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

7. Waterworld (1995) - $264.2 Million Worldwide

Budget: $175m Domestic Box Office: $88.2m International Box Office: $176m Despite its reputation as a notorious box office flop, Waterworld was one of the ten biggest hits of 1995 and managed to turn a small profit thanks to a worldwide gross of $264.2m. Although the movie failed to recoup even half of the production budget at the domestic box office, international audiences were much more receptive to Kevin Reynolds and Kevin Costner's ambitious post-apocalyptic sci-fi and ultimately saved it from being a complete financial disaster. Waterworld did manage to claim first position at the domestic box office when it opened to $21.2m, which were nonetheless hugely disappointing numbers for what was at the time the most expensive movie ever made. To put it into perspective, the thoroughly awful Congo managed a better opening weekend that year. However, overseas markets proved to be much more lucrative for the heavily-publicized and massively troubled production, with Waterworld actually earning more at the international box office than both Toy Story and Batman Forever, two of the biggest blockbusters of 1995.