9 Films That Actually Benefited From Bad Reviews

9. The Greatest Showman (2017)

Hugh Jackman playing a charismatic Ringmaster, singing and dancing around with Zac Efron and Zendeya for an hour and a half? Take our money.

That they did, but not before the film's buzz was almost completely stifled before it even had a chance to string two weekend box office returns together.

Lambasted for its 'white washing', Vulture even going as far as to brand it as 'a whole other level of disingenuousness', the plot managed to gloss over the real life back-story of PT Barnum (Jackman) and his questionable practises in purchasing 'freaks' in order to present them as attractions for profit.

It looked as if the 'shrill blast of nothing' - as Rolling Stones put it - was set to be a big-time misstep for all involved (earning under $9 million in it's opening weekend in the U.S.), before something unpredictable happened.

The film started to gain traction as audiences slowly began to wonder why the film was constantly being smeared across their TV screens, provoking them to head out to see what all the uproar was about. Good songs became good business as, before 20th Century Fox knew what had happened, the whole world was dancing along to their musical.

With a worldwide taking of $435 million, those bad reviews proved to be the spark that inspired a 31 week raid of the box office.