Samantha Morton
Votes: 286,263 | Gross: $73.08M
The film's financial losses will make studios shiver whenever a classic sci-fi novel gets considered for a big-budget treatment
13. The Legend of Hercules (2014)
PG-13 | 99 min | Action, Adventure, Fantasy
The origin story of the mythical Greek hero. Betrayed by his stepfather, the King, and exiled and sold into slavery because of a forbidden love, Hercules must use his formidable powers to fight his way back to his rightful kingdom.
Director: Renny Harlin | Stars: Kellan Lutz, Gaia Weiss, Scott Adkins, Roxanne McKee
Votes: 56,214 | Gross: $18.85M
"Joey, do you like movies about gladiators?"
14. The Lone Ranger (2013)
PG-13 | 150 min | Action, Adventure, Western
Native American warrior Tonto recounts the untold tales that transformed John Reid, a man of the law, into a legend of justice.
Director: Gore Verbinski | Stars: Johnny Depp, Armie Hammer, William Fichtner, Tom Wilkinson
Votes: 244,506 | Gross: $89.30M
The coup-de-grace of what "Heaven's Gate" started
15. Looney Tunes: Back in Action (2003)
PG | 91 min | Animation, Adventure, Comedy
The Looney Tunes search for a man's missing father and the mythical Blue Monkey diamond.
Directors: Joe Dante, Eric Goldberg | Stars: Brendan Fraser, Jenna Elfman, Steve Martin, Heather Locklear
Votes: 40,427 | Gross: $20.99M
You ever wondered why it took almost 25 years for the "Space Jam" sequel to get made? And why we still haven't gotten a "Roger Rabbit' sequel?
16. Poseidon (2006)
PG-13 | 98 min | Action, Adventure, Thriller
On New Year's Eve, the luxury ocean liner Poseidon capsizes after being swamped by a rogue wave. The survivors are left to fight for their lives as they attempt to escape the sinking ship.
Director: Wolfgang Petersen | Stars: Richard Dreyfuss, Kurt Russell, Emmy Rossum, Josh Lucas
Votes: 110,413 | Gross: $60.67M
The disaster genre took a permanent nosedive with this literal sinking ship; also were there any more star-studded big-budget disaster movies after Roland Emmerich's "2012"?
17. A Sound of Thunder (2005)
PG-13 | 110 min | Action, Adventure, Horror
A single mistake in the past, by a time travel company in the future, has devastating and unforeseen consequences.
Director: Peter Hyams | Stars: Edward Burns, Ben Kingsley, Catherine McCormack, Armin Rohde
Votes: 20,503 | Gross: $1.89M
Before Denis Villenueve's triumphant efforts to return this genre to its former glory, Peter Hyams's valiant but unfortunate effort all but buried the high-concept, based-on-a-notable-sci-fi-author's-story studio film for a while
18. Stealth (2005)
PG-13 | 121 min | Action, Adventure, Sci-Fi
Deeply ensconced in a top-secret military program, three pilots struggle to bring an artificial intelligence program under control before it initiates the next world war.
Director: Rob Cohen | Stars: Josh Lucas, Jessica Biel, Jamie Foxx, Sam Shepard
Votes: 56,274 | Gross: $32.12M
The big-budget military action film/techno-thriller film, stuff like "Firefox", "Blue Thunder", "Top Gun"... all gone because of this movie's colossal underperformance
19. Titan A.E. (2000)
PG | 94 min | Animation, Action, Adventure
A young man learns that he has to find a hidden Earth ship before an enemy alien species does in order to secure the survival of humanity.
Directors: Don Bluth, Gary Goldman | Stars: Matt Damon, Drew Barrymore, Bill Pullman, Jim Breuer
Votes: 63,960 | Gross: $22.75M
The movie that killed 2D Western animation, or at least sent it down a permanent downward spiral
20. Virus (1999)
R | 99 min | Action, Horror, Sci-Fi
After outrunning a typhoon at sea, a strong-willed tugboat navigator and her crew discover a high-tech alien life form that's taken control of a Russian research vessel and aims to destroy on a massive scale.
Director: John Bruno | Stars: Jamie Lee Curtis, Donald Sutherland, William Baldwin, Joanna Pacula
Votes: 29,929 | Gross: $14.01M
The death knell for high-concept, big-budgeted Lovecraftian sci-fi horror that isn't named "Alien" or "The Thing"
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