Hollywood’s nepo babies directors were responsible for some of the biggest box office flops in 2024.
This year, the children of the biggest names in Hollywood, including Spielberg and Shyamalan, released their movies, which massively underperformed in the box office.
One of them was Ishana Night Shyamalan, the daughter of Oscar nominee M. Night Shyamalan, making her feature directorial debut with The Watchers — which left Netflix viewers ‘disappointed’ with the ending.
Another was Jake Kasdan, the son of four-time Oscar nominee Lawrence Kasdan, and his Christmas-themed action-comedy flick Red One, which received a theatrical release last month.
Zelda Williams, the daughter of the late and beloved comedian Robin Williams, released her first movie Lisa Frankenstein, which grossed just $3 million short of the romantic-comedy-slash-horror-flick’s budget.
And while they brought down the average class score, there were a few who carried the rest of the team on their backs and that was Zoe Kravitz and possibly Gia Coppola.
Hollywood’s nepo babies directors were responsible for some of the biggest box office flops in 2024. One of them was Ishana Night Shyamalan making her feature directorial debut with The Watchers — which left Netflix viewers ‘disappointed’ with the ending; pictured January 2023 in New York City
This year, Ishana Night Shyamalan made her directorial debut with the supernatural horror movie The Watchers.
The film — which stars Dakota Fanning and follows the story of a 28-year-old artist gets stranded in an expansive, untouched forest in western Ireland — secured a $30 million budget.
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After the flick was released over the summer, it pulled in only $33 million worldwide and received a lackluster C- CinemaScore.
As for Jake Kasdan, he generally has a good track record. With eight feature films under his belt, he has generated $2.25 billion in total now across the world.
His father Lawrence Kasdan wrote the screenplays for some of Hollywood’s biggest hits to date — including four Star Wars films, Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981) and The Bodyguard (1992).
The filmmaker is known for co-writing The Empire Strikes Back, Return of the Jedi, The Force Awakens and Solo: A Star Wars Story.
But compared to his father’s incomparable legacy and his own earned record, Jake Kasdan fell just a little short this year — numerically speaking, about $75 million short of the staggering budget he received to put together the movie.
Even though the film starred Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson and Chris Evans, Red One grossed only $175 million worldwide to date.
She is the daughter of Oscar nominee M. Night Shyamalan; pictured June in New York City
Another was Jake Kasdan, the son of four-time Oscar nominee Lawrence Kasdan, and his Christmas-themed action-comedy flick Red One, which received a theatrical release last month; pictured December 2019 in Hollywood
And Zelda Williams released her first movie, the romantic-comedy and horror hybrid Lisa Frankenstein in February. The film had a budget of $13 million and ended up grossing $10 million in the box office; pictured January in Los Angeles
She is the daughter of the late and beloved comedian Robin Williams; pictured May 2004 in New York City
He had a $250 million budget for the movie with the unusual story about kidnapping and rescuing Old Saint Nick.
The reviews were even harsher as his film received a measly 30 percent score on Rotten Tomatoes.
It could be surprising as Kasdan has a pretty good track record outside of Red One. His highest-grossing film was Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle, which grossed $960 million worldwide in 2017.
His 2019 follow-up, Jumanji: The Next Level, also grossed over $800 million globally.
And Zelda Williams, the daughter of Robin Wiliams, released her first movie, the romantic-comedy and horror hybrid Lisa Frankenstein in February.
The film had a budget of $13 million and ended up grossing $10 million in the box office.
However, 2024 wasn’t all bad for nepo baby directors as Zoë Kravitz, the daughter of Lisa Bonet and Lenny Kravitz, and her psychological thriller Blink Twice was a box office hit.
However, 2024 wasn’t all bad for nepo baby directors as Zoë Kravitz, the daughter of Lisa Bonet and Lenny Kravitz, and her psychological thriller Blink Twice was a box office hit; pictured December in New York City
And Gia Coppola — the granddaughter of director Francis Ford Coppola and the niece of Sofia Coppola — and her latest project, The Last Showgirl, could also be considered a success, but she has not yet tested the box office; pictured December in Los Angeles
And Gia Coppola — the granddaughter of director Francis Ford Coppola and the niece of Sofia Coppola — and her latest project, The Last Showgirl, could also be considered a success, but she has not yet tested the box office.
The Pamela Anderson-led drama film, which follows the story of veteran Las Vegas showgirls, earned $50,300 on one screen for its Oscar-qualifying first weekend.
The film has since entered the awards conversation and the leading actress Anderson has even earned a Golden Globe nomination for her role in the drama.
The supporting cast, which is also made up of nepo babies Jamie Lee Curtis and Billie Lourd, were praised for their performances.