10 Films You Didn't Realise Secretly Bombed

It is hard to believe that one of the most iconic, beloved, and imaginative movies of all time could ever have been anything other than a huge hit. Almost everyone around the world, from all walks of life, knows and loves the story, the songs, and the characters from this children's classic. Surely, when it was released, Willy Wonka & The Chocolate Factory proved to be a Golden Ticket for the filmmakers behind it?

Well, there's only one apt way to put this:

Oompa, Loompa, doompety doo,

I've got a profit margin for you.

Oompa, Loompa, doompety dudget,

Marketing costs can double your budget.

That's right: even though Willy Wonka technically made a profit at the box office ($4.5 million against a $3 million budget), it didn't actually make the studio any money. After you factor in the added costs of marketing, a movie is generally considered a flop if it doesn't earn at least twice the amount that it cost to make.

It seems that the audiences of 1971 just weren't as excited to watch this surprisingly scary cautionary tale as the audiences of today are to rewatch it every single Christmas.

It didn't help that Roald Dahl, author of the original book, boycotted the film and actively discouraged people from going to see it. His big problem? Among other things, this film's Wonka quoted from verse and poems that Dahl himself didn't write. Heresy!