10 Critical Darling Movies That Were Shot Dead At The Box Office

Given its mainstream popularity nowadays, and the heavyweights behind it (Edward Norton, Brad Pitt, Helena Bonham Carter, David Fincher), one would be forgiven for thinking Fight Club was playing to a sold out audience every night of its initial release.

Not so. The picture was shifted around the summer schedule by nervous executives, the studio (20th Century Fox) mis-promoted it, and it divided both audiences and critics on release, with many missing the central premise and thematic concerns altogether, falsely believing it glorified misogyny, violence and fascism.

Sure, Fight Club is not the ideal date movie, nor something you take the kids to on a Sunday afternoon, but it has as much edge, awe and action as any Hollywood film with a budget ten times its size.

Ultimately, the feature took a global total of $100 million against a $63 million budget, which, after all the additional costs and legwork, was considered a loss. However, Fox saw a large demand for the home media release thereafter, as the cult following grew (and eventually entered the mainstream), and have since made a killing on special editions, two-disc sets and Blu-rays.