20 HUGE Hit Movies NOBODY Saw Coming

10. Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle

There was a whole lot of pre-release negativity surrounding Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle, many feeling that the Robin Williams-starring original was best left alone, and that this sequel had all the vibes of a soulless blockbuster cash-grab.

But even those who were excited for it had to admit that Jumanji faced one hell of an uphill struggle commercially, given that Sony made the seemingly ill-advised decision to release it five days after Star Wars: The Last Jedi, which was indisputably one of the most anticipated films of the decade.

And though the film had a relatively unremarkable opening weekend, it enjoyed an incredibly leggy run through the weekends that followed, eventually taking the top spot from Star Wars and easily fending off other new releases.

By the end of its run Jumanji grossed $962.5 million - a basically unthinkable figure when Sony first announced they were putting it up against Star Wars.

But between Jumanji's unexpectedly crowd-pleasing appeal and the more divisive audience response to The Last Jedi, it found a path forward in spite of apparently insurmountable competition.