10 Movies Nobody Saw In Cinemas (But Everyone Watches On TV)

1. The Shawshank Redemption

The Shawshank Redemption
Columbia Pictures

When people think of The Shawshank Redemption, they think of a true all-time classic of cinema - and rightly so, for the film received an incredible seven nominations at the 1995 Academy Awards.

The truth of the matter, though, is that the vast majority of Shawshank fans never actually saw the movie in cinemas. Instead, it was the first run of TV showings of the film that caused the picture to prove as popular as it became.

Upon its release in 1994, Frank Darabont's adaptation of Stephen King's 'Rita Hayworth and Shawshank Redemption' novel was anything but a box office hit. Having cost $25 million to make, The Shawshank Redemption's initial cinema run saw it bring home only $16 million.

Critical praise and the plentiful subsequent award nominations would prove to be a major factor in people giving The Shawshank Redemption a shot on VHS and when it first started to air on TV. As for why the picture's cinema run was a bust, the reasons given range from audiences being confused be the movie's title, to a lack of interest in prison-set films, to The Shawshank Redemption hitting theaters at the same time as Pulp Fiction and Forrest Gump.

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Once described as the Swiss Army Knife of WhatCulture, Andrew can usually be found writing, editing, or presenting on a wide range of topics. As a lifelong wrestling fan, horror obsessive, and comic book nerd, he's been covering those topics professionally as far back as 2010. In addition to his current WhatCulture role of Senior Content Producer, Andrew previously spent nearly a decade as Online Editor and Lead Writer for the world's longest-running genre publication, Starburst Magazine, and his work has also been featured on BBC, TechRadar, Tom's Guide, WhatToWatch, Sportkskeeda, and various other outlets, in addition to being a Rotten Tomatoes-approved film critic. Between his main dayjob, his role as the lead panel host of Wales Comic Con, and his gig as a pre-match host for Wrexham AFC games, Andrew has also carried out a hugely varied amount of interviews, from the likes of Robert Englund, Kane Hodder, Adrienne Barbeau, Rob Zombie, Katharine Isabelle, Leigh Whannell, Bruce Campbell, and Tony Todd, to Kevin Smith, Ron Perlman, Elijah Wood, Giancarlo Esposito, Simon Pegg, Charlie Cox, the Russo Brothers, and Brian Blessed, to Kevin Conroy, Paul Dini, Tara Strong, Will Friedle, Burt Ward, Andrea Romano, Frank Miller, and Rob Liefeld, to Bret Hart, Sting, Mick Foley, Ricky Starks, Jamie Hayer, Britt Baker, Eric Bischoff, and William Regal, to Mickey Thomas, Joey Jones, Phil Parkinson, Brian Flynn, Denis Smith, Gary Bennett, Karl Connolly, and Bryan Robson - and that's just the tip of an ever-expanding iceberg.