Predicting box office success is notoriously difficult, and even acclaimed films can fail to recoup their budgets. This summer has already seen several high-profile flops, but history is filled with movies that initially struggled only to find later success.
Among the most notable is Ridley Scott's Blade Runner, which earned just $10.5m more than its $30m budget on initial release. Similarly, Alfonso Cuarón's Children of Men failed to make back its money in 2006, despite now being regarded as one of the best films of the 21st century.
Other films that bombed include The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford (2007), which recouped only half of its $30m budget, and Michael Mann's Blackhat, which earned just $19.7m against a $70m budget. Damien Chazelle's Babylon also underperformed, possibly due to its 190-minute runtime or poor marketing.
Some films later found cult followings. Donnie Darko grossed just $7.5m worldwide on a $4.5m budget, partly due to its marketing coinciding with 9/11, but became a celebrated classic on DVD. Orson Welles' Citizen Kane failed to recoup costs and lost the Best Picture Oscar to How Green Was My Valley.
Other notable flops include Clockers ($13m on $25m budget), Lone Survivor (falling $30m short of its $156m budget), and Event Horizon ($26.7m on $60m budget). Streaming services now offer these films a second chance to find audiences long after their theatrical releases.
