10 Great Movies That Bombed At The Box Office

10. The Fountain

Darren Aronofsky films are probably never going to be box office juggernauts, given their often difficult subject matter, but The Fountain is a film that was intended to coast by on the strength of its stars' names - those being Rachel Weisz and Hugh Jackman. Still, its absurd - some might say incomprehensible - sci-fi premise appeared to push audiences away, for the film grossed only $15m against a $30m budget, and some argue dented the director's credibility somewhat. I, on the other hand, completely disagree with that statement; it's far from an easy sit, and requires a lot of patience, but it's a visually stunning, sonically awesome and thematically moving film about loss and life, bizarre and totally barmy as it is. One expected the splendid visuals, obviously ensuring the assembly of a grand trailer, would have at least allowed it to make back its fairly small budget - given the quality of the visual effects, anyway - yet The Fountain still underwhelmed, and its co-stars pretty faces, along with the central romantic premise, somehow didn't allow it to crawl along to $35m. Still, it's a great film that'll look fantastic on your HDTV; I strongly suggest you ignore the terrible financial results and seek it out for yourself. Are there any others we missed? Let us know in the comments below.
 
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Frequently sleep-deprived film addict and video game obsessive who spends more time than is healthy in darkened London screening rooms. Follow his twitter on @ShaunMunroFilm or e-mail him at shaneo632 [at] gmail.com.