They say numbers don't lie, but when it comes to the box office, they don't always tell the full story.

As studios spend more and more on their blockbusters, hoping to create the next Marvel-sized "event film" hit, the amount of money a movie has to make to become profitable has gone up. Tron: Legacy, for example, grossed $400 million worldwide. That's objectively a lot of money, but the film cost close to $200 million to make before you add in marketing costs. Therefore $400 million doesn't quite cut it to automatically greenlight a sequel.

Below, I go on a journey to find the other highest-grossing movies that were actually "bombs." Films that really did make quite a bit of money, but when you look closer were either marginally profitable or not profitable at all for their studios.

My analysis is largely based on numbers from Box Office Mojo and does not account for downstream ancillary markets and merchandising revenues, which in some cases are no doubt significant. Unlike, say, Prince of Persia, an event movie such as Justice League likely sells millions in merch, and also commands top dollar from TV networks, airlines and various partners.

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Image via Disney

It's also important to keep in mind that studios generally split ticket revenues with movie theaters, and that production budgets do not reflect marketing spends, which in the case of the 11 films below, were quite hefty, As far as those marketing spends go, I relied on my experience as a longtime industry reporter to estimate how much major studios typically spend on tentpoles.

There are plenty of bigger "bombs" out there — John Carter and Mortal Engines come to mind — but these are the best performers among the so-called "bombs," the not-quite-diamonds in the rough. Say a little prayer for each of them and the executives thrown under the bus on the Monday mornings following their ignominious releases.

As outlined below, not all blockbusters are created equal. Some are victims of their predecessors, others victims of their own release dates. And every now and then, a director (or two) has to be replaced. If there's one thing that the films below have in common, it's that they prove there really are some things that money can't buy -- like a good script and charismatic leads. Let's hope the vacation homes were worth it, because these movies will be remembered for all the wrong reasons.

Justice League - $657 million

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Image via Warner Bros.

Justice League is a close call as far as the term "box office bomb" goes, as $657 million worldwide is nothing to sneeze at, but given its potential, not to mention its budget — both of which were enormous — it has to be considered the most successful "bomb" of all time. You know the feeling you get sometimes when you go out to dinner and the appetizer is better than the entree? That's how it felt watching this movie, released a year and a half after Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice. That movie grossed $873 million worldwide and opened in the U.S. to $72 million more than Justice League, which is wild.

The DCEU had all been building to this movie. It was to be DC's The Avengers. And it just did not live up to expectations from both fans and the studio itself, Warner Bros. Of course, the movie was plagued by offscreen tragedy, as director Zack Snyder suffered a terrible loss that forced him to hand the reins to Joss Whedon, who was just called out on social media by one of the film's stars, Ray Fisher. Meanwhile, Batman actor Ben Affleck was struggling with his own well-documented personal problems. The point is, it wasn't a smooth shoot by any means, and unfortunately that elevated the budget. Of course, it didn't help that WB's marketing department had no idea what to do with Henry Cavill's Superman.

Though it made more money than any blockbuster on this list, and probably wasn't a "bomb" from the studio's perspective, there's no debating that Justice League was a disappointment on nearly every level, to the point that HBO Max will be spending tens of millions to both produce and release an alternate cut of the movie. I forget what they're calling it, but the mere fact that such an effort is being made speaks volumes regarding the underwhelming performance of this would-be juggernaut. If it drives millions to subscribe to the streaming service, it will be poetic justice, indeed.

Transformers: The Last Knight - $605 million

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Image via Paramount Pictures

First, some context. Transformers: Dark of the Moon grossed $1.12 billion in 2011, while its 2014 follow-up Transformers: Age of Extinction grossed $1.10 billion, so the fact that Transformers: The Last Knight barely cracked the $600 million mark is enough to call it a "bomb." Its predecessor opened in the U.S. to $100 million, whereas this film took in just $44 million. That's a 56% drop! Plus, the fifth film in this woeful franchise cost the most, with a reported production budget of $217 million according to The Numbers.

This movie brought in Oscar winner Anthony Hopkins, brought back Josh Duhamel's Colonel Lennox, and introduced Isabela Merced as a character who young audiences could actually relate to, but the plot, inspired by Arthurian legend, was an unholy mess. Mark Wahlberg starred in The Happening, Max Payne, Mile 22 and Tim Burton's Planet of the Apes, and yet somehow, Transformers: The Last Knight has the lowest Rotten Tomatoes score of all of them. This is the very definition of a box office bomb, especially because Paramount had already established an audience for that franchise. The Last Knight forced Paramount to pivot to a scaled-down spinoff titled Bumblebee that was easily the best Transformers entry since the original 2007 movie.

X-Men: Apocalypse - $543 million

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Image via 20th Century Fox

Yes, Dark Phoenix was a much bigger bomb in the sense that it grossed only $246 million worldwide and cost $22 million more than Apocalypse, but this is a list of the highest-grossing bombs, and yes, X-Men: Apocalypse still qualifies. You can't really compare it to Logan or the two Deadpool movies, so the film you have to use as a metric is X-Men: Days of Future Past, which grossed $747 million worldwide — over $200 million more than Apocalypse, for those keeping track.

20th Century Fox probably didn't lose its shirt on Apocalypse, which still outgrossed the first six X-Men movies by a healthy margin. The problem was that it cost more than all of those save for X-Men: The Last Stand, and it opened to $20 million less than X2 and even X-Men Origins: Wolverine. Apocalypse was so bad that it almost certainly had an impact on the lackluster opening of Dark Phoenix, and when you take that into account, it's hard to argue against the perception that this film was a financial failure as well as a creative misfire.

The Mummy - $409 million

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Image via Universal Pictures

Both Box Office Mojo and The Numbers agree that The Mummy grossed $409 million in 2017, but BOM lists its production budget at $125 million, while the latter site puts the figure at $195 million. While the truth is likely somewhere in between — and almost certainly closer to the higher number — that is clearly a large discrepancy, which makes it difficult to be authoritative with our analysis. Then again, do numbers really matter when the studio admits defeat and puts its entire Dark Universe strategy out to pasture?

Yes, The Mummy took in $329 million overseas thanks to the power of Tom Cruise, but the movie barely hit the $80 million mark in the U.S., where audiences yearned for the days of Brendan Fraser and Rachel Weisz. And when you have Tom Cruise but the audience wants Brendan Fraser, you know there's a problem.

Tron: Legacy - $400 million

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Image via Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures

$400 million worldwide wasn't bad for Tron: Legacy, but it couldn't have been what Disney had in mind when they greenlit this long-delayed sequel. Remember, the studio splits that money with theaters, and when you spend $170 million before marketing, that math isn't going to work out in your favor. Disney surely knew its fate when the film opened to just $44 million, indicating there wasn't as much support for this franchise as previously thought.

Sure, Jeff Bridges was back, but Garrett Hedlund and Olivia Wilde were the film's true stars, and no matter how much Daft Punk was on the soundtrack, the film's cool costumes were only going to take it so far. Disney has been developing a sequel for the past few years that would star Jared Leto, but don't hold your breath. Unless the studio finds a way to make it for far less, I don't see Disney going back to the glowing well anytime soon.

Solo: A Star Wars Story - $392 million

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Image via Lucasfilm

This box office fiasco was an unmitigated disaster, grossing $392 million on a reported production budget of — wait for it — $275 million! The mind reels. Like The Mummy, this troubled production forced its studio to pivot its entire strategy. What should've been an easy lay-up for Lucasfilm turned into a giant clusterfuck, and now the future of Star Wars Stories remains uncertain. Of course, The Rise of Skywalker didn't help alleviate concerns surrounding the franchise, as it only led to Lucasfilm pausing its Star Wars movie plans to focus on original Disney+ shows like The Mandalorian and The Bad Batch, but still, it was Solo: A Star Wars Story that threw the entire mission off-course.

I don't even think that Solo is a bad movie. Ron Howard went in there and, like a pro, did the best he could with what he had to work with. But with hindsight being 20-20, this was likely a bad idea from the start. It's one thing to fill in a piece of the Star Wars timeline as Rogue One did, but it's another to ask a young actor like Alden Ehrenreich to step into Harrison Ford's shoes and do justice to a character like Han Solo. That's a steep ask that probably never should've been made in the first place. Lucasfilm miscalculated on several different levels and paid a dear price for its efforts.

Independence Day: Resurgence - $389 million

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Image via 20th Century Fox

I walked out of this movie. Sure, it was late, and I had a podcast to host in the morning, but this too-little-too-late sequel was that abysmal. Again, the international take prevented Independence Day: Resurgence from being a complete bust, but it open to $41 million in the U.S., ultimately finishing its domestic run with just over $100 million. The first Independence Day opened to $50 million, and that was back in 1996! And it cost less than half as much as Resurgence.

Now, I know the sequel didn't have Will Smith, but I don't think he would've rescued this movie from its box office fate. What the studio clearly didn't understand is that Independence Day is beloved because of its cast -- Smith, Jeff Goldblum, Judd Hirsch, Randy Quaid, Brent Spiner and perhaps most importantly, Bill Pullman. It was never really about the aliens! Maybe it was when the first film came out, but that's not why it was remembered. So if you're not shelling out for Smith, why did this sequel have to cost $165 million? That's why it's really on this list. You're only a "bomb" in relation to your budget and a greenlight at that price was never a smart idea for a Smith-free sequel led by Liam Hemsworth.

Godzilla: King of the Monsters - $386 million

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Image via Warner Bros

In 2014, Gareth Edwards' Godzilla opened to $93 million in the U.S., en route to a global haul of $524 million worldwide on a reported production budget of $160 million. It was considered a successful relaunch of the giant monster. Five years later, with a bunch more monsters in the mix, Michael Dougherty's sequel opened to half as much — a mere $47 million — ending its theatrical run with a cume of $386 million worldwide.

Godzilla: King of the Monsters brought in Stranger Things sensation Millie Bobby Brown and introduced foes such as Rodan, Mothra and King Ghidorah, so it cost $10 million more but took in $140 million less. I believe Godzilla vs. Kong was already in the works by the time this movie was released, but I wonder if the studio would've moved forward had it waited for King of the Monsters to hit theaters. Again, it comes down to budget, and the fact that these kinds of VFX-heavy tentpoles rely on a huge marketing spend that makes it even more difficult for a studio to recoup its investment.

Terminator Salvation - $371 million

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Image via Warner Bros.

Like the X-Men franchise with Dark Phoenix, you could point to last year's Terminator: Dark Fate and call that the true "bomb" of this franchise, but keep in mind the name of this list — it's the highest-grossing "bombs," and that's why 2009's Terminator Salvation is here instead. Now let me tell you why.

For starters, it cost $200 million, putting it in a very deep hole to begin with. 2015's Terminator: Genisys cost $45 million less, and made nearly $70 million more, so I was hard-pressed to call that one a bomb. Salvation, on the other hand, starred Christian Bale the summer after The Dark Knight, so expectations were high, and they simply weren't met. Salvation wasn't as poorly reviewed as Genisys, but at 33% fresh on Rotten Tomatoes, critics had their knives out for the franchise, and audiences kept their distance.

Star Trek Beyond - $343 million

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Image via Paramount Pictures

This is what they call a franchise killer, folks. Sure, you've read stories since this film came out that Paramount was trying to get the band back together again, especially Chris Pine as Captain Kirk, but trust me, Star Trek 4 was almost certainly never happening, as these films are prohibitively expensive for what they bring in.

The Star Trek franchise of the '80s and '90s was a mid-budget property, with every film between 1982's Wrath of Khan and 1996's First Contact costing between $12 million and $46 million. The franchise started to run into some trouble when Insurrection and Nemesis cost an average of $65 million, and once J.J. Abrams got his hands on the wheel of the Enterprise, the sky was the limit. His 2009 reboot cost $140 million, and its 2013 sequel, Star Trek Into Darkness, ballooned to $190 million, though it grossed $467 million worldwide. Unfortunately, the audience seemed to sour on Abrams' mystery box approach, and by the time Justin Lin came in to direct the third film, no amount of Idris Elba was going to be able to stop the bleeding.

Star Trek Beyond was made on a reported production budget of $185 million and grossed $132 million less than its Cumberbatchian predecessor. The fat lady had sung, and she sounded an awful lot like the Beastie Boys. Viacom seems focused on rejuvenating the Star Trek brand on via its CBS All Access streaming service, and talk of a Quentin Tarantino-directed Trek has died down. The odds of this franchise continuing beyond the third film are slim to none, but hey, never say never. When you're as desperate for franchises as Paramount is these days, anything is possible, especially if you add Chris Hemsworth to the mix.

Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time - $336 million

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Image via Walt Disney Pictures

What more needs to be said about Prince of Persia at this point? Jake Gyllenhaal would surely prefer it be forgotten by the sands of time. This is an epic bomb, so much so that I don't even need to put the word "bomb" in quotes. It cost $200 million at a time when only a handful of top titles — most of them sure bets — had such a high budget, and given its worldwide gross of $336 million, it likely failed to recoup its production budget. And that's before you factor in a hefty marketing spend.

Since Prince of Persia wiped out in theaters, director Mike Newell hasn't been entrusted with a budget even half as high, and Gyllenhaal has all but sworn off big-budget blockbusters, though he made an exception last summer for Spider-Man: Far from Home. I suppose we have Prince of Persia to thank for the past decade of incredible Gyllenhaal performances, because if it hadn't been for this spectacular box office failure, we may have never seen him in Nightcrawler, Prisoners, Stronger and End of Watch.

For more on Hollywood blockbusters, check out our ranking of the highest-grossing movies of the 21st century so far!