10 Flop Movies You Thought Were Huge Hits
8. Hocus Pocus
1993's fantasy comedy Hocus Pocus remains such a celebrated staple of Spooky Season over 30 years later that it was just assumed to be a no-brainer box office hit, right?
Well, the film actually grossed roughly $40 million globally on original release - not far above its $28 million budget.
This is an outcome largely attributed to releasing the same day as Free Willy and facing stiff competition from the likes of Jurassic Park, In the Line of Fire, and The Firm.
Despite losing Disney an estimated $16.5 million at the box office, the film enjoyed a second life on TV throughout the 1990s and 2000s, where it would air annually around Halloween, in addition to being a popular home video seller every October.
In recent years the film has also been re-released theatrically around Halloween, adding a few extra million to its box office coffers decades after it first flopped.
And of course, Hocus Pocus 2 was finally released in 2022, though perhaps sensing that audiences used to watching Hocus Pocus at home over the last 30 years wouldn't be coaxed out of their homes for the sequel, it ended up releasing direct to Disney+.