10 Upcoming Blockbusters That Could Easily Bomb With Critics

In the last year, Rotten Tomatoes has become more popular than it's ever been before and we have people's laziness to thank. If audiences want to figure out whether a movie is worth paying for in theatres, why would they read a number of detailed reviews when they can just find the film's score on Rotten Tomatoes and go from there? As a shorthand for film criticism, Rotten Tomatoes is an incredibly convenient way of gauging a movie's general response. The site works by collating reviews from around 100 of the industry's top critics, designating each movie a percentage score. Films rated 60% or more are deemed fresh, while movies given a lower score are rotten. While it's impossible to determine a film's quality prior to its release, we can't help but make early judgements. Trailers and other forms of promotion are designed to increase audience anticipation, but when these fall flat, things can take a turn for the worse. Time will tell whether our predictions come true, but, for now, join us as we take a look at 10 movies that are likely to receive a rotten score from critics upon their release next year. 10) Gambit In the next few years, more superhero movies will hit cinemas than ever before. While the hype for Captain America: Civil War and Deadpool continues to build day by day, one superhero movie that keeps hitting the news for all the wrong reasons is Fox's Gambit. Despite being one of the most popular X-Men, Gambit's solo venture has had a lot of trouble getting off the ground. Director Rupert Wyatt left the project not long before the film was scheduled to start shooting, and though Channing Tatum's role as the ragin' cajun is likely to lure audiences into the cinema, the troubled production stories don't bode well for the final product. Even if Gambit hadn't suffered any of these problems, many are still dubious about whether Fox can pull off a solo X-Men movie after X-Men Origins: Wolverine, which scored a measly 38% on Rotten Tomatoes. At least Taylor Kitsch isn't having another crack at the character though, so perhaps there's still some hope. 9) Inferno (Dan Brown) The Robert Langdon books were one of the biggest literary successes of the millennium, so it came as no surprise when Hollywood began to adapt them for the silver screen. The Da Vinci Code became the second highest grossing film of 2006 and was followed quickly by a sequel titled Angels & Demons three years later. While the original source material was extremely popular, critics didn't warm to the franchise as much as audiences did, leading to rotten scores of 25% and 37% respectively on Rotten Tomatoes. Despite there being little demand for another sequel, Tom Hanks is set to return once again as the lead character in Inferno, which is scheduled for release in October 2016. Unfortunately, the book Inferno received mixed reviews upon its release and now that so much time has passed, it seems unlikely that the movie adaptation will fare as well as its predecessors. While filming took place, the code name Headache was used to hide the production from press. While it's possible that this refers to a concussion Langdon suffers early in the story, it also seems indicative of the entire project, which is set to be released almost a year after shooting initially wrapped. 8) Alice In Wonderland: Through The Looking Glass Financially, Tim Burton's live action version of Alice In Wonderland fared extremely well, but the soulless characters and flimsy plotting didn't impress critics as much, whose combined reviews gave the film a grand total of 52% on Rotten Tomatoes. Despite this, a sequel titled Alice In Wonderland: Through The Looking Glass was greenlit soon after, because... money. A glimmer of hope for the film resides with Burton's replacement James Bobin, who co-created the offbeat comedy show Flight Of The Conchords and recently found huge success with the two latest cinematic outings from those lovable puppets, The Muppets. However, sequels aren't exactly renowned for improving upon the originals and those that do tend to have been of a fairly high quality to begin with. Despite featuring the return of talented performers like Helena Bonham Carter alongside new additions Sacha Baron Cohen and Rhys Ifans, Alice In Wonderland: Through The Looking Glass is likely to leave audiences wishing that Alice had snapped her neck when she first fell down that rabbit hole, saving us all from yet another tedious franchise. 7) The Purge 3 The Purge is one of those franchises that possesses a killer high concept that's been stretched out unnecessarily. It's easy to see why though. The original Purge became a surprise hit and horror films like that are usually quite lucrative due to their low budget costs. Little is known about The Purge 3 yet, aside from the fact that the original director James DeMonaco is returning once again to write and helm the project. In recent interviews, DeMonaco has mused over which direction to take the franchise, flitting between a prequel that looks at how The Purge began or a sequel that focuses on revolutionaries fighting against the system. Either way, the first film in the franchise only scored 38% on Rotten Tomatoes and The Purge: Anarchy didn't fare much better, receiving a score of 56%, so it's looking doubtful whether the latest instalment will actually be any good. Perhaps The Purge 3 would be better off focusing on a Purge that takes out pointless film sequels than innocent people. 6) Gods Of Egypt If you've seen the batshit crazy trailer for Gods of Egypt, then you may be pretty excited for the film's release. It's doubtful whether anyone actually believes it will be any good, but there's a distinct possibility that Alex Proyas's latest venture could be entertaining as hell, no matter how terrible the acting/writing/directing is likely to be. The story follows a mortal hero named Bek who works alongside a fallen deity named Horus. Together, they will fight to take back the Egyptian empire from the clutches of Set, the god of darkness. Along the way, life lessons are likely to be learned as the special effects team work diligently to mask the ridiculousness of the entire project. Proyas hasn't had a movie rated fresh on Rotten Tomatoes since Dark City scored 74% back in 1998 and before that, The Crow was the only other hit on his filmography to avoid a rotten score. Gods Of Egypt has already received a negative backlash for casting white actors in the roles of Egyptian characters, but if you can overlook that, the film may end up being the best guilty pleasure of 2016. 5) Leatherface Everyone knows the eighth film in a horror movie franchise is the best one of all... said no one ever, which is why Leatherface is guaranteed to be pronounced rotten upon its release in 2016. In case you're still reading though, you may wish to know that Leatherface will be directed by two directors named Alexandre Bustillo and Julien Maury and that the story will work as a prequel to the franchise, exploring the life of Leatherface before his face turned all leathery. Those expecting an oscar winning screenplay may be somewhat disappointed when the film finally hits cinemas, but the original Texas Chainsaw Massacre received a score of 88% on Rotten Tomatoes, so there's always hope. Sure, it's been over 40 years since any of these films scored a fresh rating, but who are we to presume that Leatherface will fall flat on its leather-like face? 4) Independence Day: Resurgence This is a tricky call. On the one hand, Independence Day is fondly remembered as one of the most entertaining movies of the 90's, performing phenomenally well in cinemas worldwide while making an A-list star out of Will Smith. On the other hand, it's hard to not see this sequel as a cynical attempt to cash in on all of the goodwill generated by the first film. Obviously, this is one of the main reasons why sequels are made, but the ending of Independence Day does little to make the idea of a sequel viable, and the first film only scored 60% on Rotten Tomatoes in the first place. Newcomers like Liam Hemsworth and Maika Monroe may draw younger audiences in and fans are bound to be pleased by the return of Jeff Goldblum and Bill Pullman, but it's hard to imagine Resurgence adding much to the original story. Regardless of what critics end up thinking, Independence Day: Resurgence is likely to be a huge hit based on nostalgia alone. Also, aliens and guns are pretty cool, so there's always that going for it, too. 3) The Legend Of Tarzan Tarzan is one of those stories that everyone knows, but Hollywood has decided it needs to be retold again anyway, all in the pursuit of making a quick buck without having to think of something original to sell. To make matters worse, The Legend Of Tarzan has been plagued with issues ever since it first started production. Warner Brothers originally put Tarzan on hold all the way back in 2013 citing budgetary concerns as the reason why. Production eventually started once again in 2014, but since then, test screenings have fared poorly. To make matters worse, director David Yates has already began work on the Harry Potter spinoff Fantastic Beats And Where To Find Them, finishing the editing process for Tarzan on weekends. Such an approach does little to instil confidence in Legend Of Tarzan, despite starring Margot Robbie, whose profile has risen considerably since production first began. The Disney version from 1999 scored 88% on Rotten Tomatoes, and that's despite Phil Collins, so the story certainly has potential if handled right. That being said, the last time Alexander Skarsgard took a lead role in a blockbuster it led to the travesty that was Battleship, so things aren't looking great right now. 2) Warcraft It could be argued that one shouldn't judge upcoming video game adaptations based on all of the abominations that came before, but it's hard to forget that films like House Of The Dead and Max Payne actually exist, as much as we'd like to, so a healthy amount of scepticism is to be expected. Some people are suggesting that 2016 is the year that video game adaptations may finally improve, but if that's the case, our money is on Assassins Creed rather than Warcraft. Fantasy movies that fully immerse themselves in an imaginary world far removed from our own are hit and miss at the best of times. Director Duncan Jones does lend credence to the project, as Moon is a phenomenal debut and Source Code had moments of brilliance, but this is filmmaking on a completely different scale. Warcraft follows the conflict between orcs and humans as they fight for control over the world of Azeroth, which could turn out to be as cheesy as it sounds. Jones has described the film as a mix between Game Of Thrones and Avatar, which would put Warcraft in some fine company indeed... but the likelihood of it being as well received is highly doubtful. 1) The Huntsman: Winter's War Snow White And The Huntsman wasn’t as good as it should have been and the story was wrapped up neatly by the film's end, so most people were surprised to hear that a spinoff focusing on the Huntsman was in the pipelines. Chris Hemsworth has become incredibly popular following his stint as Thor, but his character in Snow White And The Huntsman is far from the most charismatic character ever depicted on celluloid. The Huntsman: Winter’s War will straddle the strange line between prequel and sequel, flitting between scenes set both before and after the events of the first film. To make this bizarre approach more appealing, the studio have drafted in the talents of Jessica Chastain and Emily Blunt while also resurrecting Charlize Theron’s Queen Ravenna for a return appearance. The cast are arguably one of the best featured in a film released next year, but Snow White And The Huntsman only scored 48% on Rotten Tomatoes and it’s hard to imagine an unnecessary prequel/sequel like this improving on the original… although it has been confirmed that Kristen Stewart won’t be appearing, so the Winter’s War is already a far better film in that regard. For a more positive outlook on the year, check out our guide to 10 blockbusters that are not to be missed in 2016!