Hollywood tends to coronate box office kings, but history has shown that money is not the sole indicator of greatness. Many movies bombed on opening night and turned into classic favorites—lionized by critics, quoted ad nauseam, and loved by audiences who found them years after release. Some were duds due to poor advertising, having bad timing, or audiences simply not being prepared for what they had to offer. These are 10 “failures” that eventually succeeded in the end.
10. The Iron Giant
When The Iron Giant opened in 1999, Warner Bros. hardly bothered—opting to invest its marketing clout in Wild Wild West instead (oops). The movie staggered to $31.7 million on a $50 million budget. But in the years that followed, this tale of boy and robot has become a classic of animation, admired for its artistry, emotion, and depth of storytelling that appeals as much to adults as it does to children.
9. Starship Troopers
Paul Verhoeven’s sci-fi satire left viewers scratching their heads in 1997. They were expecting a simple alien-shooting blockbuster, and they received instead a savage send-up of fascism, propaganda, and warfare culture. With a $121 million budget and only $54 million domestic gross, it was a seeming disaster. Years later, however, its sharp commentary and innovative effects have made it cult material.
8. Heathers
This black teen comedy was far too irreverent for its 1989 release. Addressing forbidden topics such as suicide and peer pressure—with abundant amounts of razor-sharp cynicism—Heathers scraped together only $1 million against its low cost. Now? It’s a coming-of-age ritual among fans of black comedy, perpetually quoted, and continuing to shape the way we approach storytelling about teen life.
7. Treasure Planet
Disney swung big with this high-tech retelling of Treasure Island, combining 2D and 3D animation in innovative ways. Unfortunately, audiences didn’t take the bait. The film earned $110 million on a $140 million budget, which is an unusual Disney flop. However, animation fans have since reappropriated it, lauding its bold visuals, creative setting, and sense of adventure.
6. The Shining
Yes, The Shining is now regarded as a horror classic—but in 1980, it polarized. Critics were unsure what to do with Stanley Kubrick’s slow-moving psychological horror, and viewers anticipating old-fashioned frights felt cheated. While it made money, it wasn’t exactly a big hit. Now, naturally, it’s a horror classic, endlessly analyzed and homaged.
5. Dark City
Before The Matrix blew everyone’s minds, Dark City was quietly experimenting with similar ideas—identity, reality, and human freedom—all wrapped in a noir sci-fi package. The film broke even financially but left audiences baffled. Years later, it’s recognized as a genre-defining piece of work, its influence echoing through countless sci-fi films that came after.
4. Tank Girl
This 1995 comic book movie take was unapologetically strange—brazen, punk, and happily anarchic. The critics and public weren’t prepared, and its $6 million return on a $25 million investment relegated it to notoriety as a bomb. Yet with the passage of time, its unhinged energy, camp aesthetics, and iconoclastic sensibility have won over followers who hold it up as a cult classic of counterculture filmmaking.
3. Idiocracy
Mike Judge’s 2006 comedy barely saw the light of day, raking in less than $600,000. Its asinine premise about a future controlled by stupidity seemed too outlandish then. Jump ahead to now, and Idiocracy is eerily prescient. The fans quote it relentlessly now, and its then-maligned satire has become must-see viewing.
2. Blade Runner
It’s hard to believe now, but Ridley Scott’s Blade Runner was a disappointment in 1982. Overshadowed by E.T. and hampered by studio meddling, it only earned $41.8 million worldwide on a $30 million budget. Audiences weren’t ready for its philosophical musings or bleak vision of the future. Today, though, its visual style and themes are legendary, cementing it as one of the most influential sci-fi films of all time.
1. The Shawshank Redemption
The ultimate box office bomb-turned-classic. Despite critical acclaim, The Shawshank Redemption grossed a mere $16 million upon its initial release, overshadowed by the competition from Pulp Fiction and Forrest Gump. But thanks to award season buzz, word of mouth, and repeated television reruns, it gradually developed into one of the greatest films ever. It now regularly appears on “best movies of all time” lists.
Therefore, the next time you read that a film flopped, don’t dismiss it quite so quickly. History has taught us that sometimes, the true test of a film’s success isn’t its box office tally on opening weekend—but the effect it has years later.