Box Office Poison

'So entertaining, smart and funny.' DAVID NICHOLLS

'Beautifully written. I really enjoyed it.' MARINA HYDE

'Fascinating.' EMPIRE

'Wildly enjoyable.' GUARDIAN

'Hugely entertaining.' PROSPECT

'Failure fascinates, for all the reasons that success is a drag . . .'

From grand follies to misunderstood masterpieces, disastrous sequels to catastrophic literary adaptations, Tim Robey's hugely entertaining Box Office Poison tells an alternative history of Hollywood, through a century of its most notable flops.

Freaks, Land of the Pharaohs, Dune, Speed 2, Catwoman, Cats: what can these films tell us about the Hollywood system, the public's appetite—or lack of it—and the circumstances that saw such box office disasters actually made? Away from the canon, here is the definitive take on these ill-fated, but essential celluloid failures.

'Expertly researched.' SIGHT & SOUND

'A rollicking, gossipy triumph.' DAILY TELEGRAPH

'Amusing and wince-inducing in equal measure.' INDEPENDENT