system
Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:
human
ELI5: What happens when a movie flops and loses millions of dollars?

Is there some kind of Hollywood Bank that directors owe money to and you can't make another movie until you pay it off? Sorry if this is a stupid question... I just don't know how money on that scale works.
gpt
The TL;DR of movie making:

* have a script
* find investors to put up money
* make movie
* find distributor to show movie (sometimes this is done before making movie)
* movie gets shown, people buy tickets, money comes in
* distributor gets their cut
* investors get their cut

I've grossly simplified that and skipped over a few steps. Basically, no, there is no "hollywood bank". But the companies / rich people who put the money in to make the movie end up losing money if the film flops.

There are many studios that have gone bankrupt and closed due to having an expensive movie flop.