The Worst Teen Movies of All Time

Some teen movies become generational touchstones; others stumble with critics, audiences, or at the box office. This list rounds up teen-focused titles that are frequently documented for poor critical response, weak financial performance, notorious awards attention, or all of the above. Each entry includes verifiable details—release and production basics, reception, and outcome—so you can see exactly why these films show up whenever “worst of” conversations come up.

To keep things clean and comparable, each pick below notes concrete facts like opening-weekend results, total grosses, streaming release dates, or widely reported aggregate reception. Sources are cited so you can check the data yourself.

‘From Justin to Kelly’ (2003)

Released on June 20, 2003, the ‘American Idol’ tie-in musical opened to $2.7 million across 2,001 theaters and ended its domestic run at $4.93 million on a reported $12 million budget—results widely tracked as a box-office bomb. Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave it a “C+.”

Awards bodies took notice for the wrong reasons: the film later picked up a Golden Raspberry Award for “Worst ‘Musical’ of Our First 25 Years.”

‘Crossroads’ (2002)

The Britney Spears–led road drama opened second at the U.S. box office with a $14.5 million debut weekend and ultimately grossed $37.2 million domestically and $61.1 million worldwide. Despite that commercial showing, critical aggregates recorded low scores and a “generally unfavorable” consensus.

Interest has resurfaced over time—most notably a 2023 streaming bow and brief theatrical re-release tied to Spears’s memoir—yet contemporary critical reception at launch remained poor by Rotten Tomatoes and Metacritic measures.

‘Dumb and Dumberer: When Harry Met Lloyd’ (2003)

Serving as a prequel set during the characters’ high-school years, the film opened with $10.8 million and finished with $39.3 million worldwide on a $19 million budget. Box-office databases and trade coverage tracked multiple Razzie nominations that followed.

Critical aggregates logged a 10% approval rating and a Metacritic score indicating “overwhelming dislike,” and the movie also drew “Worst Remake or Sequel” and related nominations from the Razzies and the Stinkers Bad Movie Awards.

‘The New Guy’ (2002)

This high-school imposter comedy was produced for about $13 million and grossed $31.17 million worldwide, according to studio accounting tallies. Its opening weekend reached $9.0 million across 2,687 theaters.

Reception metrics were notably low: Rotten Tomatoes reported a 7% score with an “incoherent, silly, and unoriginal” consensus, while coverage also documents an unrated cut that diverges from the PG-13 theatrical version.

‘The Kissing Booth’ (2018)

Debuting on Netflix on May 11, 2018, this high-school rom-com was produced by Komixx Entertainment and written and directed by Vince Marcello. It carries a TV-14 rating and a 1h 45m runtime on its official page.

Critical write-ups and review aggregations recorded broadly negative notices upon release, citing cliché-heavy storytelling; contemporaneous reviews collected at its aggregate page reflect that reception.

‘After’ (2019)

Adapted from Anna Todd’s novel and released in April 2019, the film opened to $6 million in the U.S. and finished with $12.14 million domestic and $69.50 million worldwide, per box-office and industry databases.

Despite spawning sequels, initial U.S. theatrical momentum faded quickly with a 58% second-weekend drop, a trend noted in trade-style box-office reporting.

‘I Know Who Killed Me’ (2007)

Released by TriStar on July 27, 2007, this teen-centric thriller—centered on a high-school pianist who vanishes—earned $3.5 million opening weekend and ended with $9.7 million worldwide. It was not screened for critics in advance, and CinemaScore tallied a rare “F.”

The movie set a then-record at the 28th Golden Raspberry Awards, winning seven Razzies; awards logs and industry coverage have repeatedly cited that haul.

‘Vampire Academy’ (2014)

Marketed as a YA high-school vampire saga, the film posted a $3.92 million U.S. opening weekend and totaled $15.39 million worldwide on a reported $30 million budget, leading outlets to label it a box-office bomb and to cancel or curtail international theatrical plans in some markets.

Box-office databases corroborate the domestic total at $7.79 million and anemic international returns, with home-video sales ultimately outpacing its minimal overseas theatrical gross.

‘Endless Love’ (1981)

Franco Zeffirelli’s adaptation premiered July 16–17, 1981, and—despite negative reviews—became the 22nd-highest-grossing domestic film of the year with $31.18 million in the U.S. and Canada; box-office ledgers and retrospective reporting document both the commercial result and the critical drubbing.

Contemporary critics, including Roger Ebert and Janet Maslin, criticized the adaptation’s narrative choices while noting Brooke Shields’s profile at the time; those primary reviews remain frequently cited in overviews of the film’s reception.

‘Zapped!’ (1982)

This teen sex-comedy about a high-schooler with telekinesis earned $16.9 million domestically after a limited release in July 1982 and a wider rollout in September, finishing fourth during its first wide weekend. Box-office archives track the weekend placements and final totals.

Critically, the film recorded a very low aggregate approval rating, with contemporaneous and aggregate pages noting broadly negative reviews aimed at its teen-marketed premise.

Share your own picks for the most notorious teen misfires in the comments!