Plans for Battleship 2 and a new franchise never came to pass, despite the fact that Universal and Hasbro Studios’ 2012 hit Battleship represented a significant investment for the corporation.
A fleet of Navy ships engaged in combat with an army of alien ships in the film, which took the straightforward board game and turned it into a blockbuster. With a staggering budget of $209–220 million, the film starred Rihanna, Liam Neeson, and Taylor Kitsch.
Even though the film had all the makings of a franchise launchpad, it was unable to launch a successful Battleship series.
Battleship 2012 was a unique blend of science fiction epic and unconventional adaptation. Screenwriters Jon and Erich Hoeber chose to change the turn-based, pin-placing format by focusing the tale on an extraterrestrial invasion, drawing inspiration from the decidedly uncinematic Battleship board game.
The choice helped create a story around the source material even if this lore was completely missing from the original game. Despite a tease in the Battleship post-credits scene, Battleship failed to provide the groundwork for a possible sequel, even with this plot in place.
Why Battleship 2 Never Happened?
The first movie’s box office disaster was the main factor that prevented Battleship 2 from ever happening. The film only made about $303 million worldwide, compared to its $220 million budget.
Battleship was far from profitable, as most estimates indicate that a movie needs to earn about two-and-a-half times its budget to be a success. This is particularly true given that the film had a $100 million marketing budget. Plans for Battleship 2 were therefore necessarily doomed to fail.
The studio’s domestic box office receipts were especially dismal. The movie only made $65.4 in the US and Canada, according to Box Office Mojo. The main cause of its pitiful overall earnings was its inability to attract any kind of domestic audience.
According to a Hollywood Reporter story, Universal actually lost over $150 million on the film. Battleship 2 was therefore unlikely to receive a green light.
How Negative Reviews Led to the Cancellation of Battleship 2?
Naturally, Battleship’s negative critic reaction played a significant role in its poor box office performance. Although it’s not unusual for poorly received films to do well commercially, Battleship’s 33% Rotten Tomatoes rating undoubtedly did little to spark interest.
Even worse, according to the review aggregator, only 54% of general viewers expressed satisfaction with the board game movie, indicating that spectators were equally disinterested.
The post-credits scene in Battleship makes it evident that there were intentions to carry on the plot beyond the first film. However, it seems doubtful that Battleship 2 would have offered anything very different, considering that a popular criticism of the film was that the plot was predictable and derivative.
Some studio officials might be privately happy that the first Battleship project never materialized, considering the enormous losses it suffered.
How The Battleship Cast Has Overcome The Flop?
The whole cast of Battleship did well in the aftermath, despite the film’s failure and the actors’ swift realization that they probably wouldn’t be returning for a sequel. Certain actors, like Liam Neeson, the ensemble’s seasoned member and longtime star, were going to be safe regardless of the film’s reception.
Despite having a poor acting debut and receiving a Razzie nomination for Worst Supporting Actor, Rihanna’s reputation remained intact as she continued to achieve enormous success.
Taylor Kitsch was arguably the cast’s hardest-hitting actor. Leading a bomb like Battleship was bound to hurt his reputation as a rising Hollywood star, but it was made worse by the fact that Kitsch had previously starred in Disney’s John Carter earlier in the year, which was one of the biggest bombs in Hollywood history and resulted in the cancellation of the John Carter sequels.
Kitsch persisted in his career despite spearheading two unsuccessful franchises, finding greater success in supporting parts like in 2013’s Lone Survivor, where he reteamed with Battleship director Peter Berg.
Kitsch will be the star of the new spinoff series The Terminal List: Dark Wolf. More recently, Kitsch costarred with Chris Pratt in the popular television series The Terminal List.
After the initial film’s failure, Battleship’s supporting cast did even better. The film’s second-billed star, Alexander Skarsgård, appeared to be someone Hollywood was trying to make into a new blockbuster star, much like Kitsch. Skarsgård, however, was successful when he took on more difficult parts and ventured into television.
Skarsgård received two nominations for the character of Lukas Mattsen in Succession and an Emmy for his portrayal of Perry Wright in Big Little Lies. Similarly, Battleship’s supporting cast includes Tadanobu Asano, who recently received praise for Shogun, and Jesse Plemons, who is now nominated for an Oscar.
Due to low grossing and poor reviews, Battleship was unable to produce a sequel, even with its large budget and stellar ensemble. Are you curious about the biggest box office failures in Hollywood? For in-depth film analysis and behind-the-scenes information, visit our website!
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