Dark Phoenix, the final installment in 20th Century Fox's X-Men franchise, was the biggest box office flop of 2019.
According to Deadline, Dark Phoenix lost $133 million; the film grossed $252 million but had a $200 million production budget.
In terms of box office losses, Dark Phoenix came in ahead of Terminator: Dark Fate, which lost $122.6 million; Cats, which lost $113.6 million; Gemini Man, which lost $111.1 million; and Missing Link, which lost $101.3 million.
Dark Phoenix was disliked in the early going by test audiences, which rejected the death of Jean Grey and wanted a bigger payoff at the end. It also suggested first-time director Simon Kinberg got less attention from the studio while it was being absorbed by The Walt Disney Co.
At first, Dark Phoenix was positioned as a summer blockbuster, when it initially was scheduled to come out before Captain Marvel. Its release date was changed three times, though, including a switch to June 17 two days after its second trailer announced a Feb. 14 date. These changes signaled a troubled production to moviegoers.
After poor opening weekend grosses of $33 million -- the lowest of the franchise -- Dark Phoenix was pulled from nearly half its theaters after only three weeks.
Directed and written by Simon Kinberg, Dark Phoenix stars James McAvoy, Michael Fassbender, Jennifer Lawrence, Nicholas Holt, Sophie Turner, Tye Sheridan, Alexandra Shipp, Kodi Smit-McPhee, Evan Peters and Jessica Chastain.