10 Critically Acclaimed Films That Struggled At The Box Office

Based on the true story of biochemist and whistleblower Jeffrey Wigand and his involvement in exposing the tobacco company that he worked for, this 1999 film received almost universal acclaim. Jeffrey went on television to discuss the company he worked for knowingly adding dangerous chemicals to cigarettes and pressuring the scientists to manipulate results to hide it.

He received death threats for his actions and was openly harassed as well as being fired after his company produced a 500-word document outlining many acts of alleged misconduct on his behalf. Following his departure, he taught at schools before becoming an advocate and representative for an anti-smoking organisation.

The film starred Russell Crowe and Al Pacino in a re-telling that the man himself deemed "two thirds accurate" and has an astounding 96% of all critical reviews being positive. It managed to take $68 million at the box office but when it's weighed against a production budget of $90 million, it still represents a loss of $22 million.

While it's generally accepted that it is a good movie and the film makers were proud of what they had done, even they admitted that the subject matter was a little dry and that might explain the shortfall.