Box Office Poison: Hollywood’s Story in a Century of Flops

Covering over 100 years of Hollywood infamy, Daily Telegraph film critic Robey tours some legendary cinematic flops. His criteria for a flop are that something went epically wrong in the film’s production, a tremendous amount of money was lost, or personalities or the press conspired to doom a project. A Robey flop is a film with high or inflated expectations that failed to meet critical or financial success, regardless of its objective merit. He covers 26 infamous films such as Gigli, Cutthroat Island, The Adventures of Pluto Nash, Alexander, and 2019’s Cats, but also explores some films that have since garnered an improved critical or cult status, such as David Lynch’s Dune, Todd Browning’s Freaks, Terry Gilliam’s The Adventures of Baron Munchausen, and Orson Welles’s The Magnificent Ambersons. He wisely avoids films that have been flogged too many times (e.g., Heaven’s Gate and Ishtar, though they are referenced). With seasoned polish, the essays are engaging, informative, filled with relevant references to other films and filmmakers, and fun to read. This book proves that even some of cinema’s greatest failures are worth reading about and watching.