Dwayne Johnson is one of the most marketable stars currently working in Hollywood, but he's actually had 10 major movies that flopped at the box office. Although Johnson has been in plenty of massive financial success, that isn't always the case, as almost every actor is destined to have at least one box office bomb in their career. Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson's track record is far from perfect, as these 10 box office bombs featuring the actor flopped hard.
Johnson got his start as a professional wrestler, quickly rising to the top as one of the most recognizable contenders in the ring. The Rock's massive personality helped him make the jump to movies, with his film debut occurring in 2001's The Mummy Returns. Throughout the 2000s and 2010s, Dwayne Johnson starred in a series of action films and family movies, which were mostly moderate box-office successes that were met with a mixed reception by critics. However, The Rock's career skyrocketed due to his appearances in commercially successful movies like Moana, Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle, and the Fast and Furious franchise. So, here are his 10 biggest flops.
10 Black Adam
Black Adam was meant to start the next big chapter in Dwayne Johnson's career, with the 2022 film attempting to launch The Rock to the forefront of the DCU. However, the film wasn't nearly as successful as it was envisioned, making only $393.3 million on a budget of around $260 million. It's questionable if the film was even profitable due to its massive marketing campaign, and considering that the future of the DCU was being built around Black Adam, this failure was a huge blow. While Black Adam's box office returns weren't what The Rock wanted, the film is far from his biggest box office bomb.
9 Planet 51
Planet 51 is a 2009 animated movie that is mostly ed for being one of Dwayne Johnson's least successful films at the box office. Planet 51 had a budget of around $70 million, with it only making back $105.6 million. One of the reasons for this failure was the film's competition, with it going up against movies like The Blind Side, Twilight: New Moon, and one of Disney's animated movies, 2009's A Christmas Carol. Although The Rock was in Planet 51, it was only a voice role, meaning that his star power had less pull for the film.
8 Faster
One of the earlier movies that attempted to turn Johnson into a movie star was 2010's Faster, but it wasn't successful in this endeavor. Faster was made on a $24 million budget, with its box office returns only garnering $35.6 million. This was in part due to the film's poor critical reception, which showed that The Rock had to wait a little longer before becoming the action star he is today.
7 Gridiron Gang
2006's Gridiron Gang is an interesting entry in The Rock's filmography, as it is a serious sports drama rather than an action comedy. Despite this unique direction for Dwayne Johnson, the movie still flopped, making only $41 million on a $30 million budget. The early 2000s were filled with sappy sports dramas, and the failure of Gridiron Gang was partially due to the over saturation of the genre.
6 Be Cool
Be Cool is a star-studded crime-comedy film from 2005, and Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson is one of the biggest names in the film's ensemble cast. However, he wasn't enough to make the film a hit, as it raked in a disappointing $95.8 million against a budget of around $75 million. Like The Rock's other failures, Be Cool was met with poor reception, and its expensive cast made the budget more bloated than it needed to be.
5 Walking Tall
2004's Walking Tall stars Dwayne Johnson and is a remake of the 1973 film of the same name. However, despite its star power and being connected to an already-established franchise, the film's box office was disappointing. Walking Tall had a budget of $46 million but only made $57.2 million, with that slim margin meaning that the film probably wasn't profitable. Once again, poor reviews hurt the film as well as the declining recognition of the Walking Tall name by 2004.
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4 Jungle Cruise
2021's Jungle Cruise was Disney's attempt at another Pirates of the Caribbean, and Dwayne Johnson was meant to fill the Johnny Depp role. However, Jungle Cruise had a whopping budget of $200 million, but it only made $220.9 million by the end of its theatrical run. This was mostly due to the COVID-19 pandemic as well as Disney's strategy of releasing films on Disney+ soon after their theatrical release, causing many viewers to wait a few extra weeks to watch the film at home. Although a Jungle Cruise sequel is happening, the first film was a box-office flop.
3 The Rundown
Although the movies on this list so far had higher box office returns than budgets, that is not the case for The Rundown. 2003's The Rundown had a budget of $85 million and box office returns of $80.9 million, meaning that the film lost at least $4.1 million. The Rundown's failure is a bit of an anomaly, as it received good reviews and had a killer cast. Despite The Rundown being a box office bomb, the team behind the film is interested in doing a sequel in the near future, meaning that the film may have a shot at redemption.
2 Doom
Based on the beloved video game franchise, Dwayne Johnson was one of the main characters of 2005's live-action Doom adaptation. However, the film was a box office bomb, making only $58.7 million against a budget of $70 million. Not only did Doom receive terrible reviews, but it came out during an era where video game adaptations were notoriously hated, making it unsurprising that Doom wasn't a hit.
1 Southland Tales
Southland Tales is one of the most notorious box office bombs of all time, with it carrying a budget of $17 million but only making $374,743 at the box office. Southland Tales was an ambitious franchise starter that flopped at the very beginning, with it getting terrible reviews even at film festivals. Although Southland Tales has a cult following, the movie has mostly been buried since its 2006 release, with it being the biggest box office bomb in Dwayne Johnson's career.
