20 Recent Box Office Flops Everyone Saw Coming

Paul Thomas Anderson is one of the greatest filmmakers working today, which is precisely why he's been able to keep producing well-budgeted feature films despite the overwhelming majority of them failing to turn a profit theatrically.

Of Anderson's nine previous films, only Boogie Nights and There Will Be Blood have succeeded at the box office, and so, when his latest film, One Battle After Another, was confirmed to rock a $175 million budget, the road to profitability seemed basically non-existent.

Even with the ever-reliable Leonardo DiCaprio leading the charge and the movie touting a more commercial action-thriller tone, that colossal budget was clearly too tall a mountain for any film directed by Paul Thomas Anderson to climb.

With a break-even point of around $435 million, it wasn't remotely shocking that One Battle After Another fell far short of the mark, and it'll ultimately be lucky to pass the $200 million mark worldwide. Though the near-universal acclaim for the feature and the distinct possibility it wins the Best Picture Oscar next year will likely soothe the damage for Warner Bros., they were probably still hoping for a stronger performance than this.

Such is the inherent risk of giving monstrous budgets to movies that aren't aiming to appease all four quadrants. But from a purely artistic perspective, thank God this film exists.