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

by Tim Robey

Overview

***A NEXT BIG IDEA CLUB MUST-READ BOOK OF NOVEMBER 2024***

"A wild success." — Publishers Weekly

"A surefire hit." —Library Journal STARRED review

"A brilliant star turn." —Andrew O’Hagan

A riotous and revealing story of Hollywood’s most spectacular flops and how they ended careers, bankrupted studios and changed film history.

"Failure fascinates, for all the reasons that success is a drag…”

From grand follies to misunderstood masterpieces, disastrous sequels to catastrophic literary adaptations, Box Office Poison tells a hugely entertaining alternative history of Hollywood, through a century of its most notable flops. What can these films tell us about the Hollywood system, the public’s appetite–or lack of it–and the circumstances that saw such flops actually made? Away from the canon, this is the definitive take on these ill-fated, but essential celluloid failures.

Robey covers a vast century of flops, including: Intolerance; Queen Kelly; Freaks; Sylvia Scarlett; The Magnificent Ambersons; Land of the Pharoahs; Doctor Dolittle; Sorcerer; Dune; The Adventures of Baron Munchausen; Nothing But Trouble; The Hudsucker Proxy; Cutthroat Island; Speed 2: Cruise Control; Babe: Pig in the City; Supernova; Rollerball; The Adventures of Pluto Nash; Gigli; Alexander; Catwoman; A Sound of Thunder; Speed Racer; Synecdoche, New York; Pan; and Cats.

From Daily Telegraph film critic Tim Robey, this is a brilliantly fun exploration of human nature and stupidity in some of the greatest film flops throughout history.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780369760845
Publisher:	Hanover Square Press
Publication date:	11/05/2024
Sold by:	HARLEQUIN
Format:	eBook
Pages:	336
File size:	11 MB
Note:	This product may take a few minutes to download.

About the Author

Since 2000, Tim Robey has reviewed films, written features and conducted interviews for the Daily Telegraph's arts pages. He appears regularly on Radio 4's Front Row and Monocle FM Radio, contributed to R4's now-defunct Film Programme, and appeared as a sofa guest on BBC Film 2015-2017. He is the co-author of The DVD Stack I & II (Canongate, 2006/7). He gave Cats zero stars, but has now seen it four times. His favorite film is Terrence Malick's The Thin Red Line (1998).

Editorial Reviews

An instant classic. Box Office Poison is funny, sharp, and way more entertaining than the cinematic flops it describes so wonderfully. I’d always hoped Tim Robey would write a book and here it is—a terrific read, so much fun, and a brilliant star turn from one of Britain’s best film writers.” —Andrew O’Hagan, author of Caledonian Road

“Watching these cinematic disasters might be agony, but reading Tim Robey’s writing about them is pure pleasure. Box Office Poison is a bad movie lover’s bliss.” —Matt Singer, author of Opposable Thumbs

“Worded with the wisdom and profundity of a veteran critic whose all—encompassing perspective on film history blunders renders him a seminal source on the topic, Box Office Poison is an essential text on one of cinema’s most elusive subjects. Robey makes sense of the senseless, excavating each commercial failure to the bone. He unearths the motivations behind directors, producers, actors, executives, and fringe players alike, pulling back the veil on personal and professional histories, weaving through complex cultural context seamlessly to deliver an encyclopedic study on cinematic unsuccess penned with a wit and ease that makes it impossible to put down. By the end of each chapter, Robey has revealed the entire skeleton of the beast, crystal clear, for us to stand back and gawk at.” —Luke Hicks, filmmaker and film critic

“Is a failure that endures in the medium’s memory its own kind of triumph? The beauty of Tim Robey’s ruefully funny and richly insightful book is that it sees every flop as an indelible document of its cinematic moment, the lessons of which reverberate anew in this fraught moment for the film world. Fusing Hollywood history, industry analysis and passionate, deeply informed film criticism, Robey draws sharp distinctions between maligned masterpieces and outright catastrophes, yet embraces them all with the same generosity of spirit and knowledge.”— Justin Chang, film critic, The New Yorker


"With sardonic wit, Robey romps through a roll call of movies that Hollywood would rather forget."—Kirkus Reviews

"This catalog of mediocrity is a wild success."— Publishers Weekly

“Expertly researched and highly entertaining.... A generous, rather than gloating overview.... Consistently insightful... shrewd case studies.”— Kate Stables, Sight & Sound

"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. A surefire hit for movie lovers."—Library Journal STARRED review

"Box Office Poison is a wonderfully lively look at Hollywood history from a unique and highly revelatory angle...Film buffs should consider this book required reading."—Booklist

"Hollywood’s most notable bombs are — sadly — just as well—known as its biggest hits, a factor that [Box Office Poison] joyously celebrates."—Variety

"Robey lays out a solid thesis about what a proper flop entails—and why they can be even more instructive than box—office sensations."—A.V. Club

"A rollicking, gossipy triumph."—Telegraph

"A hilarious account of film’s most stunning failures... [An] erudite and brilliantly entertaining chronicle of movie excess... A five—star book."—The Guardian


"Tim Robey explores the thin line between forgettable bad movies and those destined to be remembered forever with interviews, behind—the—scenes stories and wry humor."—Geek Girl Authority

"Gleefully snarky."—Bookpage

"Cinephiles who love behind—the—scenes stories about commercial failures will savor the entertainingly chatty Box Office Poison by Tim Robey."—Shelf Awareness STARRED review


"Box Office Poison is a riotously entertaining read, packed with illuminating tales of egos run amok."—The Spectator

"A fabulous shadow history of Tinseltown."—TLS

From the Publisher

2024-06-15
Hollywood producers are never as smart as they think they are, says critic Robey, and a lengthy list of lemons proves it.Schadenfreude is a German word which means finding enjoyment in the misfortune of other people, and it is never more fun than when applied to Hollywood hucksters with more dollars than sense. Robey, a film critic of long experience, has a great time reminding them of their missteps, failures, and outright debacles, delving into the background of 26 clunkers. The history of flops goes back a long way, to the days of silent cinema andIntolerance. Its cast of thousands and huge sets consumed cash by the bucketload, but Hollywood never learns from its mistakes, and the process was repeated in a string of historical epics likeLand of the Pharaohs. Other failures, such as the ruinously expensiveCutthroat Island, were plagued by creative conflicts between, well, everyone involved. Looking to sequels for surefire hits, Hollywood bet big onSpeed 2: Cruise Control, but it sank without a trace.Babe 2: Pig in the City failed to capture its predecessor’s charm and instead became a dark nightmare. The idea of relying on popular source material yieldedCatwoman, which not even a whip-wielding Halle Berry could save, and the abysmalCats, about which the less is said the better. But there is no excuse for disasters likeAlexander,The Adventures of Pluto Nash , andGigli. Robey has a great time with all this, although he notes that streaming and global distribution are making it more difficult to assess the financial losses of a turkey. In any case,Box Office Poison is a fun read, and it asks a key question: What were they thinking?With sardonic wit, Robey romps through a roll call of movies that Hollywood would rather forget.

Kirkus Reviews