8 Box Office Flops That Turned Out to Be Classics

Theaters shrugged at all eight. Each grossed under about twice its reported budget, and the scores now say classic. Opening weekend is not the final grade.

Number one bombed in theaters, then basically moved into cable TV forever.

1. 8
   Reservoir Dogs (1992)9.1

   Made for pocket change, and it barely made that back.

   Harvey Keitel, Tim Roth and Chris Penn trade suspicion like punches. $2.94 million worldwide on a $1.2 to $3 million budget. Now 1.18 million people have rated it on IMDb.
2. 7
   Donnie Darko (2001)8.5

   Nobody understood it in 2001. Nobody fully does now.

   Jake Gyllenhaal, a creepy rabbit and a jet engine from nowhere. Just $2.5 million domestic. Now it has 922,996 IMDb votes and fan theories nobody can finish.
3. 6
   Hotel Rwanda (2004)9.0

   Don Cheadle's finest work, and almost nobody saw it.

   He plays a hotel manager sheltering families during the Rwandan genocide, and never plays it for glory. Just $23.5 million domestic. Audiences rank it above 98% of notable movies.
4. 5
   Mulholland Drive (2001)8.8

   Started as a rejected TV pilot. Ended as Lynch's masterpiece.

   Naomi Watts arrives in Hollywood all sunshine, then David Lynch pulls the floor out. Only $20.4 million worldwide on $15 million. Audiences now rank it above 96% of notable movies.
5. 4
   The Princess Bride (1987)9.1

   The marketing flopped. The movie never did.

   Opening crowds gave it an A+ CinemaScore, the top grade, yet it made just $30.9 million domestic. Mandy Patinkin's Inigo Montoya is the real hero.
6. 3
   Blade Runner 2049 (2017)8.6

   Too slow for 2017, just right for every year since.

   Ryan Gosling's K drifts through orange dust and neon rain, and Denis Villeneuve refuses to hurry. Only $92.1 million domestic on a $150 million budget. Audiences rank it above 84% of notable movies.
7. 2
   One Battle After Another (2025)9.2

   Too new for classic status? Watch it, then argue.

   Paul Thomas Anderson turns a family on the run into a fever dream, and Sean Penn's colonel is pure menace. $213.2 million worldwide on a $130 to $175 million budget.
8. 1
   The Shawshank Redemption (1994)9.2

   The flop that became everybody's favorite movie.

   Just $28.8 million domestic on a $25 million budget, with a title nobody could say. Then home video found it, and it never left. IMDb voters give it a 9.3.

$6,501 says you try to explain Donnie Darko to someone tonight and give up halfway.

Share it: X | Facebook | Copy link

Current mood: ready to fight about it