Movie marketing often comes with hype. Studios set their films up for success with trailers, billboards, and cross-promotions. Sometimes, this marketing hype backfires when a movie proves itself entirely unworthy of the media frenzy it created prior to its release. The blockbuster game is often a gamble, no matter how much money or excitement a film can get behind it.

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These motion pictures looked poised to set the movie-loving world on fire, yet ended up only kindling a flickering flame. Whether they were disappointing additions to much-loved franchises or mega-budget movies looking to establish new ones, some films failed to live up to expectations.

10 Terminator: Dark Fate Destroyed Much Of What Fans Loved About The Franchise

Terminator Dark Fate Sarah Dani

After multiple disappointing follow-ups to James Cameron's legendary action sci-fi Terminator 2: Judgment Day, fans were understandably growing tired of new installments in the franchise. The trailer for Terminator: Dark Fate dropped and one vital ingredient had fans excited. Linda Hamilton was returning as Sarah Connor.

As the actress behind one of cinema's greatest action heroes, Hamilton had been missing since T2. Rumors regarding a return for Edward Furlong as her son, John, sparked soon after. Dark Fate was released and spent the majority of its runtime erasing what fans knew and loved about the Terminator franchise. Dark Fate flopped hard and may well have killed the series off for good.

9 Alien: Covenant Wasn't The Reset Button That Fans Were Hoping For

The Xenomorphs Attacks The Ship In Alien Covenant

Much like the Terminator franchise, the Alien series has seen its share of ups and downs. After Prometheus drew a mixed response from fans when it steered the space saga in a bold new direction, Ridley Scott sought to return the franchise to its roots with Alien: Covenant.

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Excitement was through the roof, but the end result was a far cry from the hair-raising horror of Alien or the adrenaline-fueled action of its James Cameron-helmed sequel. Instead, Covenant was closer to the messy, poorly received missteps in the franchise.

8 John Carter Lost Disney A Huge Amount Of Money

Taylor Kitsch as John Carter and Lynn Collins as Dejah Thoris in 2012's John Carter.

Disney may have plenty of money to throw at a movie's marketing, but the one film that will have Disney cautious about using strategy is 2012's John Carter. One of the most expensive movies ever made became one of history's biggest box office bombs.

John Carter lost Disney an estimated $200 million. A bland hero, uninspired set pieces, and a bare-bones plot rendered this mission to Mars as one of the most disappointing movies of the year. John Carter remains a stain on Disney's usually great track record.

7 The Matrix Resurrections Was An Unremarkable Revival For A Beloved Franchise

Keanu-Reeves-Matrix-Resurrections-Header

In the age of endless sequels and reboots, it seemed only a matter of time before the Wachowskis' game-changing sci-fi franchise would receive a modern update. In the years since The Matrix blew the minds of movie fans everywhere, Keanu Reeves had somehow reached even greater levels of popularity.

For fans, the thought of watching Reeves in another outing as Neo was certainly an appealing one. The Matrix Resurrections bombed at the box office and received a lukewarm response from fans. As admirable as its attempts were, Resurrections missed the mark set by the original.

6 1998's Godzilla Failed To Live Up To Its Monstrous Expectations

Godzilla 1998

Thanks to $80 million worth of advertising, which included a brilliant teaser trailer featuring the titular monster stomping on the skeleton of a tyrannosaurus rex, Godzilla was set to accomplish big things when it hit screens in 1998.

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With the "master of disaster" Roland Emmerich at the helm, even the skeptics at least expected some spectacular set-piece action. Instead, Godzilla was no Jurassic Park, just a poorly written, badly acted (with the exception of Jean Reno), and overall uninspired monster movie.

5 Rise Of Skywalker Was Yet Another Star Wars Misstep

Rey And Kylo Ren Fight In The Rise Of Skywalker

After it seemed that no two followers of the Star Wars franchise shared the same opinions on Rian Johnson's The Last Jedi, J.J. Abrams went for broke on fan service for the sequel trilogy's final installment. Trailers revealed a sensational, though ultimately nonsensical, return for Emporer Palpatine.

Any Star Wars fans that had been turned off by The Last Jedi were now back on board for a phenomenal finale. Rise Of Skywalker managed to fare even worse with fans, though, and ended up as the lowest-grossing movie of the trilogy. However, this wasn't the first time that a much-anticipated release had come from Star Wars, only to underwhelm long-time viewers.

4 The Phantom Menace Remains One Of Cinema's Biggest Disappointments

screenshot from episode 1

By the late '90s, audiences were eager for a new Star Wars release. George Lucas' legendary original trilogy had only grown in popularity over time. Fans were incredibly excited when word got out that Lucas would be adding to his classic trio of films.

16 years after the release of Return Of The Jedi, Star Wars: Episode 1 - The Phantom Menace debuted in theaters to a wildly mixed response. The film unsurprisingly sold plenty of tickets, yet few fans felt The Phantom Menace was actually worth the wait.

3 Waterworld Was An Excessively Expensive Disaster

Kevin Costner as The Mariner in Waterworld

In 1995, Waterworld became the most expensive movie ever made. Though looking back, many film fans remember Waterworld as nothing more than the movie where Kevin Costner has gills, if they remember it at all. Waterworld racked up Razzie nominations and unsurprisingly failed to recoup its incredible cost at the box office.

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Despite impressive set pieces, an intriguing concept, and a typically entertaining showing from the great Dennis Hopper, this post-apocalyptic adventure was essentially dead in the water upon release.

2 The Godfather III Failed To Live Up To The Legacy Of Its Predecessors

the godfather III al pacino

The first two installments of Francis Ford Copolla's Godfather series are widely accepted as mob masterpieces. To see the conclusion of the Corleone family story, fans had to wait 16 years. Not only was Part III not worth the wait in the eyes of its audiences, it actually undid some of the gangster greatness of the first two Godfather movies.

The Godfather: Part III is by no means a bad film, but it pales in comparison to the masterpieces it follows. Parts I and II are still held up as two of the greatest movies in modern cinema, but The Godfather Part III is often forgotten by film fans.

1 Indiana Jones And The Kingdom Of The Crystal Skull Really Dropped The Ball

Indiana Jones, Ox, Marion Ravenwood, and Mutt watch alien ship take off-Kingdom of the Crystal Skull

With the first three installments in the Indiana Jones series accepted as one of the greatest trilogies ever, expectations were sky-high for the return of Harrison Ford's Indiana Jones.

The fourth film, Indiana Jones And The Kingdom Of The Crystal Skull, was a massive disappointment for most fans. Heavy use of CGI and a plot that went places few expected, though not in a good way, doomed Steven Spielberg's film. The Crystal Skull wasn't bad enough to kill off the franchise for good though, as Indiana Jones 5 is set for release in 2023.

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