During the 2010s, audiences had very specific ideas about what a “blockbuster” should look like: fast, flashy, easily digestible, and franchise-friendly. It was an era defined by scale and expectation. Remakes, reboots, sequels, prequels, and ever-expanding movie franchises dominated the box office, accounting for over 90% of the decade’s 50 highest-grossing movies. Frozen, Zootopia, The Secret Life of Pets, and Bohemian Rhapsody are the only original IPs on the list (and the latter is the only one that doesn’t currently have a sequel).
While moviegoers flocked in droves to watch the latest Marvel, DC, Jurassic World, Star Wars, Harry Potter, and Disney live-action remake releases, standalone movies and franchise entries alike found themselves punished for simply trying something new or bold. Many wrote off movies that swung big, leaned into more left-field ideas, or just refused to fit into the increasingly narrow “blockbuster” mold of the decade. These films failed to leave much of a lasting impression. So, let’s revisit 8 movies that were created with every intention of being major movie events… but we all judged them too fast. Apologies!
‘Tomorrowland’ (2015)
Disney has had a somewhat rocky track record when it comes to adapting its theme park attractions into movies. Some of the company’s biggest flops have been inspired by Disney rides, including Dinosaur, Jungle Cruise, and both the 2003 and 2023 versions of Haunted Mansion. On the other hand, one of its biggest and most successful franchises of all time, Pirates of the Caribbean, is based on the iconic Disney ride of the same name.
With hopes of recreating that success, Tomorrowland, based on the parks’ themed Tomorrowland and its rides, was released in 2015, starring George Clooney. It’s a wildly creative, thoughtful, and visually stunning sci-fi that dared to believe in progress in an era addicted to cynicism. Unfortunately, the movie reportedly lost Disney tens of millions of dollars. Recognizing the issue, Disney released a statement saying:
“Tomorrowland is an original movie and that’s more of a challenge in this marketplace. We feel it’s incredibly important for us as a company and as an industry to keep telling original stories.”
‘The Wolfman’ (2010)
A remake of the iconic 1941 horror of the same name, The Wolfman fully commits to its classic Gothic roots, emphasizing atmosphere and tone over action and jump scares. With the Underworld series steadily reinventing creature feature movies with its fast-paced, frenetic action horror and Twilight adding romance and teen drama to the genre, The Wolfman felt like an outlier and failed to resonate with audiences at the time.
Anchored by a committed performance from Benicio del Toro, it’s an enjoyable throwback to the classic horrors of yesteryear, where scares were earned rather than forced. It has since faded into obscurity, which is a shame because recent slow-burn Gothic horrors like Nosferatu (2024), Frankenstein (2025) and Mike Flanagan’s Fall of the House of Usher (2023) Netflix. horror series, suggest that this style may finally be making a comeback.
‘The Sorcerer’s Apprentice’ (2010)
Loosely based on the short segment featured in Fantasia, The Sorcerer’s Apprentice is a whimsical fantasy that delivers spectacle and humor and never takes itself too seriously. Unfortunately, it was unfairly dismissed by many as mere “Disney fluff’ despite its intriguing premise and Cage’s fully committed, typically eccentric performance as the titular sorcerer.
A fun throwback adventure movie with genuine charm, it was massively overshadowed by the monumental success of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 1, released just a few months later, and has since disappeared from public consciousness.
‘Tomb Raider’ (2018)
Warner Bros.
Between the iconic video game series, the Angelina Jolie-led 2000s film adaptations, and the upcoming TV adaptation, it’s easy to forget that Lara Croft made a brief Hollywood appearance in the 2018 Alicia Vikander-led Tomb Raider. Far more grounded than the franchise’s previous big screen outings, the reboot opted for a grittier approach, giving us a Croft who was capable yet fallible, feeling far more relatable than Jolie’s almost inhuman superhuman incarnation.
Ironically, while this grounded realism and restraint is one of the movie’s biggest attributes, it may also be the reason that it has quietly faded from conversation. Despite receiving stronger critical feedback than its Tomb Raider movie predecessors, it arrived in an era that favored spectacle over realism. Less bombastic and larger-than-life than its blockbuster counterparts, it struggled to stand out in its crowded landscape.
‘Skyscraper’ (2019)
Skyscraper follows a former FBI agent who must rescue his family from a skyscraper that has been set on fire by ruthless terrorists. On paper, it bears all the hallmarks of a classic “franchise-ready” blockbuster smash destined to stand the test of time. It’s big, bold, and bombastic and stars the era’s biggest action star, Dwayne Johnson.
However, because Johnson starred in such a relentless run of big-budget blockbusters throughout the 2010s, many of his standalone action movies – which include Faster, San Andreas, Empire State, Rampage, and Skyscraper, to name but a few – began to blur together. His major franchise roles often overshadowed these movies. While there’s no denying that Skayscraper is a solid popcorn flick full of high-altitude action and simmering suspense, it was easy to write off as “just another Dwayne Johnson action flick,” especially in an era where they were a dime a dozen.
‘Cowboys & Aliens’ (2011)
It certainly wasn’t because of a lack of hype that Cowboys & Aliens failed to make an impact upon its release. People were intrigued by the movie’s blend of sci-fi and western themes, and the casting of Daniel Craig at the height of his 007 fame, alongside Hollywood veteran Harrison Ford, definitely gave it star power.
Unfortunately, with a name as audacious as Cowboys & Aliens, viewers went in expecting tongue-in-cheek, campy blockbuster fun, but were met with a straight-faced, gritty sci-fi western that played its outlandish premise with total sincerity. As reviews came in, ticket sales slumped, and the movie ended its run as one of the cinema’s biggest box office bombs. Perhaps, had the marketing (and title) been different, audiences might have embraced it as a bold genre mash-up instead of being dismissed as a punchline.
‘Prince of Persia: Sands of Time’ (2010)
Since the phenomenal success of movies like The Super Mario Bros. Movie and Minecraft and TV series such as The Last of Us and Fallout, it’s hard to imagine a world where adapting a video game was seen as a near-certain box office death sentence. Yet that was very much the case when Prince of Persia: Sands of Time was released back in 2010. The world of video games has always been ripe for adaptation, filled with expansive world-building, engaging narratives, and meticulously developed characters, yet Hollywood just seemed unable to get it right.
Whether it was the schlocky ’90s beat ’em ups (Street Fighter, Mortal Kombat), shoot ’em up misfires (Doom), or poorly paced racing flicks (Need for Speed), almost nothing worked. Even the first movie based on the world’s most beloved Italian plumbing siblings, The Super Mario Bros., failed to impress back in 1993. There were attempts at horror (Silent Hill) and action-adventure (Assassin’s Creed). However, for most, video game adaptations were a wasteland of a genre — and the less spoken about Uwe Boll’s many, many failed attempts, the better. As a result, Prince of Persia: Sands of Time, an adaptation of the popular Prince of Persia games series, felt destined to fail from the outset. Many unfairly judged it, despite it being a slick, genuinely entertaining adventure in its own right.
‘Ben-Hur’ (2016)
Released at a time when there was little to no appetite for earnest, large-scale biblical epics, the 2016 Ben-Hur was inevitably compared to the towering legacy of the 1959 classic. Many deemed its mere existence to be unnecessary before ever giving it a real chance to stand on its own. Stripped of those expectations, however, it’s a gorgeously presented historical drama that delivered some of the decade’s most visceral action set pieces.
It’s certainly not without its flaws, but it did, at least, try something new with its re-imaging of the original novel, giving it a more human, less mythic protagonist and a story that feels surprisingly intimate for such a grandiose project.
Which forgotten 2010s blockbuster movie do you love the most? Let us know in the comments!
This story originally appeared on Movieweb
