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Box Office Poison

Hollywood's Story in a Century of Flops

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Box Office Poison

By: Tim Robey
Narrated by: Tim Robey
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About this listen

'Hugely entertaining.' Prospect
'An instant classic.' Andrew O'Hagan, author of Caledonian Road
'Expertly researched.' Sight & Sound
'A rollicking, gossipy triumph.' Daily Telegraph *****
'Wildly enjoyable.' Guardian

'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.

©2024 Faber & Faber (P)2024 Faber & Faber Entertainment & Performing Arts Film & TV History & Criticism Funny Witty

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All stars
Most relevant
I loved the detail and Sharp wit of the author. interesting and informative insight on the flops of Hollywood from Silents to modern day duds like Cats. The amount of money that has been thrown at productons in the hope of promoting a terrible idea or attempting to improve a already sinking ship is unbelievable. highly recommended

Hollywood walk of shane

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So sad he ran out of flops , really interesting tip toe through the movie flops over the years , and to be fair much much more . Lots of detail on the process of making some of the worst movies. ever made , but also about some of those that made it against the odds . If you’re a movie buff, you’ll love it I promise .

For a film fan fascinating stuff

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Whilst this my not be for everyone, if you love film it's a must listen. It's well paced, well described and reviews everything from what I felt was a fair point of view. Very well researched and very informative.

If you love film it's a must listen

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Highly entertaining book with lots of details and history and delving into some of the more murky dealings of Hollywood. The section of 80’s kids fantasy films was my childhood and made me rewatch Return to Oz 25+ years later

Entertaining, informative and some bats*%# films

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I really enjoyed this audiobook, however the subtitle “a history of Hollywood in a century of flops” made me think we were going to get a more in depth history of Hollywood as told through failure. Instead what you have is a collection of “making of” of individual movies, which is fine, and a lot of fun, but not quite what I was expecting.

A fun listen but somewhat misleading

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