10 Amazing Movies That Bombed At The Box Office
1. The Iron Giant
Budget: $70-80 million
Box Office: $31.3 million
Maybe the biggest injustice on this entire list, The Iron Giant is one of the greatest animated movies of all time. Period. This was the movie that wasn't afraid to show children how harsh the real world really is.
Based on The Iron Man by Ted Hughes, Brad Bird's adaptation and inspiration comes from a similarly dark place. According to Bird, Hughes had written the book as a way for his children to cope with the loss of their mother (Sylvia Plath). In a parallel to this, Bird had started working on the movie whilst he was coping with the death of his sister. It is for this reason that The Iron Giant deals so significantly with existentialism and what it means to be human. The titular character is literally a thing made for killing, but who has a soul and doesn't want to kill.
The movie's combination of traditional animation with computer generated animation is beautiful, and at it's heart is a touching story about friendship and loyalty. This is a movie that respects the emotional intelligence of the children who will end up seeing it. It in no way tries to pander to them.
The Iron Giant served as a preview into how willing Brad Bird was in dealing with mature themes like identity, violence and existentialism in an animated movie. He again perfected this marriage with 2004's The Incredibles.
It's widely accepted that the reason for the movie bombing so hard was due to the marketing strategy, or lack thereof. Quest for Camelot came out in 1998, another Warner Bros animated movie. It bombed hard. The studio had little faith with The Iron Giant, and were very apprehensive. They were shocked when the test screening scores were through the roof. However, with only a few months until release, they had nothing planned. It was doomed from the start.
The Iron Giant got the recognition it deserved after release on home video, and we can't be thankful enough that we have it to appreciate.