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Not all the long-awaited movies become box office hits. At times, positive brand, fabulous casts, or showy productions set such high expectations that they are hard to live up to. Over the past few years, some films have crossed the international border with buzz and with a smaller amount of box office bucks. In this list of 10 movies from around the world, you’ll find some that brought big expectations and some that didn’t.
Joker: Folie à Deux (USA)
After Joker had been a success, the sequel was expected to be great. Even with Joaquin Phoenix and Lady Gaga starring in its ranks, the musical direction and audience reaction were the reasons why the film failed to get the box office numbers it was expected to have.
Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga (Australia)
George Miller’s Mad Max sequel provided some well-deserved praise for its workmanship, but the prequel struggled to achieve the commercial success of Mad Max: Fury Road, despite the positive reviews and response.
Argyll (United Kingdom)
Argylle was helmed by Matthew Vaughn and boasted a cast of stars with a goal of becoming a blockbuster. But its box-office performance was not as good as it was expected, given the budget and marketing push.
Indian 2 (India)
Indian 2 was one of the most looked-forward-to films of the year, which reunited director S. Shankar with Kamal Haasan. Numerous people were excited about the film before its release, but the film’s theatrical performance and reception were mixed.
Madame Web (USA)
Sony’s Spider-Man Universe also grew, with Madame Web, while the superhero movie struggled at the box office. The prospect of comic-book adaptations was still high, and its showings were a matter of discussion.
Megalopolis (United States)
Industry attention was drawn to the long-awaited passion project of Francis Ford Coppola, which was a massive undertaking and had taken decades to pull off. The film was shrouded in mystery, but it failed to live up to early expectations in the theatres.
Scarlet (Japan)
Mamoru Hosoda’s anime movie Scarlet, which was released in 2025, is widely considered a financial and critical flop. The movie got hit with intense online pushback and negative audience buzz in Japan, and some reviews said it was a disaster because of its shift toward 3D CGI.
Bade Miyan Chote Miyan (India)
This action film, with the outstanding performances of Akshay Kumar and Tiger Shroff, was marketed as a big Eid movie. Although it was well promoted and had a huge release, it did not make the mark in the theatres as the industry had hoped.
Borderlands (United States)
Borderlands was based on a popular video game franchise and was designed to appeal to gamers as well as people outside the gaming community. The adaptation failed to get off the ground and was one of the more unexpected box office tales of the year.
Creation of the Gods II: Demon Force (China)
It is considered a box office flop compared to its massive budget and its hit predecessor. The sequel to one of China’s biggest fantasy franchises entered theaters with major expectations but couldn’t attract as much success than expectations.
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