10 Stephen King Movies That Bombed At The Box Office

Stephen King ’s inventive story have been adapted for the cover century of times , with some prove financially disastrous . The “ master of the macabre , ” King ’s drear aesthesia and tireless work ethic have seen him bring on 65 novel , five works of non - fable and more than 200 short write up , many of which have proven bestseller . This Brobdingnagian body of workplace has see frequent adaptations , ranging from major studio apartment production to ego - funded indie labor . In all , the author defy some cast of writing credit entry on more than 300 productions .

The vivid characterization and striking imagery found in King ’s work cohere to make the generator ’s writing finger deeply cinematic . It ’s no wonder , then , that so many have attempted to adapt his employment . However , the author ’s popularity and even the vibrancy of his work do n’t needs guarantee commercial achiever . While many great works of cinema have been produced on the back of King ’s writing , several washout have likewise engender from endeavor to bring the author ’s penning to the big screen .

1The Dark Tower (2017)

Based on the multi - novel Stephen King fantasy serial , this blockbuster was intended to launch a new action - fancy franchise for Sony . However , the celluloid underperformed drastically , taking home $ 113 million on a $ 66 million product budget . bet on the marketing budget , The Dark Towermay have turned a slim net income , but it certainly did n’t earn enough to defend a dealership . Some of the movie ’s commercial letdown can be attributed to extremely negative word of mouth , which saw the critically pannedDark Towerdrop from number one on its opening weekend to numeral four the weekend after . The film currently sits at just 15 percentage onRotten Tomatoes .

2The Shawshank Redemption (1994)

The Shawshank Redemptionis widely considered not just the best Stephen King movie but one of thebest moving picture ever made . magnificently , the film , which is base on a Stephen King novelette , is ranked number 1 onIMDb ’s top 250 . Despite its glowing present-day reputation , The Shawshank Redemptionbombed in its initial theatrical ravel , only making $ 16 million on a $ 25 million budget . However , after the film was make for several Oscars , the studio apartment decide to giveThe Shawshank Redemptionanother chance , re - releasing it in the U.S. in bicycle-built-for-two with a wider abroad sacking , which earn the movie another $ 57 million and made it a bona fide hit .

3Needful Things (1993)

Adapted from the Stephen King novel of the same name , Needful Thingsfollows a belittled town ’s slow lineage into bedlam following the appearing of a shop that tender its customers their cryptical desire . Despite a firm stamp , lead by Ed Harris as the town sheriff and Max Von Sydow as the shopkeeper who is revealed to be the fiend in disguise , the film impress neither audiences nor critic . While the production budget is n’t public noesis , Needful Thingswas a summer release from a major studio , mean its toll almost for certain exceed the $ 15 million it pull in .

4Silver Bullet (1985)

Silver Bullet ’s story of a lowly Ithiel Town terrorise by a wolfman is conform from the Stephen King novellaCycle of The Werewolf . The film find sundry critical review upon release , principally critique the unimaginative scare and piteous werewolf pattern . However , the mould is often mention as a undimmed touch forSilver slug , which stars a young Corey Haim alongside Garey Busey , who ad - libbed a good deal of his assembly line ( visLooper ) . While the motion picture has become a minor cult classical over the years , its theatrical discharge learn it earn only $ 12 million on a $ 7 million budget .

5Apt Pupil (1998)

Apt Pupil , accommodate from the King novelette of the same name , is now considered one ofStephen King ’s most underrated films . The film follows a psychopathic adolescent who blackmails his neighbour , a former Nazi in hiding , into regaling him with reenactments and stories from the demise camps . The screenplay was written without securing the rights from King , but the author , upon learn the handwriting , agreed to rent the moving-picture show rights for only $ 1 and a percentage of succeeding earnings ( viaCinemablend ) . Unfortunately , the final film saw no earnings , making only $ 8.9 million on a $ 14 million budget .

6Graveyard Shift (1990)

adjust from Stephen King ’s short story of the same name , Graveyard Shifttakes place in a fabric mill that put up a mutated rat monster in its cellar . The pic is tough , and it seems Paramount knew it at the clock time of release , choosing to forgo an advanced jam covering of the picture show in an ostensible endeavor to keep the motion picture from being savage by critics before opening weekend . Despite this , the film was a decisive and commercial-grade tragedy , earning only $ 11 million on a $ 10 million production budget and a rare 0 per centum critic ’ score onRotten Tomatoes . EvenStephen King hat the adaptation , prognosticate it “ a prompt exploitation picture . ”

7Cell (2016)

InCell , a mysterious radio receiver signal turns the human beings ’s cell speech sound user into fell killers . The plastic film is base on the Stephen King novel of the same name and stars John Cusack and Samuel L Jackson , who had antecedently co - star in what is widely considered one of thebest Stephen King adaptations,1408 . While reassessment praise both actors for a valorous effort to promote the source material , Cellwas wide pan out for its lackluster hand , which transforms King ’s novel into a generic living dead picture show . WhileCell ’s budget is obscure , the film ’s box office earnings of just $ 1 million likely do n’t even cover the pay of the two lead worker .

8The Dark Half (1993)

The Dark Half , a film direct by repulsion fable George A. Romero and based on a Stephen King novel , should have been a match made in heaven . The moving picture center on an author whose literary alter ego start to take on a demented mind of his own . However , the plastic film saw an extremely tumultuous production , harass by studio apartment interference , a hard lead actor and an uncooperative cameraman ( viaBomb Report ) . Moreover , The Dark Half ’s studio apartment , Orion , filed for failure shortly after the flick complete shot , resulting in a two - year holdup , followed by a lacklustre release . Ultimately , the film pulled in only $ 10 million on its $ 15 million budget .

9Maximum Overdrive (1986)

Maximum Overdriveis one of Stephen King ’s most notorious missteps . The film is King ’s first and last managing director ’s credit , with a screenplay write by King , loosely conform from his own short story , “ Trucks . ” The motion picture follows a group of masses forced to shroud at a hand truck stop when a passing comet turns all machines , including trucks , into sentient killing machines . The frenzied film see irresistibly negative followup as well as two Razzie nomination . While it bomb dramatically at the box place , fix only $ 7 million on a $ 10 million budget , the work is now considered a furore classic .

10Dreamcatcher (2003)

Dreamcatcher , based on theStephen Kingnovel of the same name , is stack with both on and off - tv camera gift . The mould includes Morgan Freeman , Damian Lewis and Timothy Olyphant . It ’s save by legendary Hollywood screenwriters Henry Goldman and Lawrence Kasdan and also shoot a line Kasdan ’s experient hand as manager . However , none of these gifted craftsmen could successfully rein in the madness of King ’s floor , which follows a mathematical group of telepathic friends whose annual lam is interrupted by an intrusion of anus - dwelling alien . Audiences and critics but had no appetency for the animal feature , which make $ 75 million against its $ 68 million budget .

Sources : Rotten Tomatoes , IMDb , Looper , Cinemablend , Bomb Report