The worst box office bombs of Tom Hanks’ career
Since the 1980s, Tom Hanks has been considered an American icon, establishing himself early in his career with roles in films like Splash and Big. His career would fully blossom in the following decade, however, with Hanks starring in countless box office hits.
If you weren’t a fan of Hanks, too bad. From romantic comedies like Sleepless in Seattle to dramatic war films such as Saving Private Ryan and even children’s animation with Toy Story, Hanks’ presence was inescapable during this time. Of course, his biggest win came with Forrest Gump, which earned him his second Oscar, having already claimed victory the previous year for Philadelphia.
The movie was a massive success, earning unanimous critical and commercial popularity and becoming a staple film of many people’s childhoods. Hanks was well and truly Hollywood’s most beloved star at the point, constantly starring in movies that grossed significant amounts at the box office.
Yet, buried between hits like The Green Mile, Apollo 13, and Catch Me If You Can, there have been a handful of movies that performed poorly. Naturally, not every film an actor stars in will be as good as they think it’ll be, and with an impressive career under his belt, Hanks has been able to let many of these box office stinkers go unnoticed.
Most of Hanks’ worst-grossing movies, such as 1988’s Punchline and 1990’s The Bonfire of Vanities, come from earlier in his career. He clearly agreed to star in these projects while he was still trying to find his feet in the industry, accepting roles that didn’t turn out to be as promising as he’d first hoped.
Still, the fourth-worst-grossing movie he has appeared in is from 2016: A Hologram For The King. The film received average reviews, but it only earned $11 million against its budget of $35m. The story of Hanks playing an American businessman who goes to Saudi Arabia in search of a business deal clearly didn’t sell people.
In third place is The Man With One Red Shoe from 1985, which lost half of its $16m budget at the box office. The film, a remake of the French movie The Tall Blond Man with One Black Shoe, became quickly forgettable. The same goes for Radio Flyer from 1992, which made just $4.6m against its sizable budget of $35m. The movie struggled to find the right audience, and as a result, it remains one of the biggest flops of Hanks’ career.
However, the worst-grossing movie Hanks has ever starred in is Every Time We Say Goodbye, which was released in 1986. It was made on a budget of $3.7m, but it only grossed $278,623, which is undeniably terrible. The film was directed by Moshé Mizrahi, who saw Hanks play a member of the Royal Air Force who finds himself stationed in Jerusalem and subsequently falls in love with a Jewish woman. Despite being the most expensive Israeli film made at the time, it did not fare well with cinemagoers nor critics, who couldn’t understand why Hanks had taken on the part in the poorly directed film.
