The Fifth Estate attracted no small amount of controversy before its release, including a polite war of words between Wikileaks founder Julian Assange and actor Benedict Cumberbatch, who portrays Assange in the film. It seems as if the media coverage had little effect on the film's global box office performance, however, as Forbes has listed The Fifth Estate as 2013's biggest flop.
In news likely to delight Assange - who has frequently spoken out against director Bill Condon's film - the film has only managed to earn around $6 million (approximately €4.4 million) globally. It marks a huge loss on an estimated production budget of around €20.6 million. That doesn't even tell the full story, as Dreamworks - who are owned by Disney - and the international distributors are likely to have spent a marketing and release budget in the same sort of region as the film's production budget. Studios also only earn around 50% of any film's box office takings.
Although The Fifth Estate was damaged by middling reviews, audience apathy about the subject matter and strong objections from the likes of Assange himself, Forbes suggests, "Thanks to massive hits like Iron Man 3, Thor: the Dark World and Monsters University, the film’s performance shouldn’t hurt Disney very much. But it does show the validity of big studios like Disney choosing to focus almost exclusively on massive event movies that cost upward of $200 million to produce but bring in many multiples of that at the box office."
The rest of the 'top' ten flops are also medium-budgeted films that struggled to attract audiences, despite sometimes - in cases such as Bullet to the Head, The Big Wedding and Broken City - having big name actors attached. Several big budget films such as The Lone Ranger and Pacific Rim that struggled at the box office are notably absent, largely thanks to stronger performances outside the U.S. The biggest budget flop listed is the €95 million sci-fi comedy RIPD, which only managed a 60% return on its massive budget.
It should be noted that, while cinema releases remain the vitally important for filmmakers and studios, it is far from the only source of revenue for films these days. DVD, TV and streaming sales often eventually bring box office flops into profitability, sometimes years after initial release. This is especially true of lower budgeted films.
You can see the full list of 2013's biggest theatrical flops below:
1. The Fifth Estate: 21% return on budget
2. Bullet to the Head: 36% return
3. Paranoia: 39% return
4. Parker: 49% return
5. Broken City: 54% return
6. Battle of the Year: 55% return
7. Getaway: 58% return
8. Peeples: 60% return
9. RIPD: 60% return
10. The Big Wedding: 63% return
