Sharon Stone's legendary charms failed to wow the movie crowds during 2006, with Basic Instinct 2 taking just $5m at the domestic box office, Variety reports. Given that the movie cost $70m to make, it rated as the biggest flop of the year.

Also included in the magazine's list of celluloid shame are All the King's Men ($7m revenue - $55m outlay), Poseidon ($60 million - $121m) and The Wicker Man ($23m - $40m).

Fans and even the original film's director were vocally dismayed by plot tweaks in Neil LaBute's remake of the 1973 cult horror pic that included swarms of killer bees and that had the film's lead (Nicolas Cage) turn into a pill-popping madman. As for tapping new auds, the $40 million film faced the dilemma of not fitting neatly into either the horror or thriller genre. And Cage's mopey face didn't make for titillating marketing. Warner Bros. tried to protect it by not screening for critics, to no avail.

Unsurprisingly, Ridley Scott's A Good Year makes the list, despite the presence of Oz hardman Russell Crowe. The "light-hearted romp", Variety notes, "was not an obvious sell to Crowe's male fans and failed to capture the females". ®

Related stories

• French critics roast Crowe (5 January 2007)
• Capra classic 'commie propaganda' (29 December 2006)
• Cruise and Hilton triumph at Razzies (6 March 2006)
• Showgirls clinches worst movie sex scene award (30 September 2005)