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

2. The Iron Giant

The Shawshank Redemption
Warner Bros.

1999's The Iron Giant is a brilliant movie that many look back on fondly, yet this was again a film that people, for the most part, avoided at the cinema.

This is a picture that so many hold up as one of the greatest animated movies in history, but it's a film that massively derailed the animation arm of what Warner Bros. would hope could somehow rival the output of Disney.

A robot arriving from space to befriend a lonely young boy in 1950s America is the stuff of heart-warming dreams, but it's a heart-warming dream that wasn't experienced by most until TV showings of the movie.

To indicate just how poorly The Iron Giant did during its cinema run, the Brad Bird-directed - yes, the same Brad Bird as The Incredibles (and its sequel!), Ratatouille, and Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol - '99 effort didn't even make its budget back at the box office, garnering $31 million from a budget of $50 million.

Again though, The Iron Giant is something that so many will always drop everything to watch as and when it's airing on TV.

Senior Writer
Senior Writer

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.