10 Movies Everybody Wanted (But Nobody Watched)

9. Blade Runner 2049

Sin City: A Dame to Kill For Eva Green Ava Lord
Warner Bros.

Though Ridley Scott's original Blade Runner was famously a box office bust upon its original 1982 release, its esteem grew exponentially in the years and decades that followed as large swaths of sci-fi fans discovered it on home video.

Blade Runner is a basically mandatory inclusion on any list of all-timer sci-fi films, enough that Warner Bros. greenlit a sequel, Blade Runner 2049, which finally came to fruition under director Denis Villeneuve in 2017.

With a first-rate director and Avengers-worthy $185 million budget, fan excitement was through the roof, that they were getting another mega-budget glimpse into this world some 35 years after Scott's original.

Despite the anticipation, though, Blade Runner 2049 was a box office failure, grossing just $259.3 million worldwide.

A slow-paced, 163-minute sequel to an artsy, philosophical sci-fi film was never going to make a billion dollars, but Warner Bros. clearly hoped it would pull at least $500 million and prove a solid success.

Despite all that passionate clamouring for a Blade Runner sequel, evidently a lot of people decided to stay home when it mattered most.

Though it has since performed well on home video, that's not nearly enough to make Blade Runner 2049 profitable when you factor in Warner Bros' massive marketing spend.

Contributor
Contributor

Stay at home dad who spends as much time teaching his kids the merits of Martin Scorsese as possible (against the missus' wishes). General video game, TV and film nut. Occasional sports fan. Full time loon.