10 More Awesome Movies That Didn't Deserve To Bomb
4. Warrior
Given the fair reliability of underdog sports dramas at the box office, Warrior seemed like a slam dunk on paper.
An MMA movie starring Tom Hardy as a fighter who ends up fighting his brother (Joel Edgerton) - what's not to like? This had "Dad Movie" written all over it.
Despite being well-received by critics for its unexpectedly emotional drama and strong performances, leading to a Best Supporting Actor Oscar nomination for Nick Nolte, Warrior grossed just $23.3 million, falling shy of its $25 million production budget.
Marketing is definitely the big issue here - the trailers focused in on the hyper-masculine combat sports aspect, even though large swaths of the 140-minute film are more dramatic in focus.
The movie's lack of real-life inspiration - that is to say, it isn't a sports biopic - also placed a low ceiling on its prospects, and it's fair to say that Tom Hardy was still a rising talent in 2011, far from the A-lister he is today.
And finally there's the thunderously generic title, which just gives the impression this is a totally by-the-numbers sports movie, which couldn't be much further from the truth.