Box Office fails: 'Lone Ranger' to 'Superman Returns'; franchises that never took off
These box office fails were originally planned as franchises but failed to take off. Some of these movies include Superman Returns, Green Lantern & Lone Ranger.
- Entertainment News
- 3 min read

The fate of a movie at the box office cannot be predicted a lot of times. Many movie markers often plan for a franchise after a film's successful release, but some of them don't end up being box office hits as the movie does not perform well. Hollywood has been witness to some of these movies that failed to meet box office expectations. Here's taking a look at some of the box office fails that were supposed to start a franchise.
Box office fails that planned to start a franchise
Green Lantern
Due to terrible reviews of the film, Green Lantern failed to perform at the box office. It had a budget of $200 million out of which it earned $219 million. Warner Bros. had spent a ton of money to market the film but since the movie did not do well, the sequel was removed from the development slate.
Green Lantern two #RuinAMovieWithOneWord pic.twitter.com/e5er2YdzhU
— LoudMouf (@LoudMouf4) January 6, 2020
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The Lone Ranger
The Lone Ranger was supposed to be Disney’s next big franchise. The film was directed by Gore Verbinski, bankrolled by Jerry Bruckheimer, and the movie was starring Johnny Depp who played the role of Tonto. Despite having a great team the movie failed miserably at the box office. It earned $260 million at the box office out of $350 million.
#NowWatching THE LONE RANGER #GoreVerbinski #JohnnyDepp @armiehammer #RuthWilson #TomWilkinson #WilliamFichtner #HelenaBonhamCarter pic.twitter.com/04CpDE9vLK
— Harris Dang #DearYourMajesty (@FilmMomatic) January 5, 2020
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Superman Returns
Superman Returns earned $391 million worldwide on a budget of $280 million. The film received mixed reviews. The director of the film, Bryan Singer said that Superman Returns did decently at the box office but he also added that he had no idea on what constitutes under-performing these days.
i´m gonna miss Brandon a lot he was amazing in both roles but dang his Superman got me crying every darn second he was on screen lol also what did you think of Superman Returns? i personally love it to this day and i also really wish the PSP game came out pic.twitter.com/l2jCthZGZZ
— Jake Is Hyped For The Sonic Movie (@Venturian628) January 11, 2020