The only thing that is more surprising than the sheer number of movies I have seen is the sheer number of movies I haven’t seen. Even for a movie nerd, there are only so many hours in the day.
I am constantly coming across movies that I somehow missed either at movie theaters or later.
Frequently, I discover a movie that I really enjoy, yet, on researching it, I find I am not the only one who gave it a miss for whatever reason. I was then surprised to discover the number of movies that completely flopped on release that have undergone something of a critical re-evaluation, and some movies that are considered absolute classics today that severely underperformed.
This led me to pull together this list, simply from interesting stuff in this ballpark that I found while noodling about on the internet one Sunday afternoon.
The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford (2007)
This movie is considered a modern touchstone of the Western genre, so I was surprised to learn that Andrew Dominik’s revered movie only made half its $30 million budget back and was a huge flop.
Post-release in 2007, it only found an audience on DVD and Blu-ray, and was a fixture on many “Best of the year” lists, so the fact that it was such a financial failure was a surprise.
Blackhat (2015)
The first comment that popped up when I started researching this was: “Why does everyone dismiss this movie? I have just seen it and it’s great!”, followed by many, many more all expressing the same opinions.
Why wouldn’t it work? It is Michael Mann, post-Thor breakthrough Chris Hemsworth, and a cyber thriller. I have never seen it. I avoided it as I heard it was awful, but now there seems to be a growing audience online who really rate it. Maybe I will give it a try?
Either way, it was an absolute box office bomb on release, earning just $19.7 million against a budget of $70 million. Ouch!
Children of Men (2006)
This was a surprise. Children Of Men is widely considered one of the best movies of the 21st century so far. Alfonso Cuarón’s dystopian thriller features innovative shots, social commentary, an all-star cast. Yet failed to make its money back at the box office in 2006, coming in at $70 million vs. a $76 million budget.
Citizen Kane (1941)
What? How? Everyone says that this Orson Welles’ classic is the greatest movie ever made in all of time. It is a beloved classic. Well, brace yourself, because not only was it beaten to the Oscar in the 1940s by How Green Was My Valley, but it failed to make its budget back. Suddenly I feel like everything is a lie…
Donnie Darko (2004)
Ahhh, the favorite of college dorm room bores since 2004. The kind of people who think that facial hair is a substitute for a personality and that wearing a hat makes them mysterious and interesting.
Thankfully, there were clearly not enough of them, as Donnie Darko grossed just over $517,375 in its initial run against a budget of $4.5m.
It made its money, eventually, by word of mouth, several reissues, and eventually on DVD.
The Iron Giant (1999)
Another absolute belter of a movie. One of the greatest animated films of all time, and based on a well-loved children’s story, it is nice to see that Warner Bros. doesn’t just make a total cock-up of DC movies, as The Iron Giant was a victim of Warner Bros’ scepticism towards the entire animated genre after some high-profile failures.
As a result, they completely failed to back it with any marketing, and Brad Bird’s film made just $31.3m worldwide against a budget of $50m.
It’s a Wonderful Life (1946)
Another one that staggers. A Christmas classic, yet at the time it was considered to have underperformed due to competition from William Wyler’s The Best Years of Our Lives and Powell and Pressburger’s A Matter of Life and Death.
The Shawshank Redemption (1994)
Another one that just goes to prove that the box office doesn’t care how acclaimed a movie was.
This Stephen King adaptation would appear in most people’s top 100 movies of all time, but on release, it only made $16 million during its initial theatrical run, and the studio filed it as a flop. Its overall total was eventually boosted by re-releases.
Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory (1971)
This movie is a stone-cold classic, and I will fight anyone who disagrees! It’s dark and twisted, even today nobody can quite figure out where it is set, and Gene Wilder plays the best Wonka of all time that you suspect might actually be deeply sinister, but you aren’t quite sure.
Throw in the unsettling little orange psychopaths he employs, and it all adds up to a truly superior Roald Dahl adaptation.
However, it barely made $1 million profit globally upon its original release in 1971, was considered a flop by the studio, and was disowned by the author.
I could probably find loads more “surprising” flops, but where is the fun in that? Over to you, Outposters? What well-loved movie are you surprised to discover was a monumental business fuck-up?
