Box Office Bombs That Drove Studios Out of Business
The Fall of the Roman Empire, 1964
Sophia Loren used to steal the show in the ’60s, which is why ‘Samuel Bronston Productions’ had a reason to bet on the historical film ‘The Fall of the Roman Empire.’ Along with Alec Guinness and Christopher Plummer, they planned to go really big.
That’s where they went wrong. With only $4.75 million returning to them, a $14 million loss hit the production house hard. The ball drop was so high that it wouldn’t have survived in today’s economy as well, and without a doubt, it was much worse in that era. That is possibly why we never heard of this film house again; thanks to their ‘all my eggs in one basket move,’ which made them go bust!
With that cast of top golden age stars, it’s hard to imagine people didn’t embrace the movie. Maybe success was really just not written in the stars for these producers. A remake might bring in the bucks, though, considering how well history biopics have fared more recently.
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