8 All-Time Classic Movies You Didn't Know Flopped At The Box Office

Even if you've never seen the move - and let's be honest, there's certainly a fair number of the population who hasn't - you probably recognise Citizen Kane as the de facto "greatest movie of all time." It tops practically every list ever assembled on the subject, and failing to recognise its impact on cinema is tantamount to lighting The Beatles discography on fire and urinating on its ashes.

But it wasn't always viewed so favourably. The political views expressed in the film fell decidedly outside of public opinion at the time, and despite mostly positive reviews, the general public stayed far away from Orson Welles and his decidedly depressing representation of the American Dream.

Not even a slew of Academy Award nominations - 9 in total - would bolster its box office appeal, and the film failed to earn back its meager budget of $840,000. In fact, RKO Pictures would end up losing roughly $160,000 on Kane.

Welles' tale of a publishing magnate's rise and fall - supposedly based on real life tycoon William Randolph Hearst - took on new popularity when it was re-released after World War II. And it's been considered the greatest filmmaking achievement of all time ever since.

What other classic films failed completely at first at the box office? Share any more we missed down in the comments.