Born Before Their Time: 17 Movie Bombs That Became Cult Classics

How I spent my quarantine. . . .

04/01/2020 Rachel Kennedy Entertainment 0

“. . . .some of the films that have changed cinematic history barely made a blip at the box office when they were first released. They were actually undisputed movie bombs. . . . . They’ve all proven that slow and steady does sometimes win the race. Read on for the list of movies  that were once considered failures.

Heathers, 1989

“But when Heathers came out in 1989, the high school satire, starring a young Winona Ryder and Christian Slater, only brought in $1.1 million—which wasn’t even half of its reported $3 million budget. Thanks to word of mouth and home video rentals, the box office bomb grew in popularity to become the legend it is today.”

Shawshank Redemption, 1994

“But when it opened in 1994, Shawshank barely registered. It failed to earn even $1 million on its opening weekend, coming in at the number nine spot behind a Rosie O’Donnell comedy called Exit to Eden. It eventually brought in $16 million at the U.S. box office during its initial release, falling very short of recouping its $25 million budget.“

Fight Club, 1999

“Despite the lackluster returns in theaters, director David Fincher was determined to help Fight Club find a home. He was heavily invested in the movie’s home release, including a specially packaged DVD with his commentary that shed light on the complicated film. And lo and behold, it worked. The movie earned the top spot on Entertainment Weekly‘s list of 50 essential DVDs and it soon became one of the biggest selling DVDs in Fox’s history.”

Willie Wonka and the Chocolate Factory, 1971

“Paramount Pictures was so disappointed in Wonka’s returns—just $1 million—that the studio let go of the rights to the film in 1977. Warner Bros. swooped in to purchase it for a fraction of what it cost to make (a $550,000 deal for a $3 million movie). The new studio marketed the movie to television stations, and soon, repeated viewings turned Willy Wonka into a classic.“

The Wizard of Oz (1939)

Blade Runner (1982)

The 1982 movie that warranted an expensive, epic sequel decades after its release (2017’s Blade Runner 2049), and stars arguably the most famous actor of the 1980s (Harrison Ford) was a box office bomb. The innovative neo-noir fell just short of breaking even on its $28 million budget.

The Big Lebowski (1998)

Clue (1985)

The Rocky Horror Picture Show (1975)

Donnie Darko (2001)

Office Space (1999)

Empire Records (1995

With an iconic soundtrack, and an A-list cast that includes stars like Renée Zellweger and Liv Tyler, Empire Records has become a signature film for its Gen X audience.
However, when it was released in 1995, the slice-of-life style film set in an independent record store earned negative reviews across the board. It also only saw $273,000 at the box office, not even a tenth of its budget.

Wet Hot American Summer (2001)

The Iron Giant (1999)

Dazed and Confused (1993)

According to MentalFloss, the studio “didn’t know how to market a stoner coming-of-age movie without raunchy sex scenes or gross-out humor to a general audience”—which is what led to the flop. Dazed and Confused would have to depend on home release and word of mouth to finally reach its status as one of the greatest teen comedies of the ’90s. Today, McConaughey’s “all right, all right, all right” is still one of the most quoted movie lines.

Showgirls (1995)

Director Paul Verhoeven’s colorful 1995 stripper melodrama is often metaphorically pushed down the stairs for having the nerve to be campy. No one really understood the racy movie, starring former Saved by the Bell actress Elizabeth Berkley. As a result, it bombed at the box office, only making $20.4 million on a $45 million budget. But the film has become a certified cult classic, with defenses of it reaching levels of an actual published book called It Doesn’t S***: Showgirls. 

Mulholland Drive (2001)

Director David Lynch’s modern classic Mulholland Drive was deemed the “best horror movie since The Shining,” but it took the film more than a decade to find its audience. The avant garde 2001 release was initially intended to be Lynch’s second foray into television after the critical success of Twin Peaks, but when it didn’t get the green light, Mullholand Drive became a feature length film instead.

Source: Best Life Here: See additional Flops to Classics in the Insider, HERE:

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