Word of mouth is a weaponthat could stop a film dead in its tracks. A common thread with most of the highest-grossing films of all time is critical praise from reviewers and audiences.
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Negative reviews had no financial effect on megahits likeJurassic World: Fallen Kingdomor some of theTransformerssequels. The bad reviews fell on deaf ears and the films crossed record-breaking heights.
10’Shrek the Third' (2007)
Unlike its first two critically acclaimed forerunners,Shrek the Thirdwas a victim of bad reviews. The movie’s box office performance repelled mixed reviews on its way to becoming the third highest-grossing animated feature behindShrekandFinding Nemo.
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On Rotten Tomato, the third installment is the lowest-ratedShrekfilm in the series.Although the Rotten Tomato numbers are lowerthan the otherShrekpictures, the ticket sales were higher.Shrek The Thirdbrought in over $813 million in ticket sales.
9’Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen' (2009)
Transformers: Revenge of the Fallenis the 37th highest-grossing film of all time. Critically panned during its release,Michael Bayproved he found a cheat sheet on how to win at the box office regardless of what the critics had to say.
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The Washington Post labeledTransformers: Revenge of the Fallenone of the worst-reviewed films at the time of release. There was a negative reaction to characters like Mudflap and Skids, who similar to Jar Jar Binks, embodied racist stereotypes. The ignored negative reactions allowed the sequel to eclipse the success of the first film and bring in $836 million in revenue.
8’Alice in Wonderland' (2010)
Tim Burton’sAlice in Wonderlandis a live-action adaptation ofLewis Carroll’sAdventures in Wonderland. The dismissed Rotten Tomato scores helped the film climb to a top five ranking of highest-grossing films during its theatrical run.
Alice and Wonderland’scollected 51% and 55% from critics and audiences respectively on Rotten Tomato. The low scores were ignored by audiences and the Academies. The motion picture received multiple Golden Globe nominations and won 2 out of 3 Academy Awards for art direction and costume design.
7’Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace' (1999)
Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menacefinished a little over a billion during its original run becoming the highest-grossing film of a jam-packed 1999 that saw blockbuster releases likeThe Matrix. Rotten Tomato was in it’s early infancy at the time, but theStar Warsprequel received rotten scores from critics and audiences on the site.
Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menaceboasts seven Golden Raspberry Award nominations and Entertainment Weekly ranked it asone of the worst sequels of all time. The prequel received glowing reviews at the time of its release which drove the movie to become the second film in history to cross the billion mark at the box office. However, the word is out now and the film still receives massive support during re-releases.
6’Despicable Me 3' (2017)
The mixed reviews forDespicable Me 3signaled the property would probably tail off. However, the fourth installment of theDespicable Mefranchise showed no signs of the franchise slowing down after yielding over a billion dollars at the box office.
Excluding theMinionsfilms,Despicable Me 3is the onlyDespicable Memovie with rotten scores on Rotten Tomato. Luckily, the movie faced no consequences for the poor reviews. It went on to dominate in theaters becoming the fourth highest-grossing film of 2017.
5Pirates of the Carribean: On Stranger Tides
Rotten Tomato reviewers criticizedPirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tidesfor loud action scenes. The loud action sequences may have drowned out the unfavorable reviews as the movie went on to make over a billion dollars.
The fourth installment is ranked as the worst film in the series by the Tomatometer. Despite having the worst reviews, the film ranks as the second highest-grossing picture in thePirates of the Caribbeanfranchise.
4Transformers: Age of Extinction
To combat negative criticism about the trilogy’s characters,Shia LeBeouf’ssquadwas switched out forMark Wahlbergand a cast of new leadsinTransformers: Age of Extinction. The cast suffered identical feedback with their performances, but the change added value to ticket sales.
The movie was dragged by critics and audiences for its long-lasting run time and plot holes. The unfavorable reviews didn’t slow the movie down as it went on to become the only film in 2014 to cross the billion-dollar mark.
3Transformers Dark of the Moon
Transformers Dark of the Moonis the highest-grossing film of the franchise to date. The movie was universally panned by critics and defied expectations on its way to becoming the firstTransformersmovie to cross a billion.
Roger EbertandRichard Ropergave the film one out of four stars and a D respectively, mainly due to its empty characters. The movie garnered eight Golden Raspberry nominations to cap its record-breaking box office run.
After its release,Minionsbecame the 10th highest-grossing film at the time. The animation’s reciprocal critical success collected rotten scores from critics and audiences on Rotten Tomato.
In a year that pitMinionsagainst critically superior films likeInside Out, TheDespicable Mespinoff drove more ticket sales than the Disney contemporary. The poorly reviewed movie was the highest-grossing film not released by Disney in 2015.
1Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom
Riding high off the success ofJurassic World, the sequel benefited from the momentum of the previous installment.Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdomis the 12th highest-grossing film of all time despite overwhelmingly negative reviews.
The megahit has the lowest combined Rotten tomato scores of theJurassic Worldtrilogy. The bad press didn’t crack a dent in the movie’s commercial success as the picture was one of five films to cross the billion-dollar mark in 2018 and the only non-superhero movie to do it.
