10 Critically Acclaimed Films You Never Realised Bombed At The Box Office

Rotten Tomatoes Critic Score: 79%

Budget: $10 Million

Box Office: $12.8 Million

Mike Judge’s first foray into live action filmmaking became an instant classic among IT workers and the white collar workforce in general, detailing the plight of the everyday cogs in the machine that is capitalism with a dry, often dark humour that failed to capture the imagination of wider audiences upon its release in 1999.

Office Space is based on Judge's MTV/Saturday Night Live animated mini-series Milton, though the character was relegated to a supporting role for the film adaptation after Judge wrote parts for Ron Livingston and Jennifer Aniston, a move that the studio did not approve of. In fact, the director was at odds with 20th Century Fox over a number of issues, all the way from pre- to post-production.

Execs responded to the first footage they received by telling Judge that it lacked energy and that he was failing as a director, though, despite his inexperience he was able to stick to his guns. There was nothing Judge could do about the film’s advertising, though - which he hated - from the movie posters to the tagline, trailer and the TV ads.

While it could be argued that poor marketing was behind the low box office takings – Office Space had a budget of $10 million and returned just $12.8 million in receipts – the film itself stood the test of time and wound up becoming a cult classic, with VHS, DVD and eventually Blu-Ray copies selling in the millions.