Top 10 Movies That RUINED Hollywood for Everyone

#10: “The Emoji Movie” (2017)

Just the title alone makes you wonder what cynical marketing executive thought this was a good idea. A movie built entirely around smiley faces you send in text messages? Yes, it is as terrible as it sounds, but too many folks let their morbid curiosity get the better of them. Having made quadruple its budget back at the box office, “The Emoji Movie” signified the start of “marketing movies,” films made entirely for the sake of raising brand awareness for a product at the expense of creativity. Don’t get us wrong - it is important to consider what audiences you might be catering to. But in the case of “The Emoji Movie,” the awful writing and obscene product placement showed where the priorities were during production.

#9: “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - Parts 1 & 2” (2010-11)

For most people, “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows” was the epic conclusion to an extensive story we had been growing up with for over a decade. For others, it indicated the start of a new greedy business practice for movie distributors to exercise: the “necessity” of splitting movies into multiple parts. Now, there is a case to be made here that “The Deathly Hallows” was a massive book and was “the end” of “Harry Potter.” So sure, make a big two-parter to cap off the story. But soon after, other distributors started tacking on “parts” and “chapters” to movies that should have been one-offs. Looking at you “The Hunger Games: Mockingjay,” “Twilight: Breaking Dawn,” and “Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse.”

#8: “Ready Player One” (2018)

In the world of movies, “Ready Player One” was the death of the cameo and Easter eggs. To compensate for the mediocre plot, “Ready Player One” was loaded with all kinds of different characters from across movies, television, and video games. However, they were all just…there. No purpose in the story, no meaning behind they’re inclusion. Just…here’s Iron Giant standing next to Tracer from “Overwatch” and the “Mortal Kombat” characters. Since then, cameos and Easter eggs just get put in for the sake of easy fan service, and it's gotten even more excessive in popular IPs like “Star Wars,” Marvel, DC Comics, and way, way more.

#7: “Twilight” (2008)

Remember the flood of movies we saw in the late 2000’s and early 2010’s that were adapted from books aimed at teens and tweens? Well, we have “Twilight” to blame for that. The angsty vampire romance combined with the constant success of the “Harry Potter” movies caused many studios to worry about missing out on a possible goldmine. And so we saw almost every mainstream young adult book get a movie deal the second it published. “The Maze Runner,” “Jumper,” “Divergent,” and “Percy Jackson” all fought for the next wave of attention from the masses. Some got another movie or two. Others never returned. And the chase for the next popular young adult novel continues to this day.

#6: “Transformers” (2007)

If you’ve ever wondered why people weren’t keen on “Transformers” for a while, you can blame it on Michael Bay’s first “Transformers” flick. Audiences flocked to the theater for this one only to be met with a bland story driven entirely by overly detailed CGI. Movie studios took note of this and immediately began abandoning practical effects in favor of excessively using CGI. Unfortunately, this wave of spectacle-driven blockbusters has not slowed down much over the years. We still see plenty of big-budget films made almost entirely in front of a blue screen, so much so that more movies are forgetting the true beauty we can be using in the real world with real materials and real scenes. Just look at “Five Nights at Freddy’s.”

#5: “The Avengers” (2012)

“The Avengers” was the first superhero movie with a major ensemble and a ton of financial backing from Marvel and its partners. And it turned out to be an insanely great movie! Unfortunately, too many movie studios desperately tried to copy its blueprint and failed miserably. Everything has to be a crossover, everything has to have a world-ending conflict, and everything has to be the start of “the next MCU!” What they fail to realize is that the movies that led up to “The Avengers” – “Iron Man,” “Captain America: The First Avenger,” and “Thor” – were all great films on their own. There was a reason audiences cared about “The Avengers,” and it wasn’t because “ooh, pretty world with lots of exposition and special effects.”

#4: “Alice in Wonderland” (2010)

Those who bemoan the trend of live-action Disney remakes will point blame at many different movies. “It’s ‘Lilo & Stitch’s’ fault. No, it’s ‘Aladdin’s’ fault. No, ‘The Lion King’ was the start of that downfall. No, it’s actually ‘Maleficent!’” If you really want to go back to when this started, it began with “Alice in Wonderland.” For just a couple hundred million dollars in investment, the movie brought in over a billion big bucks for Disney. That told the company, “Hey, people want us to milk this stuff!” And now some feel the House of Mouse is a sequel mill and remake factory. What little originality remains gets little to no attention.

#3: “Jurassic World” (2015)

Much like “Ghostbusters,” it seems like the movie industry cannot move on past the original “Jurassic Park” in 1993. Ever since “The Lost World” sequel in 1997, the “Jurassic Park” franchise has been on a steep decline in quality. “Jurassic World” was apparently good enough for audiences to give Universal a ton of undeserved box office receipts. And they continue to do so. No matter how awful the next sequel is, people keep showing up and give more and more money. At what point do we realize that we should be asking if we should make “Jurassic Park” sequels instead of if we could make them? Right, Dr. Malcolm?

#2: “Avatar” (2009)

There is something to be said about “Avatar’s” enigmatic popularity given how long its story wallows around in how “captivating and immersive” its world is. But what “Avatar” really ignited was the notion of 3D becoming “the future of cinema.” So many movie studios bought into the idea that they needed to match the visual fidelity and 3D effects “Avatar” showcased…for whatever reason. And surprise, surprise - none of them really justified the extra costs to display in IMAX 3D. The movies that followed felt cheap and gimmicky, and soon enough, everyone went back to watching movies the way they have been for years…and years…and years before.

#1: “Heaven’s Gate” (1980)

If we could rename “Heaven’s Gate” to reflect its impact on the filmmaking industry, we’d call it “The Day The Auteur Died.” Director Michael Cimino caused a lot of problems throughout production in order to achieve his “perfect vision,” so much so that the budget went four times over its initial amount. The critical reception was not kind and wound up scaring tons of movie studios in the process. It didn’t help that the film was a major player in United Artists filing for bankruptcy. Cimino’s big blunder showed studios that there was no reason to give directors complete creative control. And so began the practice of corporate meddling in entertainment…with some exceptions here and there.

Was there another movie you feel has contributed to the downward quality in modern films? Let us know down in the comments, and don’t forget to subscribe to WatchMojo!