Box Office Poison : Hollywood’s Story in a Century of Flops

Author: Robey, Tim

Film theory & criticism

Published on 7 November 2024 by FABER & FABER in the United Kingdom.

Hardback | 352 pages
164 x 242 x 37 | 576g

'Hugely entertaining.' Prospect'An instant classic.' Andrew O'Hagan, author of Caledonian Road'Expertly researched.' Sight & Sound'A rollicking, gossipy triumph.' Daily Telegraph *****'Wildly enjoyable.' Guardian'Failure fascinates, for all the reasons that success is a drag . . .'From grand follies to misunderstood masterpieces, disastrous sequels to catastrophic literary adaptations, Tim Robey's hugely entertaining Box Office Poison tells an alternative history of Hollywood, through a century of its most notable flops.

Freaks, Land of the Pharaohs, Dune, Speed 2, Catwoman, Cats: what can these films tell us about the Hollywood system, the public's appetite - or lack of it - and the circumstances that saw such box office disasters actually made? Away from the canon, here is the definitive take on these ill-fated, but essential celluloid failures.