12 Blockbuster Films That Flopped In America (But Were Loved Overseas)

Over the last few decades, the rapid expansion of international markets has seen domestic box office grosses become increasingly irrelevant when it comes to a studio blockbuster's chances of commercial success. In fact, of the 50 highest-grossing movies in history only three of them have earned less than 50% of their box office totals from outside of the United States. Two of them are Star Wars and E.T. (which were released way back in 1977 and 1982), and the third is The Dark Knight. Recently, the emergence of China as one of the movie industry's most lucrative markets has seen numerous Hollywood blockbusters directly appeal to the country's cinema audiences in an attempt to generate extra box office. For example, even though this summer's Transformers: Age of Extinction is the lowest-grossing entry in the franchise domestically by some distance, it has sailed past the billion-dollar mark thanks mostly to an incredible $300m haul in China. The exponential growth of the Chinese market will likely soon see the country become the single most important territory for summer blockbusters, from a financial point of view at least. The increasing importance of the international box office has saved many movies from the ignominy of becoming a flop, and this article will take a look at ten such productions. The list features entries from tiring franchises, would-be summer blockbusters and several movies that simply may not have appealed all that much to audiences in the United States, including a few notorious flops that actually turned out to have turned a tidy profit. The recurring theme is that international audiences were entirely to thank for putting these movies in the black. Do you agree that these movies flopped in the States? Why do you think they made so much more money overseas? Are there any other movies that you would have included? As always, sign off in the comments below.