On the opposite side of the coin are the movies that bomb at the box office. People don't go to see them, or word of mouth from those who do go keeps everyone else away. In some cases, these flops may be films that have fair box office attendance, but the cost of making the movie was so great that the box office receipts aren't enough to justify production costs. Either way, box office bombs don't generate enough interest or income and they can and do happen — even to A-list actors and directors.

For example, despite starring the very popular “It couple” Ben Affleck and Jennifer Lopez, 2003's Gigli was a disaster at the box office. Costing $54 million to produce, the movie generated only $6 million in ticket sales. Some other notable box office bombs include:

• Around the World in 80 Days (2004, budget $110 million, domestic gross $24 million)

• Cutthroat Island (1995, budget $92 million, domestic gross $10 million)

• Heaven's Gate (1980, budget $44 million, domestic gross $1.5 million)

• Judge Dredd (1995, budget $90 million, domestic gross $34 million)

• K-19: The Widowmaker (2002, budget $100 million, domestic gross $35 million)

• The Postman (1997, budget $80 million, domestic gross $17 million)

• Red Planet (2000, budget $75 million, domestic gross $17 million)

• Wyatt Earp (1994, budget $63 million, domestic gross $25 million)

Sometimes a movie that does very well inspires the studio to do a sequel. This can be a great thing for the studios and fans of the original film. Or it can be catastrophic. In the latter category, consider the 1992 Sharon Stone film, Basic Instinct, which cost $49 million and grossed almost $118 million domestically. In 2006, Basic Instinct 2 was released and earned less than $6 million on its opening release, not even putting a dent into its $70 million budget.