In 1995, the movie “Cutthroat Island” was released, and it was a major pirate film. However, the film was a disaster for the studio. For years, it was considered the biggest flop in Hollywood. This was one reason why Hollywood avoided pirate themes for many years.
Filmmakers regularly try new ideas or genres to attract people to theaters. However, some themes are avoided even by Hollywood.
Pirate films were considered “box office poison” in Hollywood for years. This was largely due to “Cutthroat Island,” which failed horribly at the box office and ruined the studio behind it.
Pirate Film Makes it into the “Guinness Book of Records” as the Biggest Commercial Flop
Which film is it about? After several major successes, the production company Carolco Pictures wanted to tackle a completely new subject. With “Cutthroat Island,” they released a pirate film in 1995 featuring Geena Davis and Matthew Modine in a strong cast.
The daughter of a pirate wants to find his treasure and is determined to be faster than her father’s brothers. Especially one of the brothers is willing to do anything to take the treasure map from her to claim the treasure for himself. A wild chase begins in the Caribbean, where the British crown also gets involved.
The film relies on wild chases and a naval battle with a real ship, which was built specifically for the film. Overall, the film provided nice entertainment for an evening with great effects and an excellent soundtrack.
However, the movie did poorly with critics: On IMDb, the action spectacle only scores 5.7 out of 10 from nearly 30,000 reviews (via imdb.com). The film is now considered an underrated gem among fans.
How badly did the film flop? The film, with estimated production costs of about 100 million US dollars, only grossed 10 million US dollars, making it one of the biggest failures in box office history for years. Adjusted for inflation, that amounts to a loss of 147 million US dollars. (via guinnessworldrecords.com)
According to the “Guinness Book of Records,” the film was regarded as the biggest commercial flop in the film business for years.
Only “Pirates of the Caribbean” Breaks the Curse of Pirate Films
After the disaster of “Cutthroat Island,” Hollywood avoided pirate themes for many years (via gamerant.com). The fear of another catastrophe was too great, as was the concern that they would end up like Carolco Pictures and have to file for bankruptcy.
It was only with “Pirates of the Caribbean” that things changed. The first film was released in 2003, as Hollywood once again attempted a pirate adventure. To this day, the film has grossed over 600 million US dollars at a cost of around 140 million.
And “Pirates of the Caribbean” is so successful that some games have since introduced content and so-called crossover content with the films:
Sea of Thieves brings a DLC for Pirates of the Caribbean – Perfect for newcomers and PvE fans
