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Box office is certainly not an indication of quality, as there are more than a few financially successful films that are not anywhere close to being classics. While Transformers: Age of Extinction, Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker, Jurassic World Dominion, and the remake of The Lion King all made more than $1 billion each at the global box office, they are generally perceived to be some of the worst blockbusters in recent memory.
It can be very upsetting when great films underperform financially, as it means that there are less people that are able to experience their brilliance because of a failure in their marketing or rollout. However, some films managed to find a resurgence thanks to home media and streaming, and eventually work their ways into conversations regarding genuine classics. Here are ten essential movies that flopped at the box office.
10 ‘Dazed and Confused’ (1993)
Directed by Richard Linklater
Image via Gramercy Pictures
Dazed and Confused is regarded as being one of Richard Linklater’s best films, as it mastered the “slice of life” style of storytelling that makes him such an exciting director who was doing something radically different within the indie world. Although there were many coming-of-age stories in the 1990s that were successful, Linklater was able to explore the strange, upsetting, and frequently hilarious events that happen when transitioning between different schools.
Although it sadly was not a box office success at the time, Dazed and Confused became a cult classic, and earned a lot of attention due to its brilliant soundtrack. It was also a film that helped launch the careers of many exciting actors, including Matthew McConaughey, who would go on to collaborate with Linklater several more times on the dark comedy Bernie and the revisionist western The Newton Boys.
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Dazed and Confused
The coming-of-age comedy Dazed and Confused, directed by Richard Linklater, follows a group of high school students on the last day of school before summer vacation. Set in the 1970s, the film explores themes of rebellion, freedom, and nostalgia, and features an ensemble cast that includes Matthew McConaughey, Ben Affleck, Milla Jovovich, and Parker Posey.
Release Date September 24, 1993
Director Richard Linklater
Runtime 102 minutes
Writers Richard Linklater
Studio
Tagline
Production Company
Budget $6.9 million
Studio(s) Universal Pictures
Distributor(s) Universal Pictures
9 ‘The Big Lebowski’ (1998)
Directed by Joel and Ethan Coen
Image via Gramercy Pictures
The Big Lebowski embodies everything that makes the Coen brothers so special; it features existentialist themes, baffling non-sequiturs, a great soundtrack, and some of the most amazing characters in film history. Although the Coens were coming off the success of the dark comedy Fargo, which won them the Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay, The Big Lebowski seriously underperformed at the box office.
The Big Lebowski is now regarded as one of the greatest comedies ever made, and has a particularly enthusiastic fanbase that worship Jeff Bridges’ incredible performance as “The Dude,” the stoner hero who gets caught up in a mystery plot. In addition to being one of the single most quotable movies ever made, The Big Lebowski has a surprisingly deep level of philosophical undertones that have been studied by film scholars and historians alike, and has even inspired its own religion.
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Jeff "The Dude" Lebowski, mistaken for a millionaire of the same name, seeks restitution for his ruined rug and enlists his bowling buddies to help get it.
Release Date March 6, 1998
Director Joel Coen , Ethan Coen
Runtime 117 Minutes
Writers Ethan Coen , Joel Coen
Budget $15 Million
Studio(s) Working Title Films
Distributor(s) Gramercy Pictures
Watch on The Criterion Channel
8 ‘The Thing’ (1982)
Directed by John Carpenter
Image via Universal Pictures
The Thing is one of the few remakes that is better than the original in every capacity. While The Thing From Another World was a charming slice of B-movie cinema, John Carpenter’s brilliant remake redefined what a monster movie could look like. Carpenter was able to take a look at a confined environment and show how paranoia and fear could lead humans to make irrevocable decisions.
The Thing marked a major step forward in the development of makeup effects, as the artistry used to bring the titular creature to life was ahead of its time. Although it is possible to view The Thing purely as a work of entertainment, there is also a deeper level of discussion that comes from the film’s ambiguous ending; the questioning of loyalty that takes place within the bunker serves as an eerie parallel to the ongoing tensions of the Cold War.
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The Thing
A team of researchers set out to study an alien spacecraft found in Antarctica, where they also discover an alien body on the site. The alien buried in ice is actually alive and has the ability to imitate human form. The group must find a way to distinguish who the real person is from The Thing and stay alive. John Carpenter's 1982 film is a remake of 1951's The Thing from Another World and stars Kurt Russel as the hero RJ MacReady.
Release Date June 25, 1982
Runtime 109 minutes
Writers Bill Lancaster
Budget $15 million
Prequel(s) The Thing
Franchise(s) The Thing
7 ‘It’s A Wonderful Life’ (1946)
Directed by Frank Capra
Image via RKA Radio Pictures
It’s A Wonderful Life is now regarded as one of the most quintessential Christmas films ever made, and has become a film that many families watch every year during the holiday season. The notion of a character questioning what the world would be like without them has also become a recurring archetype in family films, but It’s A Wonderful Life was the first to use this plot.
It’s A Wonderful Life is the rare box office disappointment that became a genuine classic, as it is now regarded as one of the best films of the Golden Age of Hollywood. Although there are certainly some contextual elements that may be slightly confusing to audiences of a younger age, the themes of good will, forgiveness, and love that are dominant in It’s A Wonderful Life have allowed it to age very well, and ensured its legacy in the years to come.
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It's a Wonderful Life
Release Date December 20, 1946
Cast Donna Reed , James Stewart , Lionel Barrymore , Thomas Mitchell , Henry Travers , Beulah Bondi , Frank Faylen , Ward Bond , Gloria Grahame , H.B. Warner , Frank Albertson , Todd Karns , Samuel S. Hinds , Mary Treen , Virginia Patton , Charles Williams , Sarah Edwards , William Edmunds , Lillian Randolph , Argentina Brunetti , Robert J. Anderson , Ronnie Ralph , Jeanne Gail , Jeanine Ann Roose , Danny Mummert
Runtime 130 minutes
Character(s) Mary Hatch , George Bailey , Mr. Potter , Uncle Billy , Clarence , Mrs. Bailey , Ernie , Bert , Violet , Mr. Gower , Sam Wainwright , Harry Bailey , Pa Bailey , Cousin Tilly , Ruth Dakin , Cousin Eustace , Mrs. Hatch , Mr. Martini , Annie , Mrs. Martini , Little George , Little Sam , Little Mary , Little Violet , Little Marty Hatch
Writers Albert Hackett , Frances Goodrich
6 ‘Blow Out’ (1981)
Directed by Brian De Palma
Image via Filmways Pictures
Blow Out is regarded as one of the best films of Brian De Palma’s career, as it perfectly combined the voyeurism, suspense, and satire that makes him such a unique artist. Blow Out was a film that was in love with the idea of cinema itself, as it stars John Travolta as a sound recorder on a low budget film that ends up bearing witness to a murder, which turns out to be part of a larger conspiracy.
Blow Out may have been considered too niche at the time of its release, particularly because of the cynical ways in which De Palma tears down the notion of the American dream. However, the brilliant editing, which is best evident in the film’s now iconic ending, has ensured that it is held up as one of the gold standards of the political thriller genre in the years that have followed.
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Release Date July 24, 1981
Director Brian De Palma
Runtime 108 Minutes
Character(s) Jack Terry , Sally Badina , Burke , Manny Karp , Sam , Det. Mackey , Lawrence Henry , Hooker , Detective at Hospital , Coed Lover 1 , Coed Lover 2 , Donahue , Sue , Girl Lover , Boy Lover , Train Passenger , Dancing Coed
Writers Brian De Palma , Bill Mesce Jr.
5 ‘The Fabelmans’ (2022)
Directed by Steven Spielberg
The Fabelmans is perhaps the most personal film of Steven Spielberg’s entire career, as it tells a semi-autobiographical story about the Jewish teenager Sammy Fabelman (Gabriel LaBelle), who decides to become a filmmaker. Although it was evidently a film inspired by Spielberg’s challenging family life and the divorce of his parents, The Fabelmans was not able to reach that same box office heights that he had topped with blockbusters like Jaws and Jurassic Park.
The Fabelmans isn’t only one of the best films of Spielberg’s entire career, but one of the great depictions of what it is like to be an emerging artist. Although it sadly seemed to underperform at the Academy Awards as well, The Fabelmans will certainly be a film that scholars will continue to cite when discussing the profound impact that Spielberg had on the direction of cinema.
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The Fabelmans is a film loosely based on the life of a young Steven Spielberg, with Gabriel Labelle playing the role of 16-year-old aspiring filmmaker Sammy Fabelman. Fictionalizing but treading essential moments in the director's life, The Fabelmans is set in the 1960s with the titular family moving from New Jersey to California, where a dark secret begins to cause the life of young Sammy to unravel. To escape the reality he's faced with, he turns to films and reinforces a new dream - the aspiration of becoming a filmmaker. The film allows the director and the audience to look back on the past and try to understand the motivations of family members' various actions by contextualizing them through the lens of film.
Release Date November 23, 2022
Runtime 151 minutes
Budget $40 million
4 ‘Silence’ (2016)
Directed by Martin Scorsese
Image via Paramount
Silence was a longstanding passion project for Martin Scorsese, who had dreamed for years about making a film about the persecution of Christian missionaries in feudal Japan. Silence is a deeply challenging film about the nature of faith and the silence of god, and does not contain the sort of action and crime that one might expect from a Scorsese film; unsurprisingly, general audiences were interested in a hostile historical epic that was almost three hours long.
Silence continues to improve with age, as it serves as a perfect companion piece to Scorsese’s controversial religious epic The Last Temptation of Christ from 1988, which also underperformed due to the backlash that it received from Christian groups. Silence is not an easy film to watch because of its brutality, but it does feature truly brilliant performances by Andrew Garfield, Adam Driver, and Liam Neeson.
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In the 17th century, two Portuguese Jesuit priests travel to Japan in an attempt to locate their mentor, who is rumored to have committed apostasy, and to propagate Catholicism.
Release Date December 23, 2016
Runtime 161 Minutes
Main Genre Drama
Budget $40–50 million
Studio(s) studiocanal
Distributor(s) Paramount Pictures
3 ‘The Shawshank Redemption’ (1994)
Directed by Frank Darabont
Image via Columbia Pictures
The Shawshank Redemption is now regarded as one of the greatest films ever made, as it tells a timeless story about hope and friendship that can help anyone get through a rough period within their life. Despite the fact that it has been heralded as the greatest film ever made on IMDb for well over a decade, The Shawshank Redemption flopped at the box office when it was first released, and even lost the Academy Award for Best Picture to Forrest Gump.
The Shawshank Redemption was a film that earned a second life on cable and home video, and became renowned for its inspirational quality. Given the many publications and fan groups that now cite it as one of the best films ever made, it is safe to say that The Shawshank Redemption has grown much more attention in the years following its disappointing theatrical rollout.
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The Shawshank Redemption
Over the course of several years, two convicts form a friendship, seeking consolation and, eventually, redemption through basic compassion.
Release Date October 14, 1994
Director Frank Darabont
Runtime 142 minutes
Main Genre Drama
Budget $25 million
Studio(s) Columbia Pictures
Distributor(s) Columbia Pictures
2 ‘Blade Runner’ (1982)
Directed by Ridley Scott
Image via Warner Bros.
Blade Runner is one of the greatest science fiction films ever made, as it examines what it is to be human by showing the twisted love story between a brooding assassin (Harrison Ford) and an innocent android (Sean Young). Blade Runner may have been too dark and psychological for audiences at the time, as it was squashed at the box office by E.T. the Extra Terrestrial, which was a far more optimistics take on the sci-fi genre.
Blade Runner continues to inspire debate and speculation, as the film has been analyzed to death by film scholars and critics. The look and feel of Blade Runner has also become highly influential on the cyberpunk genre, with the score by Vangelis becoming an all-time favorite. Challenging films often struggle to find an initial audience, but Blade Runner ultimately proved to be far too brilliant to be ignored.
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A blade runner must pursue and terminate four replicants who stole a ship in space and have returned to Earth to find their creator.
Release Date June 25, 1982
Runtime 117 minutes
Main Genre Sci-Fi
Writers Hampton Fancher , David Webb Peoples , Philip K. Dick , Roland Kibbee
Tagline
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Budget $28 million
Studio(s) Warner Bros. Pictures
Distributor(s) Warner Bros. Pictures
1 ‘Citizen Kane’ (1941)
Directed by Orson Welles
Image via RKO Pictures
Citizen Kane is a film that most film professors would mention on the first day of any class, as it is easily one of the most influential classics in the history of Hollywood. What Orson Welles achieved was nothing short of miraculous, as he wrote, directed, and starred in a highly ambitious film that examined the fundamental lie beneath the American dream.
Citizen Kane is now a film that is required viewing to be a film fan, as there have been countless projects since that have taken inspiration from its novel structure and radical ideas. Citizen Kane has grown to become such an essential document for the way in which films are discussed that few people remember that initially it was not a box office success, and was seen as a disappointment based on expectations for Welles’ first foray into directing.
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Directed by and starring Orson Welles in his feature film debut, Citizen Kane tells the life story of Charles Foster Kane, a self-made business tycoon partially based on William Randolph Hearst. The film tells the story of Kane's rise and fall from power, narratively framed by the sensation caused by death at the beginning and end of the film. Besides Welles, Joseph Cotten, Dorothy Comingore, Ray Collins, Agnes Moorehead, and Ruth Warrick also star.
Release Date April 17, 1941
Runtime 119 minutes
Budget $840 thousand
Studio(s) Warner Bros. Pictures
Distributor(s) Paramount Pictures , Warner Bros. Pictures
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