by R.J. MacReady @scifimovienews
It doesn’t matter how Jon Favreau sugarcoats it, Cowboys & Aliens was a major disappointment (and a bomb). The film grossed $174 million dollars worldwide on a $163 million dollar budget (by comparison, even the inferior Battleship grossed $303 million worldwide). I’m a big fan of Favreau, but think Cowboys & Aliens is his worst outing as a director (Made, Elf, Zathura, Iron Man 1 & 2). Here is what Faverau had to say on the WTF Podcast:
“Cowboys and Aliens, it didn’t bomb but it was definitely a ‘pillow party’. You always feel this way about the latest project you’ve done but I feel like it’s the 
most evolved work I’ve done. Plus, the experience of working with Spielberg, Ron Howard, Brian Grazer, ‘Kurtzman and Orci’ and Damon Lindelof and then Harrison Ford and Daniel Craig, it was one of those things where when you achieve a certain amount of success, you’re the expert. You’re going to decide and give these platitudes of ‘if it bends its funny.’… I learned the lesson that you can make the best Bacon Sundae in the world but if people don’t want to eat that flavor of ice cream…and the name was misleading. With so many [actors] associated with it, it was seen as the big dog and we felt we were underdogs with how obscure the material was…The name that was so interesting made everyone think it was going to be a comedy and maybe it would’ve been better served with a different vision… It’s always a trick of ‘how can you get the big summer movie, with the big budget, where you can play with all the toys yet do something interesting with it. With Iron Man I had been spoiled because it worked out. [Looking at Iron Man] part of me felt that it was going to bomb and part of me felt like this is going to be the best movie in the world.
The stroke of brilliance with Iron Man was [Robert] Downey. It’s not that it was him, it was that it was him at that moment, having paid his dues and having a spiritual redemption…He came out of the other end of the tunnel glowing, there was a radiance to him. I knew that if I could get him then every decision for the movie would be obvious. My biggest contribution was the knife fight to get him [as] the star. Letting someone do it for themselves is the most gratifying feeling of connection.”
Source : WTF Podcast
Cowboys and Aliens wasn’t a bomb . It was well done, and I’d love to see a sequel . As for your review its time to look for another job the reviewing movies. Well done Jon Favreau !