Hollywood blockbusters lost almost $1 billion this summer, reports claim

Ben-Hur, The BFG, and Alice Through the Looking Glass lost studios huge amounts of money

It’s no secret; this summer has been shocking for blockbusters. The likes of Ben-Hur, Independence Day: Resurgence, and The Legend of Tarzan have all received negative reviews from critics, while studios continue to pump millions into sequels and reboots.

A new report by Bloomberg (using figures from industry site The Numbers) estimates films lost around $915.6 million this summer, compared to the negative deficit of $546.3 million in 2015.

Paramount’s rebooted Ben-Hur being the biggest loser (around $120 million), closely followed by Steven Spielberg and Disney’s The BFG ($117 million). Disney’s Alice Through the Looking Glass came in a close third, the sequel on track to lose around $90 million.

While Ben-Hur has received negative reviews from critics, currently holding just 28% on Rotten Tomatoes, The BFG is ‘certified fresh’ on the aggregate website at 75%, quality obviously not helping Spielberg’s fantasy adaptation.

Another well-received film, Kubo and the Two Strings (currently holding a 96% rating on Rotten Tomatoes), will reportedly be the fourth biggest loser, losing $80 million for Universal. Star Trek Beyond (also ‘certified fresh’ at 83%) is estimated to be the fifth biggest loser, only making $4 million more than Kubo.

Rounding off the final top 10 losers are War Dogs (losing Warner $67.7 million), Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 2 (losing Paramount the same), Pete’s Dragon (around $63 million), Ghostbusters (losing Sony around $58 million), and Popstar: Never Stop Stopping (almost $36 million).

“Overall it was pretty awful,” Doug Creutz of Cowen & Co told the publication. “We have been talking about the increasingly bad ecosystem that we see theatrically, and I think it definitely played out this summer.”

He added: “People aren’t going to the box office as much as they used to. The only way out of this problem for Hollywood is [to have] fewer studios, and that ain’t going to happen.”

Meanwhile, Disney concluded the summer as the biggest earning studio, taking $521 million profit thanks to Finding Dory and Captain America: Civil War, the two highest grossing films of the summer.

Following the two Disney films is The Secret Life of Pets, Suicide Squad, The Conjuring 2, The Angry Birds Movie, Central Intelligence, X-Men Apocalypse, Me Before You, and Lights Out. Notably, alongside the superhero films - which remain the highest grossing films - horror films dominate many of the top spots thanks to their minimal budgets and mass appeal.

This year has produced numerous divisive films, many of which feature in a recent report about the 30 most divisive films if the 21st Century.