10 Awesome 2022 Movies That Didn't Deserve To Flop

6. Crimes Of The Future

Crimes Of The Future Viggo Mortensen
Neon

The legendary David Cronenberg has never been a filmmaker particularly obsessed with big box office returns, with only a handful of his extensive filmography making major profits - those being offerings such as The Fly, Crash, and A History of Violence - but many had predicted the creative Canadian's latest effort, Crimes of the Future, would prove to be a big hit in 2022.

With a stellar cast consisting of the likes of Viggo Mortensen, Lea Seydoux, Kristen Stewart and Scott Speedman, Cronenberg's return to the sinister world of sci-fi-driven body horror was surely going to be a success. Unfortunately, Crimes of the Future only managed a $4.5 million box office return from a budget of $27 million, despite its intriguing premise of a future, mutation-driven landscape where surgery is carried out for erotic pleasure and to an audience.

Like the rest of the films on this list, Crimes of the Future proved popular with critics, and found itself nominated for several Saturn Awards. Regrettably, the picture struggled to connect with a mainstream audience, as reflected by its disappointing box office numbers.

Maybe it's that body horror is too niche, maybe it's because Cronenberg has largely steered clear of these sort of movies since 1999's eXistenZ, or maybe it's because its release date put the film up against heavy hitters such as Top Gun: Maverick and Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness. Either way, Crimes of the Future bombed financially.

 
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Once described as the Swiss Army Knife of WhatCulture, Andrew can usually be found writing, editing, or presenting on a wide range of topics. As a lifelong wrestling fan, horror obsessive, and comic book nerd, he's been covering those topics professionally as far back as 2010. In addition to his current WhatCulture role of Senior Content Producer, Andrew previously spent nearly a decade as Online Editor and Lead Writer for the world's longest-running genre publication, Starburst Magazine, and his work has also been featured on BBC, TechRadar, Tom's Guide, WhatToWatch, Sportkskeeda, and various other outlets, in addition to being a Rotten Tomatoes-approved film critic. Between his main day job, his role as the lead panel host of Wales Comic Con, and his gig as a pre-match host for Wrexham AFC games, Andrew has also carried out a hugely varied amount of interviews, from the likes of Robert Englund, Kane Hodder, Adrienne Barbeau, Rob Zombie, Katharine Isabelle, Leigh Whannell, Bruce Campbell, and Tony Todd, to Kevin Smith, Ron Perlman, Elijah Wood, Giancarlo Esposito, Simon Pegg, Charlie Cox, the Russo Brothers, and Brian Blessed, to Kevin Conroy, Paul Dini, Tara Strong, Will Friedle, Burt Ward, Andrea Romano, Frank Miller, and Rob Liefeld, to Bret Hart, Sting, Mick Foley, Ricky Starks/Saints, Jamie Hayter, Britt Baker, Eric Bischoff, and William Regal, to Mickey Thomas, Joey Jones, Phil Parkinson, Brian Flynn, Denis Smith, Gary Bennett, Karl Connolly, and Bryan Robson - and that's just the tip of an ever-expanding iceberg. Where his beloved Wrexham AFC is concerned, Andrew is co-host of the Fearless in Devotion podcast, which won the Club Podcast of the Year gong at the 2024 FSA Awards.