Virtually any movie that manages to crash through the coveted billion-dollar barrier at the box office is destined to get a sequel eventually, but that doesn’t always mean it’s the best idea. Looking at just how bad it fared compared to its predecessor, Alice Through the Looking Glass would have been much better off not existing at all.
Tim Burton’s Alice in Wonderland shocked everyone when it became just the sixth title in history to make 10 figures in ticket sales, although a lot of that was attributed to its status as the first major 3D release to follow in the wake of James Cameron’s game-changing Avatar.
Nonetheless, Disney confidently funneled a hefty $170 million into the follow-up, albeit with the notable change of James Bobin stepping in behind the camera. Once the dust had settled, though, Alice Through the Looking Glass was a critical and commercial dumpster fire of the highest order.
A 29 percent Rotten Tomatoes score was bad enough, but failing to even reach $300 million globally saw it earn over 70 percent and $700 million less than the opener, which is one of the biggest drops in the history of cinema for any sequel, never mind such a ludicrously expensive one.
In the end, Alice Through the Looking Glass was every bit as worthless as everyone thought it would be, even if FlixPatrol outing it as one of the most-watched features on iTunes terrifyingly outlines that people are still going out of their way to see it.