Box office flops 2026 are a major talking point in Hollywood, even in a year that broke records. Summer revenue reached an all-time high of $4.7 billion, powered by Project Hail Mary, The Odyssey and Spider-Man: Brand New Day. But several costly, highly anticipated releases failed to find their audience. Here are the biggest flops and movie bombs of the year so far, with the numbers behind them. To see the winners, check our list of the highest-grossing movies of 2026.
Box Office Flops 2026: A Record Year With Painful Misses
The gap between hits and misses has rarely been wider. While a few blockbusters ate up the audience’s attention and money, big-budget films with weaker buzz were left behind. Studios spent heavily on production and marketing, and when opening weekends fell short, there was little room to recover.
Supergirl and Moana Lead the Box Office Flops 2026 List
DC Studios’ Supergirl, starring Milly Alcock, opened in June with $38 million in North America and $62.6 million worldwide. Projections had pointed to $50–55 million domestically. With a $170 million production budget and roughly $120 million for marketing, the result was a clear disappointment. It had earned about $126 million by the time it reached HBO Max in September.
Disney’s live-action Moana topped its opening weekend with $43 million domestically and $95 million worldwide. That still underperformed against a $250 million budget. Dwayne Johnson took the result in stride, saying the cultural representation mattered most to him.
Big Budgets, Bigger Losses
Masters of the Universe took in only $29.3 million domestically on opening weekend. Its total reached $113.5 million by its late-July streaming debut, far below the roughly $340 million Forbes estimated it needed to break even. It did land at No. 1 on Prime Video, a small consolation.
Desert Warrior is another costly casualty. The Anthony Mackie epic, the most expensive film ever made in Saudi Arabia, grossed just $596,000 in its first few days against a $150 million budget. Its troubled production, which began in 2021, included a director exit and return.
Critical Darlings and Sequels That Stumbled
Not every miss was a bad film. Maggie Gyllenhaal’s The Bride! earned $7.3 million in the U.S. and $13.6 million worldwide in its opening, against a $90 million budget. Analysts pointed to Frankenstein fatigue after Guillermo del Toro’s version arrived in late 2025.
A24’s Mother Mary, starring Anne Hathaway, was praised by critics but earned only about $2.5 million domestically on a $20 million budget. The Death of Robin Hood with Hugh Jackman grossed $6 million, also against $20 million. Animal Farm managed $6.5 million on a $35 million budget while competing with Michael and The Devil Wears Prada 2.
Sequel timing hurt, too. 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple made $58 million worldwide, about a third of its predecessor’s total. Director Nia DaCosta wondered whether it came “maybe too soon.”
What These Box Office Flops 2026 Reveal About Audiences
The common threads are clear. Crowded release calendars, franchise fatigue and ballooning budgets turned modest underperformance into major losses. Streaming has also softened some blows, as seen with Supergirl and Masters of the Universe. Still, theatrical numbers shape studio decisions, and these box office flops 2026 could influence which projects get greenlit next.
Audiences are choosing carefully, favoring events and proven quality. If you want to know what worked, browse our ranking of the best movies of 2026 so far, and look ahead to the upcoming movies of fall 2026 to see which releases could turn the tide.
FAQs
What were the biggest box office flops 2026 has seen so far?
Supergirl, Moana, Masters of the Universe, Desert Warrior and The Bride! rank among the most notable disappointments, based on budget versus gross.
Did Supergirl lose money?
It earned roughly $126 million by its September streaming debut against a $170 million production budget plus heavy marketing, so it fell well short of profitability.
Why did The Bride! fail at the box office?
It opened to just $7.3 million in the U.S. Industry observers suggested audiences were saturated with Frankenstein stories after del Toro’s late-2025 release.
Can a movie bomb in theaters but succeed on streaming?
Yes. Masters of the Universe debuted at No. 1 on Prime Video despite its weak theatrical run.