Why 'Mortal Engines' Is the New Top Blockbuster Bomb of 2018 Box Office
After Thanksgiving weekend, it looked like the Lionsgate movie "Robin Hood" would be the biggest blockbuster bomb of the 2018 box office. But the Sherwood Forest revamp has now been dethroned by Universal/Media Rights Capital's "Mortal Engines," an adaptation of Philip Reeve's sci-fi dystopian novel that opened to a mere $7.5 million domestically this weekend. Most of this year's box office flops have been mid-budget releases like "Annihilation" and "The Hurricane Heist," rather than blockbusters with $100 million-plus budgets like 2017's "Ghost in the Shell." "Robin Hood" was the closest to that budget mark with a reported budget of around $97 million. But "Mortal Engines" had a budget of at least $100 million, with some reports estimating it as much as $150 million. While Universal doesn't disclose budget figures, it's possible that the studio might not make back its production costs,...