10 of the biggest box-office flops of 2019 so far, including a pair from Matthew McConaughey

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10 of the biggest box-office flops of 2019 so far, including a pair from Matthew McConaughey

kid who would be king

Fox

"The Kid Who Would Be King"

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  • The 2019 box office has seen a rebound thanks to Marvel blockbusters, but there have been plenty of flops.
  • Actor Matthew McConaughey and STX Entertainment have been the biggest box-office losers this year, each with more than one notable flop already.
  • Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.

Marvel is helping the 2019 box office after a slow start. Between "Captain Marvel" and "Avengers: Endgame," which is shattering box-office records, the box office has seen a significant rebound.

But many movies haven't been any help at all.

The first major bomb of the year, director Joe Cornish's "The Kid Who Would Be King," opened just $7 million in January and ultimately made $32 million worldwide. It was made for $60 million.

READ MORE: Disney's movie release shake-up shows how it will dominate Hollywood for years to come, from 'Avatar' to 'Star Wars'

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The biggest box-office losers of the year so far have been actor Matthew McConaughey, who's had two major bombs in the first few months of 2019, and STX Entertainment, which has released a string of flops.

McConaughey's January release, "Serenity," co-starring Anne Hathaway, grossed a rough $8.5 million and had a production budget of $25 million. Harmony Korine's "The Beach Bum," starring McConaughey, opened with $1.8 million in March, which was the worst opening for a wide release on over 1,000 screens at the time, and one of the worst openings of the actor's career.

STX released two bombs in two weekends: the animated "UglyDolls" and "Poms," which had the worst opening for a movie in over 2,700 theaters over the weekend.

"Hellboy" failed to spark excitement last month due to a poor release date, awful reviews, and other major factors. It's made just $21 million and was made for $50 million.

The box office will need help from Disney blockbusters such as June's "The Lion King" and December's "Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker" if it wants to compete with last year's record-breaking gross.

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Below are 10 box-office flops this year, in order of release date:

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"Replicas"

"Replicas"

Release date: January 11

Opening weekend: $2,375,325

Total global gross: $4,046,429

Production budget: $30 million

Rotten Tomatoes critic score: 10%

What critics said: "The filmmakers manage to avoid every potentially interesting choice for far dumber, and far more inexplicable, conclusions." — Katie Walsh, Los Angeles Times

"The Kid Who Would Be King"

"The Kid Who Would Be King"

Release date: January 25

Opening weekend: $7,173,887

Total global gross: $32,097,473

Production budget: $60 million

Rotten Tomatoes critic score: 90%

What critics said: "Cornish is offering a kind of movie they just don't make anymore - expansive live-action adventure tales unabashedly aimed at young people, not the adults charged with taking them to the cinema." — Emily Yoshida, Vulture

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"Serenity"

"Serenity"

Release date: January 25

Opening weekend: $4,415,403

Total global gross: $8,547,045

Production budget: $25 million

Rotten Tomatoes critic score: 19%

What critics said: "What an infuriating mess the makers of Serenity have unloaded on an unsuspecting public. It's still only January, but this bats--- bonkers trip through the subconscious has already earned a place among the year's worst movies." — Peter Travers, Rolling Stone

"Miss Bala"

"Miss Bala"

Release date: February 1

Opening weekend: $6,864,744

Total global gross: $15,310,211

Production budget: $15 million

Rotten Tomatoes critic score: 22%

What critics said: "Gloria is basically in the wrong place at the wrong time, something that might be said for everyone involved with this movie, audience included." — A.O. Scott, New York Times

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"Captive State"

"Captive State"

Release date: March 1

Opening weekend: $3,131,525

Total global gross: $8,557,327

Production budget: $25 million

Rotten Tomatoes critic score: 45%

What critics said: "The central plot development is galvanizing in theory but mostly just confusing in practice." — Michael Nordine, Indiewire

"The Beach Bum"

"The Beach Bum"

Release date: March 29

Opening weekend: $1,763,070

Total global gross: $4,440,954

Production budget: $5 million

Rotten Tomatoes critic score: 54%

What critics said: "The Beach Bum would be more entertaining if it weren't the same scene over and over, with escalation in lieu of evolution. But that's Korine's strategy, for better or worse, possibly both." — David Edelstein, Vulture

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"Hellboy"

"Hellboy"

Release date: April 12

Opening weekend: $12,045,147

Total global gross: $41,099,007

Production budget: $50 million

Rotten Tomatoes critic score: 15%

What critics said: "An R-rated slog that's heavy on bad attitude and creative dismemberments, and completely missing the humane core of Mignola's original story." — David Sims, The Atlantic

"UglyDolls"

"UglyDolls"

Release date: May 3

Opening weekend: $8,603,407

Total global gross (So far): $15,892,796

Production budget: $45 million

Rotten Tomatoes critic score: 30%

What critics said: "UglyDolls is less a movie than an infomercial for the plush Hasbro toys." — Nell Minow, RogerEbert.com

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"Poms"

"Poms"

Release date: May 10

Opening weekend: $5,110,000

Total global gross (So far): $5,110,000

Production budget: N/A

Rotten Tomatoes critic score: 30%

What critics said: "Even by the elastic standards of mass-market escapist trifles the creators of POMS might consider the challenges of growing old and confronting death without infantilizing both characters and audience." — Ella Taylor, NPR

"Tolkien"

"Tolkien"

Release date: May 10

Opening weekend: $2,153,000

Total global gross (So far): $2,884,008

Production budget: N/A

Rotten Tomatoes critic score: 50%

What critics said: "If you're going to tell the story of one of the most imaginative writing minds of the 20th century, why not infuse it with more ... imagination?" — Richard Roeper, Chicago Sun-Times

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