It's no secret that Marvel Studios isn't the box office juggernaut it once was, but it's not the only studio struggling. 2025, or how it was previously coined "Survive 'til '25," has not lived up to the hype in theaters. That moniker came after the Hollywood strikes of 2023, pushing many films out of 2024. However, studios and exhibitors are now looking towards 2026 and 2027 for major box office success after this year has been filled with disappointing returns and a few certified flops.
In many ways, the success of theater-going this year has been defined by three films: A Minecraft Movie, Lilo & Stitch, and China's Ne Zha 2. The first two follow modern trends: a video game adaptation with massive Gen Z and Gen Alpha interest and a Disney live-action remake (which has become hit or miss).
The latter, however, is a growing phenomenon: a Chinese-produced film that goes gangbusters in that country, $1.86 billion to be exact. Ne Zha 2 represents a tectonic shift in the global box office, where the biggest films in the world can be produced, distributed, and primarily watched in China. This concept was foreseen but not an issue back in the 2010s, when films like Avengers: Endgame made $632.1 million in China alone.
With a changing theatrical environment at a global scale, there are winners and losers. One winner this summer was Superman, which reportedly turned a tidy profit for Warner Bros. and quickly warranted a sequel being greenlit.
The issue is that almost every other superhero film of 2025 has been a loser, including The Fantastic Four: First Steps, which didn't quite make the "flop" list, but was still a letdown by most accounts.
From massive Disney projects to small family dramas, discover the biggest 2025 box office flops now that the summer season has come to a close.
Biggest Box Office Flops of 2025 (So Far)
Snow White
Global Box Office Total: $205.7 million
Reported Budget: $270 million
Directed by Marc Webb, starring Gal Gadot and Rachel Zegler, Snow White is the new example of how not to do a Disney remake.
The Snow White remake faced major controversy, from backlash to Zegler's casting and viral comments criticizing the original story, to debates over the portrayal of the Seven Dwarfs after Peter Dinklage's heavily debated remarks back in 2022.
The film also endured years of delays: filming was pushed back from 2020 due to COVID-19, disrupted by a Pinewood Studios set fire, and later underwent extensive 2024 reshoots that altered the ending and cut major subplots.
These setbacks, plus heavy marketing, ballooned its budget to around $270 million, making it one of Disney's biggest modern flops.
Mickey17
Global Box Office Total: $133.3 million
Reported Budget: $118 million
Before Mickey17, Bong Joo Ho's previous film was the Academy Award-winning Parasite, a low-budget, Korean thriller that earned over $262 million worldwide.
Star Robert Pattinson's latest film before Mickey17 was The Batman, a stunning success among critics and audiences, raking in over $772 million in 2022.
The past good energy of these two didn't match the end results of Mickey17, a dystopian sci-fi book adaptation that fell flat on nearly every level. Fans of the novel Mickey7 came away slightly disappointed, while general audiences didn't connect to this wack, seeing double space adventure. A rare miss for Warner Bros. in 2025.
Captain America: Brave New World
Global Box Office Total: $415.1 million
Reported Budget: $180 million
Before Snow White's collapse for Disney, Captain America: Brave New World stumbled out of the gate in February. Following the massive success of Deadpool & Wolverine in summer 2024, the highest-grossing R-rated movie ever, Marvel Studios was puffing out its chest, ready to reload the Captain America franchise with Anthony Mackie's Sam Wilson.
Instead, the film became a major disappointment.
Plagued by extensive reshoots and a muddled creative process that left it with five credited writers, Brave New World failed to resonate with many fans. Its lukewarm reception quickly translated to box office struggles: despite a respectable $88.8 million domestic opening, the movie never truly took flight in theaters.
Thunderbolts*
Global Box Office Total: $382.4 million
Reported Budget: $180 million
Captain America: Brave New World was only the beginning of Marvel Studios' concerning 2025 film slate. Releasing in its coveted, high-earning early May slot, Thunderbolts*, starring Florence Pugh, is possibly the most bewildering comic book movie flop ever.
Thunderbolts*' performance is a contradiction. It's one of the highest-rated MCU films, with an 88% critics' score on Rotten Tomatoes, but it is the 5th-lowest-earning Marvel Studios film ever.
The results from Thunderbolts* are arguably worse than The Marvels. While it made more money (nearly double, in fact), the new team-up proved that making good, possibly even beloved films, doesn't mean that general audiences would support Marvel films. The biggest change fans can expect in the future is that Marvel Studios will not connect as many film characters to Disney+ projects.
Elio
Global Box Office Total: $153.7 million
Reported Budget: $200 million
Elio endured a very public, turbulent production, with original director Adrian Molina exiting after clashes with leadership and the removal of queer-coded elements, leading to extensive rewrites, a director change, and even America Ferrera's departure from the voice cast (read The Hollywood Reporter for more).
Despite strong reviews and an A CinemaScore, Elio opened to only $20.8 million, the lowest debut in Pixar history, and was quickly buried by summer competition, even being cannibalized by the strong legs of Disney's Lilo & Stitch.
Pixar will bounce back with Toy Story 5 in 2026, but another original film, Hoppers, seemingly has an uphill battle towards monetary success.
The Alto Knights
Global Box Office Total: $10.2 million
Reported Budget: $50 million
The Alto Knights quietly became one of 2025's most glaring box office disasters, though it likely slipped under the radar for many moviegoers.
Despite Robert De Niro's legacy in mob films and Barry Levinson at the helm, the genre has long since faded in popularity, leaving the movie feeling like a relic of another era. Critics dismissed the double-De Niro gimmick as distracting rather than compelling, and Warner Bros. barely marketed the film, sealing its fate.
M3GAN 2.0
Global Box Office Total: $39 million
Reported Budget: $25 million
M3GAN 2.0 was a sharp fall from grace compared to the breakout success of the original. The first film shocked the industry with over $180 million worldwide on a modest budget, cementing M3GAN as a viral horror icon.
By contrast, the sequel mustered barely a fifth of what its predecessor earned, and opened with a paltry $10 million despite tracking for much higher. Jason Blum himself admitted on The Town podcast that the studio "overthought" M3GAN's appeal, changing genres, rushing production, and betting on a summer release instead of the fall slot that worked so well the first time.
Love Hurts
Global Box Office Total: $17.5 million
Reported Budget: $18 million
Love Hurts was positioned as a smaller, star-driven romantic action comedy, but it failed to connect with either critics (18% on Rotten Tomatoes) or audiences.
Despite Ke Huy Quan's renewed popularity after Everything Everywhere All at Once, the movie struggled to find a foothold, opening below expectations and quickly fading from theaters.
Instead of building on Quan's momentum, Love Hurts became a reminder that goodwill for an actor alone isn't enough to carry a film at the box office in the modern age.
The Unbreakable Boy
Global Box Office Total: $7.5 million
Reported Budget: $6 million
Lionsgate's The Unbreakable Boy was a stark box office disappointment, marking Zachary Levi's lowest-grossing film to date. Despite a heartwarming story and positive audience feedback, the film struggled to attract viewers, hampered by multiple release delays and subpar marketing.
Levi's recent track record, Shazam! Fury of the Gods and Harold and the Purple Crayon have shown diminishing box office appeal, and his name alone no longer guarantees audience turnout.
