10 Critical Darling Movies That Were Shot Dead At The Box Office
How the mighty fall! Which films did you not know were shot down in theatres like Abe Lincoln?
Filmmaking: it's about great art, beautiful images, profound themes and the culmination of all other forms into one exceptional piece of culture.
Okay, sure, maybe not always. But we can dream.
More often, it's all about the bottom line. Pennies and cents and pounds and dollars and bums on seats. And this is a line that's drawn higher every year, as the moneymen and financiers treat contemporary cinema as the next big investment - a cash cow to be milked dry.
While a couple of the films in this article appear to make money on paper (oh, the irony), surpassing their budget at the box office, the Hollywood system is such that distribution and marketing costs can often eat up any apparent profit and, before you know it, that award winning hundred-million-dollar blockbuster is actually veering into negative profit.
No matter what, all entries herein are road-worn and fully certified Great Pictures. Not a film among them deserved the price that audiences didn't pay, but each and every one has their own set of reasons as to why they flopped and the bottom (of the seat) fell out.
10. The King Of Comedy (1982)
$2.5 million at the box office for a Scorsese flick. A Scorsese and De Niro flick. it seems unheard of, and yet that's exactly how much The King of Comedy made against a $19 million budget.
Scorsese has gone on record saying he didn't enjoy making the film, for, among other reasons, the disturbing content and his poor health; but this did not cause any drop in quality, as The King of Comedy is one of the best in his canon.
It was simply a perfect(ish) film for an imperfect time. Critics generally loved the picture, but hardly anyone went to see it, as it was misunderstood and not well received by early-'80s mainstream audiences. I mean, who would want to see a film about a struggling, deluded and slightly unhinged comedian infatuated with a TV talk show host and dreams of stardom...
Like another Marty famously said, "I guess you guys aren't ready for that
yet, but your kids are gonna love it."