Biggest Box Office Failures of 2022 Prove Audiences Want Movies With Strong Moral Messages

Posted: April 18, 2023

Biggest Box Office Failures of 2022 Prove Audiences Want Movies With Strong Moral Messages

By Movieguide® Contributor

Last year 2022 was full of big movies, but there were also a lot of bombs.

Deadline recently released his list of the biggest box office flops of last year, and many of the films listed reflect audiences’ distaste for immoral content.

Disney’s WEIRD WORLD lost $197.4 million at the box office. The film follows a family of explorers traveling through a new land, but moviegoers aren’t fans. Some blamed STRANGE WORLD’s stale plot, while others pointed to its content.

Movieguide® review for STRANGE WORLD reads:

STRANGE WORLD is beautifully animated, but has a boring script and underdeveloped characters. While there are some pro-family values ​​that extol forgiveness, they are spoiled by an unforgiving, politically correct homosexual agenda. For example, the teenage grandson is flirting with another boy. STRANGE WORLD has a politically correct, unscientific attitude against “fossil fuels”. Also, the heroes discover that their world rests on the shell of a giant turtle.

Disney had another bombshell with LIGHTYEAR. The children’s film lost $106 million. TOY STORY fans had a lot of issues with the spin-off, from the exclusion of Tim Allen, who originally voiced the character, to the LGBT+ storylines.

Part of the Movieguide® review reads:

LIGHTYEAR constantly puts obstacles in Buzz’s way. Obstacles make for an exciting story. However, Buzz is not really the hero of this story. His lesbian girlfriend Alicia is the real hero. After all, it’s her life that inspires Buzz, her granddaughter, and everyone else. Thus, the entire film becomes an endorsement of LGBT ideology and an attack on masculinity and the biblical view of the family. LIGHTYEAR also tarnishes the TOY STORY franchise because it says the politically correct film became Andy’s favorite movie.

Another big flop was BABYLON, Damien Chazelle’s follow-up to LA LA LAND. The film cost Paramount $87.4 million.

There were many reasons why BABYLON ultimately failed, from its long running time (3 hours and 9 minutes), the exorbitant budget, and the crude content of the film.

Movieguide® review for BABYLON reads:

More than three hours in. BABYLON is an exercise in excess. There are more than 200 profanity and profanity and very lewd, explicit images, especially in the big party scene that seems to go on forever. Even as the film creates a moving tribute to Hollywood’s Golden Age, the streak goes on too long. BABYLON also contains two vomit-inducing scatological scenes, brief extreme violence, and politically correct attacks on morality and decency.

These box office bombs demonstrate what Movieguide® emphasizes: moviegoers want to see family content with a strong moral message.