4) Jonah Hex (2010)
DC Comics can never seem to find its footing with audiences or critics. Whether it’s the recent backlash for Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice or DC’s failure to seamlessly integrate its television products in with its film ones, the gritty comic book company is continuously lagging behind Marvel in its expansion into other mediums. And while the House of Ideas has certainly had its ups and downs when adapting for the silver screen (see the previous page), it appears that DC’s films are much more susceptible to poor critical and commercial reactions (except, of course, the highly lauded Nolan-helmed Batman movies, and now Wonder Woman).
One such poor outing was Jimmy Hayward’s Jonah Hex. The director had previously worked as an animator and story consultant for many of Pixar’s flagship films like Toy Story 2, Monster’s Inc. and Finding Nemo. Before long, Hayward found his way into the director’s chair, helming the much-adored Horton Hears a Who!, which had an immense return of $300 million on a $80 million budget and was lauded for its story, acting and fidelity to Dr. Seuss’ image and aura. It appeared as though Hayward was indeed becoming a rising star in Hollywood – unfortunately, that trajectory didn’t last too long.
The filmmaker’s panache for animated efforts didn’t translate well to his live-action directorial debut, which was a befuddled mess right from the start. Whether it was the asinine pacing or the haphazard editing, Jonah Hex was a critical disaster, earning an average of 3.5 out of 10 from critics on Rotten Tomatoes. Furthermore, its atrocious box office performance (a mere $10 million on a budget of nearly $50 million) ensured that Hayward would have a hard time finding another studio that would be willing to give him a shot at directing. Indeed, it appears that he’s now returned to his animator and story consulting roots, having worked on Zootopia and the upcoming Cars 3.