Just because a movie bombs at the box office doesn’t mean it’s bad. There are countless bad movies that make hundreds of millions of dollars every year.
I’d argue that a bigger issue with these movies is that nobody got them, or they failed to find the right audience. Sometimes, it takes a while for viewers to understand the film’s meaning. Other times, they were let down by bad marketing.
Thankfully, these incredible movies are finally getting their time to shine.
The Shawshank Redemption
The biggest issue here was the movie’s title: just what the heck is a Shawshank Redemption, anyway?
A pretty awesome film, it turns out. Despite bombing at the box office and not winning any major awards, it’s become one of the most beloved movies of all time.
Blade Runner
There may be no sci-fi movie as influential as Blade Runner, and yet, it failed at the box office.
One major reason for that is stiff competition from E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial. Thankfully, audiences eventually caught on.
The Thing
Another influential film that suffered from E.T.‘s success is John Carpenter’s body horror masterpiece, The Thing.
Not only did that summer release date essentially throw it to the wolves, but you can make the argument that it would have done better with a Halloween release when people are more in the mood for horror films, especially one from the guy who made Halloween.
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Fight Club
The biggest thing that let down Fight Club was its marketing campaign.
Even still, there’s no way the true meaning of the movie could have been properly conveyed leading into its release. Despite critical praise on release, its detractors, particularly concerned about the movie’s violent content, were incredibly vocal.
Clue
Clue had no chance since it was released well before the dawn of social media.
The decision to release multiple endings across theaters is something that would have gone viral today, but instead, it just confused people.
Beau is Afraid
You’d figure that after Ari Aster’s success with Hereditary and Midsommar, there’d be demand for Beau is Afraid, especially with Joaquin Phoenix at the helm.
Instead, its long runtime and confusing tone scared moviegoers away. The disappointing critical reception didn’t help, either, but opinion is starting to turn around.
Children of Men
Children of Men is one of the most beautifully shot movies of all time, but that’s just par for the course with Alfonso Cuarón.
The biggest issue is that despite how incredible the movie is, it’s a hard watch, so when people say “yeah, the movie is great, but man, I couldn’t bear to see it again,” I’m not exactly itching to go see it. I have to be in the mood.
Office Space
I’ll never understand why Office Space flopped so hard. It’s one of the funniest movies ever made, and Mike Judge was already a household name.
I know the studio had issues with the lack of star power, which led to the eventual casting of Jennifer Aniston, but this movie deserved better at the box office.
It’s a Wonderful Life
That’s right: the Christmas movie you watch every year didn’t make its money back during its original theatrical run.
Here’s an interesting fact about the movie: In 1947, the FBI compared the film to communist propaganda. That surely didn’t help its box office return!
The Big Lebowski
In his review for the Toronto Star, Peter Howell said, “It’s hard to believe that this is the work of a team that won an Oscar last year for the original screenplay of Fargo.”
On the one hand, I get it: on the surface level, The Big Lebowski‘s script doesn’t seem like much. Every time I watch it, it not only gets better and better, but more quotable, too.
Jennifer’s Body
Oh, Jennifer’s Body, they let you down so badly.
This isn’t a generic horror movie, but one that has enjoyed a critical reassessment as a highly intelligent and feminist film that was ahead of its time.
Scott Pilgrim vs. The World
The only apparent flaw in Scott Pilgrim vs. The World was the perceived miscasting of Michael Cera as the lead character.
He arguably had plenty of star power, though, so I don’t get this one. Maybe it’s nerdy content turned people off? Anyway, ya’ll missed out on one of the best movies of the 2010s.
Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves
It’s depressing to consider a movie that made $200 million a flop, but that’s the state of the industry today.
Given how the last Dungeons and Dragons movie went, it’s safe to say people weren’t clamoring for another adaptation, but this one was well worth the time to go see.
Dredd
Sometimes a movie can do everything right, but it fails to resonate with moviegoers.
Such is the case with 2012’s Dredd starring Karl Urban, which could not shake the stigma of the 1995 film Judge Dredd starring Sylvester Stallone.
Zodiac
Speaking of doing everything right, Zodiac may be David Fincher’s best work, but it was sent to the box office graveyard with a March release, when studios normally release movies they don’t expect to do well.
Fincher is also convinced that the marketing for the film led to disappointment. Their loss, if you ask me.
Kingpin
The Farrelly Brothers had an incredible run of comedies in the 1990s, headlined by Dumb and Dumber and There’s Something About Mary.
In between those two films was 1996’s Kingpin, whose bowling theme and surprisingly layered comedy turned away viewers looking for something more along the lines of Dumb and Dumber.
Punch-Drunk Love
Uncut Gems wasn’t Sandler’s first successful dramatic role; he was really good in Paul Thomas Anderson’s Punch Drunk Love.
However, you could argue that the last thing people wanted from Sandler, especially when he was still delivering great comedies, was an offbeat film.
Speed Racer
Upon release, it felt like Speed Racer all style and no substance. Yet isn’t that exactly what we were wanting from a proper adaptation?
The Wachowskis arugably delivered a perfect movie, but audiences weren’t ready for it yet. The film is undergoing a critical reevaluation as an excellent change of pace from the darker, grittier adaptations of the late 2000s and the early 2010s.
Tank Girl
Speaking of audiences not being ready for it, Tank Girl is another faithful adaptation of its source material that went over the heads of moviegoers in the ’90s.
It’s over-the-top, it’s stylish, and it’s a total blast from start to finish.
The Prestige
2006 saw the release of a turn-of-the-century story following magicians, starring Edward Norton and Paul Giamatti. That, of course, is The Illusionist, and not the other turn-of-the-century film about magicians that was released in 2006, The Prestige, starring Christian Bale and Hugh Jackman.
Nolan made the movie in between Batman Begins and The Dark Knight, so he wasn’t the megastar filmmaker he is today. That, on top of possible confusion with The Illusionist, led to an underperformance at the box office for The Prestige.
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