Available Formats
Box Office Poison: Hollywoods Story in a Century of Flops
By (Author) Tim Robey
Faber & Faber
Faber & Faber
2nd December 2025
11th September 2025
Main
United Kingdom
General
Non Fiction
Film guides and reviews
Film: styles and genres
791.430979494
Paperback
352
Width 129mm, Height 198mm
'So entertaining, smart and funny.' DAVID NICHOLLS
'Beautifully written. I really enjoyed it.' MARINA HYDE
'Fascinating.' EMPIRE
'Wildly enjoyable.' GUARDIAN
'Hugely entertaining.' PROSPECT
'Failure fascinates, for all the reasons that success is a drag . . .'
In his hugely acclaimed alternative history of Hollywood, Tim Robey leads us through a century of its most notable flops. From Freaks to Land of the Pharaohs, Dune to Speed 2, and Catwoman to Cats - here is the definitive take on these ill-fated, but essential celluloid failures.
'Expertly researched.' SIGHT & SOUND
'A rollicking, gossipy triumph.' DAILY TELEGRAPH
'Amusing and wince-inducing in equal measure.' INDEPENDENT
Since 2000, Tim Robey has reviewed films, written features and conducted interviews for the Daily Telegraph's arts pages. He appears regularly on Radio 4's Front Row and Monocle FM Radio, contributed to R4's now-defunct Film Programme, and appeared as a sofa guest on BBC Film 2015-2017. He gave Cats zero stars, but has now seen it four times. His favourite film is Terrence Malick's The Thin Red Line (1998).