Crowe and Cage in year's biggest bombs

LOS ANGELES - Oscar winners Russell Crowe, Nicolas Cage and Sean Penn starred in some of the year's biggest box office bombs, according to an analysis published on Sunday by Variety, proving A-list stars are not invincible.

Crowe struck out with the romantic comedy "A Good Year," Cage with the horror remake "Wicker Man," and Penn with another remake, the political saga "All the King's Men."

High-profile directors such as M. Night Shyamalan ("Lady in the Water") and Wolfgang Petersen ("Poseidon") also made the hall of shame with their waterlogged movies.

The other films among its 10-biggest box office bombs were the erotic thriller sequel "Basic Instinct 2," the World War One aviation saga "Flyboys," the cartoon "Flushed Away," the transcendental love story "The Fountain," and the urban kidnapping thriller "Freedomland."

Variety said its alphabetically ordered list was determined by looking primarily at the ratio between a film's cost and its revenues. It noted that financial loss could be divided among various studios and other equity investors, while international box office receipts and DVD sales can restore some luster.

Based on figures cited in the article, the most unprofitable film appeared to be "Basic Instinct 2," a $70 million film that earned $5 million domestically, and continued actress Sharon Stone's 11-year string of bombs. But the German-backed film's domestic distributor, Sony Corp.'s Columbia Pictures, said at the time of its release that its financial exposure was limited.

More-spectacular misfires included "Flushed Away" with a $90 million shortfall between cost and domestic sales, and Poseidon which had a $100 million deficit, although it did well overseas.

Time Warner Inc.'s Warner Bros. Pictures, which had a dismal year at the box office, was the domestic distributor of four of the pictures: "The Fountain," "Lady in the Water," "Poseidon" and "Wicker Man." Columbia Pictures, the market leader with 13 No. 1 movies in 2006, also released "All the King's Men" and "Freedomland."

Closely held Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Inc. handled "Flyboys," although software billionaire Larry Ellison put up almost half the $60 million budget. News Corp.'s Twentieth Century Fox released "A Good Year," and Viacom Inc.'s Paramount Pictures "Flushed Away."