#DidYouKnow That The Martian Has Broken a Long Losing Steak of Mars Movies at the Box Office?

Ridley Scott's The Martian (based on the book by Andy Wier) is currently riding high at the Box Office, holding again at Number 1 this past weekend, though largely because the competition has been so poor.  It is currently at approximately $430M for its worldwide gross and it is on the verge of becoming Scott's highest grossing domestic release ever (currently at approximately $183M in the States),  But did you know that before this movie the Red Planet has had a losing streak in the theaters for quite some time now.  In fact, you have to go all the way back to 1990's Total Recall for the last major studio release taking place on Mars that made money in its initial run.  (To come out in the black, it has to at least double its budget domestically or triple it worldwide by my definition.)  And quite a number of Mars films from the past couple of decades have been major busts.  Here's a quick rundown working backwards from The Martian:

The Martian (2015):  Budget - $108M  Worldwide Box Office - $430M (thru 11/01/15)
Reviving the Red Planet at the Box Office, this in on target to be the highest grossing Mars movie of all time.

John Carter (2012):  Budget - $250M  Worldwide Box Office - $284M
The budget ballooned under a director who was new to live action films and then the marketing department bungled the selling of the movie and succeeded at killing a promising movie franchise.

Mars Needs Moms (2011):  Budget - $150M  Worldwide Box Office - $39M
Somehow what should have been a promising adaptation of a fun little Berk Breathed book spiraled out of control and turned into one of the biggest Box Office flops of all time.

Doom (2005):  Budget - $60M  Worldwide Box Office - $56M
This adaptation of the video game was a critical and Box Office flop delivering another stillborn franchise attempt.

Ghosts of Mars (2001):  Budget - $28M  Worldwide Box Office - $14M
Horror legend John Carpenter continued his string of flops from the 90's into the 21st century and he went into semi-retirement after this one.

Red Planet (2000):  Budget - $80M  Woldwide Box Office - $33M
This movie had star power with Val Kilmer and a good budget behind it, but it failed to register with critics or theater goers.

Mission to Mars (2000):  Budget - $100M  Worldwide Box Office - $111M
Brian De Palma directed this one and he had a lot of star power on his side with Gary Sinese, Tim Robbins, and more.  But that didn't draw enough people into the theaters.

My Favorite Martian (1999):  Budget - $65M  Domestic Box Office (not released globally): $37M
This ill-advised attempt to reboot the 60's TV show for the big screen faded quickly and didn't even get a release beyond the States.

RocketMan (1997):  Budget - $16M  Domestic Box Office (not released globally): $15M
This sci fi comedy was panned by critics and audiences weren't too thrilled with it either.

Mars Attacks! (1996):  Budget - $70M  Worldwide Box Office: $101M
Tim Burton's spoof on older sci fi / horror movies has since achieved cult status, but it didn't count as a Box Office winner during its initial run.

Total Recall (1990):  Budget - $65M  Worldwide Box Office:  $261M
Of course, this may have just been an illusion because we can't say for certain that Quaid was really on Mars or if that was just planted in his mind by Rekall Corp.  So maybe it's been even longer since a Mars movie made money at the theaters . . .

You can read my review of the film version of The Martian at this link and the audiobook adaptation at this link.