For every Chicago, Mamma Mia!, or Les Misérables, there are several other 21st century movie musicals based on Broadway phenomena that ended up being not much to sing about, big screen adaptations that failed to recapture the commercial (and sometimes critical) success they enjoyed on Broadway.
It’s important to note with any box office analysis that the general Hollywood rule of thumb is that a movie has to gross at least 2.5x times what it cost to produce to break even (due to marketing costs that are often equal to if not more than the film’s production budget).
With Dear Evan Hansen the latest smash hit from the Great White Way to underwhelm at the box office, let’s take a look at ten notable modern movie musicals based on Broadway hits that failed at cinemas, starting with the elephant in the room (or is that the 27-year-old in the classroom?) …
Dear Evan Hansen (2021)
Read IGN’s Dear Evan Hansen review (score: 5.0/10).
Yes, it’s still early yet and its A- CinemaScore suggests moviegoers — those who showed up opening weekend anyway — liked the film far more than critics did (33% on Rotten Tomatoes). But a $7.5 million second-place opening weekend doesn’t bode well for its long-term prospects (maybe the film will become a streaming sensation down the line). On the upside, Dear Evan Hansen cost a very modest $28 million so its potential losses for Universal won’t be as Cat-astrophic as the studio’s other recent Broadway movie…
Cats (2019)
Read IGN’s Cats review (score: 4.5/10).
With a budget of roughly $100 million but only $75.5 million in worldwide ticket sales, this infamous box office and critical (19% on Rotten Tomatoes) disaster reportedly lost Universal over $100 million. Directed by Les Misérables’ Tom Hooper, Cats never recovered from the derisive reaction to its motion-capture visual effects that transformed Taylor Swift, Judi Dench, Idris Elba, Ian McKellen, Jennifer Hudson, Jason Derulo, Rebel Wilson and James Corden into anthropomorphic felines bursting into song. Despite garnering some camp-loving cult followers and demands to release the Butthole Cut, Cats is a bad, ahem, Memory in the history of Broadway-to-film adaptations. As a stage show, however, Cats will remain one of the longest-running musicals of all time with over $3 billion in ticket sales and plenty of awards to meow about.
In the Heights (2021)
Read IGN’s In the Heights review (score: 9.0/10).
Based on Lin-Manuel Miranda’s musical, In the Heights was a critical darling (95% on Rotten Tomatoes) but it only earned $43.9 at the worldwide box office on a $55 million budget. (Analysts projected In the Heights needed to gross $200 million to break even.) So was the film’s simultaneous release on HBO Max to blame for its failure? Not really, some box office analysts claim, a sentiment echoed by the studio. “Our experience, which is backed up on In the Heights, is that if the movie hits a high level in theaters, it hits a high level on the service,” Warner Bros. president of domestic distribution Jeff Goldstein told Associated Press. “If it hits a low level in theaters, it hits a low level on HBO Max. They’re really very comparable.”
Nine (2009)
Read IGN’s Nine review (6.0/10).
Based on the Tony-winning 1982 musical inspired by Federico Fellini’s classic film 8 ½, Nine the movie had many things going for it, on paper anyway. It was directed by Chicago’s Rob Marshall and had a stellar ensemble cast — including Daniel Day-Lewis, Marion Cotillard, Judi Dench, Nicole Kidman, and Penelope Cruz — but it only earned $54 million worldwide off an $80 million budget. Critically, Nine holds a lousy 39% aggregate score on Rotten Tomatoes. And yet despite being a critical and commercial flop, Nine still earned four Academy Award nominations.
Rock of Ages (2012)
Read IGN’s Rock of Ages review (score: 6.0/10).
Tom Cruise sings! This jukebox musical may have been one of the longest-running Broadway shows, but it failed to rock the box office when it arrived on the big screen. With a $75 million budget, the film only earned $59.4 million worldwide. It didn’t fare much better with critics (42% on Rotten Tomatoes), although Cruise did receive praise for his performance as singer Stacee Jaxx. Director Adam Shankman told Forbes he thinks his “weird cult movie” would have fared better in the era of streaming, blaming its “very complicated [release] date” and marketing challenges for its underperformance.
Rent (2005)
Read IGN’s Rent review (score: 6.0/10).
The Tony and Pulitzer-winning Rent was one of the longest-running hit musicals on Broadway, but it’s an example of a project that’s a success in one medium but a failure when translated to another. Chris Columbus directed the movie from a screenplay adaptation by Steve Chbosky (who went on to direct Dear Evan Hansen). With a budget of $40 million, Rent only grossed $31.7M worldwide. It was also a disappointment with critics (46% on Rotten Tomatoes). It’s possible the play Rent — which, it must be noted, is not without its detractors — was too much of a relic of the ‘90s by the time the movie was released.
Jersey Boys (2014)
Read IGN’s Jersey Boys review (score: 6.0/10).
Clint Eastwood directed this adaptation of the Tony-winning Broadway hit about 1960s pop group Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons. The budget is reported to have been anywhere between $40M and $58.6 million (the film received a California tax credit that reduced its cost) but it only grossed $67.6 million worldwide. Critically, the film landed at just 51% on Rotten Tomatoes. Jersey Boys attracted a more mature audience at the box office and its cast — many of whom were reprising their roles from the stage — were mostly unknown to filmgoers.
Hedwig and the Angry Inch (2001)
Read IGN’s Hedwig and the Angry Inch review (score: 9.0/10).
This low-budget film based on John Cameron Mitchell’s Tony and Obie-winning musical only cost $6 million to produce but still grossed just $3.6 million worldwide. The movie, though, has developed a cult following in the years since its release. Critics praised the movie, earning it an aggregate score of 92% on Rotten Tomatoes.
Annie (2014)
Read IGN’s Annie review (score: 5.8/10).
Budgeted at $65 million (although Business Insider claims it was $105 million), the second big-screen adaptation of the Broadway musical Annie was slammed by critics (28% on Rotten Tomatoes) and ended up only earning $136.9 million worldwide. The film — starring Quvenzhané Wallis, Jamie Foxx, and Cameron Diaz — was also arguably hurt by being leaked online as part of the infamous Sony hack.
The Producers (2005)
Read IGN’s The Producers review (score: 4.0/10).
While it started as a beloved Mel Brooks movie, The Producers found a whole new realm of success on Broadway in 2001. It became a smash stage success and earned 12 Tony Awards, including Best Musical. So when Universal brought it to the screen, they cast Matthew Broderick and Nathan Lane in the roles they played to so much acclaim and success on Broadway. It didn’t help. The Producers failed to produce much love from either movie audiences ($38.1 million worldwide off a $45 million budget) or critics (50% on Rotten Tomatoes).
Which one of these Broadway musical movie adaptations do you think least deserved to flop? Let us know in the comments!