Director Peter Cattaneo initially had a hard time securing funding for his $3.5m comedy about out-of-work steel workers turned strippers, but plenty of would-be investors were surely cursing their luck when The Full Monty turned out to be one of the biggest box office surprises in recent memory, earning over a quarter of a billion dollars at the box office and landing Academy Award nominations for Best Picture, Best Director and Best Original Screenplay in the process. Over 80% of the movie's takings came from overseas markets and it became the highest-grossing movie ever in the United Kingdom, where it earned close to $85m. To give you an idea of just how popular the low-budget comedy was, the movie's worldwide earnings were higher than that of Hollywood blockbusters Face/Off, Con Air, Batman & Robin and even the reissue of Star Wars. The combination of relatable characters, social commentary and big laughs propelled The Full Monty to unexpected box office success, and it unexpectedly ended up as the tenth biggest box office hit of 1997.