Top 10 Movies That Were Pulled From Theatres The FASTEST

  • 2 months ago
Now you see them... now you don't! Welcome to WatchMojo, and today we’re counting down the quickest times movies got the hook and were removed from theaters.
Transcript
00:00FIFA is a sensitive subject, Mr. Wilcox. Your role is to question it, mine is to protect it.
00:07Welcome to WatchMojo, and today we're counting down the quickest times movies got the hook and were removed from theaters.
00:15Please, Uncle Dave, please, just a few hundred bucks, just...
00:20Number 10, Gem and the Holograms.
00:24Gem, the animated television series, had a decent run back in the 80s and aired for three years
00:30and 65 episodes from 1985 to 88. Considering it was one of the top kids programs during that period,
00:38one could maybe see why studios would want to make a movie based on the series.
00:43I want you all to think of this as an opportunity to reinvent yourselves.
00:47However, it turns out that over 25 years later, no one wanted to watch that movie.
00:52Was it because it sucked, or because the Gem character didn't mean anything to people by 2015?
00:59We might never know the whole truth, but the fact that it was barely recognizable
01:03from the source material definitely didn't help.
01:06Come on, everyone. Yeah, that's great, that's great.
01:11What we also know is that the film had the worst opening weekend of the year,
01:15and it was pulled out of cinemas 18 days after it premiered on November 10th.
01:19This was a move that one reporter called unheard of for a movie that was in theaters nationwide.
01:26A home is where you're surrounded by people who you love and who love you regardless.
01:35So, solo contract or not, you're stuck with me.
01:41Number 9, The Garbage Pail Kids Movie
01:45In the 80s, The Garbage Pail Kids were sticker trading cards produced
01:49to capitalize on the mega popular Cabbage Patch Kids dolls.
01:54I foul Phil.
01:57Daddy!
01:59Not in this lifetime, little person.
02:01The rude and pun-filled gross-out cards were released in 1985 and got popular enough that
02:06just two years later, The Garbage Pail Kids movie was made.
02:10But unfortunately, the film lived up to its name.
02:14Oh honey, you haven't seen bad yet.
02:16Hated by critics and audiences alike,
02:18The Garbage Pail Kids movie is often cited as one of the worst movies ever.
02:23Premiering on August 21st, 1987 in just 374 theaters,
02:28it grossed a measly $1.6 million before being pulled.
02:34While the precise length of its theatrical run is unknown,
02:37the movie didn't play for more than a few weeks,
02:40even prompting the cancellation of a September 1987 debut of a planned animated series.
02:46Yeah, all you guys.
02:48I'm worried about what's going to happen to you.
02:50I wish I knew.
02:52Number 8, Winnie the Pooh Blood and Honey
02:55Winnie the Pooh Blood and Honey was a low-budget slasher film released in 2023
03:01that puts a gory horror spin on the classic children's stories about the titular bear.
03:07Did you see his face?
03:10That did not look human.
03:13The movie was shot in 10 days, which is very quick,
03:17but it's actually longer than the movie lasted in theaters upon its release.
03:22To be fair, the initial idea was to make it a one-night event across multiple countries.
03:27He's coming for us! He's coming! He's coming for us!
03:30Who is?
03:31Pooh! Okay, we need to go now!
03:33Pooh?
03:34However, the critically panned film gained enough momentum that plans changed.
03:39After its nine February dates earned it considerable box office success,
03:43it got an extra seven-day run in the U.S. in March.
03:46So, in this case, the short run was actually longer than initially expected.
03:52You're tough. I'll give you that.
03:55Number 7, The Watcher in the Woods
03:58In the 1980s, Walt Disney Productions made The Watcher in the Woods
04:02in an attempt to reach the young adult audience.
04:05Did you hurt yourself?
04:10Oh, it's just a little cut.
04:14I thought… I thought I saw something out there in the woods.
04:19The supernatural horror movie starred the iconic Betty Davis,
04:22who made some amazing movies throughout her career.
04:25Needless to say, this was not one of them.
04:28Karen! Karen!
04:32Karen!
04:38They searched the ruins, but there was no sign of Karen.
04:43And if you're thinking that you saw the film and it wasn't that bad,
04:46well, you probably didn't see the version they initially released into theaters.
04:51That's because that version was pulled from cinemas after 10 days.
04:55The version they released a year and a half later had entire scenes removed
04:59and a completely different conclusion.
05:02How can we help, Karen?
05:04Door!
05:07Must open door!
05:08The re-release didn't end up doing too much better than the original,
05:12only grossing $5 million at the box office.
05:15Something awful happened here.
05:20I can feel it.
05:24Something awful.
05:25Number 6, Silent Night, Deadly Night
05:29It probably isn't hard to imagine a horror film about a spree killer in a Santa costume being,
05:34at least, somewhat controversial.
05:37It's Santa!
05:40Chrissy, stay away!
05:41Stay with me.
05:42But Mother Superior, it's Santa Claus!
05:45A murderous Santa Claus and posters featuring an axe-wielding Saint Nick
05:50descending down a chimney aren't exactly family-friendly holiday images.
05:54The outcry over the film's marketing was actually so bad,
05:58the studio removed all its advertisements just six days after the movie hit theaters.
06:03Operator.
06:05Operator, I need the police.
06:09And it wasn't long after that that they pulled the movie as well.
06:12But to give it credit, the now cult film made an impressive $2.5 million in that short time,
06:18compared to its budget of only $750,000.
06:22Put the money in the bag.
06:24Number 5, Delgo
06:26With voice acting from stars like Freddie Prinze Jr., Jennifer Love Hewitt, and Val Kilmer,
06:32as well as winning Best Feature Film at the Brazilian Anima Mundi Festival,
06:36the studio probably had high hopes for Delgo.
06:39Wow, my hero.
06:43Well, those hopes weren't just dashed, they were smashed to smithereens after the film
06:48opened to terrible reviews and left the studio in a state of shock.
06:53And less than $1 million in its first week, against a $40 million budget.
06:58What good are you?
06:59You can't even fly.
07:00He's got a point, Delgo.
07:02Good point, sir.
07:05What about its second week, you ask?
07:08Well, we'll never know, because the adventure fantasy was pulled from theaters
07:12after those tremendously disappointing first seven days.
07:15My people will never accept you.
07:18Never.
07:19They will embrace me.
07:21Number 4, Heaven's Gate
07:23Unless you were living in New York in 1980,
07:26there's a good chance you've never seen the first released cut of Michael Cimino's Heaven's Gate.
07:32I had a very satisfactory talk with the governor yesterday.
07:36He asserted in the most positive terms his wholehearted support.
07:40And that's because that 3-hour and 39-minute version of the film
07:44so underperformed critically and with NYC audiences that it was pulled.
07:49And the worldwide release was put on hold.
07:52I thought you were getting like me.
07:54I do.
07:55It did come, though, about five months later,
07:58after Cimino had pared it down to 2 hours and 29 minutes.
08:02However, it didn't do much better the second time, grossing about $3.5 million
08:08and only lasting in theaters for about two weeks this time around.
08:12I do not understand you.
08:15There's a lot of things you don't understand.
08:18Number 3, Postal
08:20Postal was a rude, offensive and critically destroyed political satire
08:24that only lasted two weeks in Italian theaters in 2008.
08:29Don't you know I'm lactose intolerant?
08:30You're trying to kill me?
08:32That's not good.
08:33But it's 100% better than what the UbaBull video game adaptation did in North America
08:39a few months earlier.
08:40In fact, it was lucky to even get released in the United States
08:44after all the controversy led multiple theater distributors
08:47to pull their widescreen support,
08:49limiting the movie to play on just four screens across the country.
08:53But in order to fulfill the prophecy in Dave's Bible,
08:57we must wipe out the entire planet.
09:01By the time it was actually released on May 23rd,
09:04that number had jumped to 21.
09:06But after one week, the film was gone from those cinemas as well.
09:10So go ahead.
09:12Shoot.
09:14Or?
09:20Hug?
09:21Number 2, It's Pat
09:23When it comes to turning Saturday Night Live sketches into movies,
09:27sometimes you get great movies that make tons of money like Wayne's World.
09:31And sometimes you get It's Pat.
09:34Yep, yeah.
09:37Pat Riley, Southland Gas Company.
09:40Initially, Julia Sweeney wasn't too keen on turning her sketch into a full-length film,
09:45saying,
09:46I just didn't know how we could make it last for two hours.
09:49Well, they didn't, as the film clocked in at just 78 minutes long.
09:55What's eating you?
09:57I'm just worried you're getting a little carried away, that's all, you know?
10:00But even at that short length,
10:02it was about 75 minutes longer than it should have been.
10:05And it would appear that everyone knew it.
10:07The movie was released into just 33 theaters in three cities
10:11and was pulled from all of them after the opening weekend,
10:14at least according to what most sources reports.
10:18People.
10:19Can't live with them and you can't live without them.
10:22Before we continue, be sure to subscribe to our channel and ring the bell to get
10:26notified about our latest videos.
10:28You have the option to be notified for occasional videos or all of them.
10:31If you're on your phone, make sure you go into your settings and switch on notifications.
10:38Number 1.
10:39United Passions
10:40A movie about the origins of the Federation Internationale de Football Association,
10:45FIFA,
10:46probably sounded like a good idea to the world governing body of association football,
10:50who mostly financed the film.
10:53We, the inventors of this sport, will at last win the trophy.
10:59I'm sure you will.
11:02But it didn't look good to critics and audiences when the movie came out in North America in 2015,
11:08right as the arrests and corruption case against the organization were happening.
11:12The film, as you might imagine, took a very executive-friendly view
11:17and that didn't sit well with most everyone who wasn't FIFA.
11:21It is a great honor, brother, and a great honor comes with great responsibilities.
11:27The film opened in just 10 theaters in the United States,
11:30and it didn't even manage to gross $1,000 in its opening weekend.
11:35Needless to say, it was pulled not too long after that,
11:38though the exact number of days has never been confirmed.
11:41Uncle, that's cheating.
11:44Cheating?
11:44Oh, that's a big word.
11:45Did you make it to the short cinema windows to see any of these movies?
11:49Let us know in the comments.
11:51Punjab, buy out the 8 o'clock show.
11:55Let's all go to the movie.
11:57Did you enjoy this video?
11:58Check out these other clips from WatchMojo,
12:01and be sure to subscribe and ring the bell to be notified about our latest videos.