25 Drama Movies That Became Famous After Flopping in Theaters

By Hristina Byrnes Published Jul 16, 2:00PM EDT

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25 Drama Movies That Became Famous After Flopping in Theaters — © Courtesy of Columbia Pictures

It may be hard to imagine that such now-iconic film comedies as “Full Metal Jacket,” “The Machinist,” and “What’s Eating Gilbert Grape” were box office flops when they were released but grew to become recognized as classics over time. This happens more often than some people think, however.

To compile a list of now-classic dramas that bombed at the box office, 24/7 Tempo defined as a classic any comedy with audience scores and Tomatometer ratings of at least 75% on Rotten Tomatoes, an online movie and TV review aggregator. We then drew international box office and production cost data from The Numbers, an online movie database owned by Nash Information Services, and historical theater ticket prices from the National Association of Theater Owners. We considered any film that earned less than 200% of its reported production budget to have been a flop when released.

The films were then ranked based on the difference between the number of positive Rotten Tomatoes audience reviews (a rating of 3.5 or more out of 5) for each film as of February 2022 and the estimated number of tickets sold worldwide for the film during its initial theatrical release. The difference represents the gulf between a film’s current popularity and its initial reception. (Information on directors and stars, when included, comes from IMDb, an online movie database owned by Amazon.)

Click here to see 25 box office bombs that became classics

Why these films, now considered some of the funniest in cinematic history, tanked in theaters at the time of their release is anyone’s guess. Maybe it was poor marketing; maybe the release date was inopportune; maybe the potential for foreign sales was overestimated; or maybe the box office receipts were respectable but production costs were too high. (Flop or hit, these are the most expensive movies ever made.)

25. Once Upon a Time in America (1984)
> Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 93% (75,039 votes)
> Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer score: 87% (54 reviews)
> Worldwide box office, adj. for inflation: $15.2 million (1.7 million tickets)
> Est. production budget, adj. for inflation: $81.8 million
> Directed by: Sergio Leone

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24. Full Metal Jacket (1987)
> Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 94% (324,778 votes)
> Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer score: 92% (83 reviews)
> Worldwide box office, adj. for inflation: $105.5 million (11.5 million tickets)
> Est. production budget, adj. for inflation: $70.3 million
> Directed by: Stanley Kubrick

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23. Bottle Rocket (1996)
> Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 79% (61,613 votes)
> Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer score: 85% (66 reviews)
> Worldwide box office, adj. for inflation: $844,477 (92,192 tickets)
> Est. production budget, adj. for inflation: $10.4 million
> Directed by: Wes Anderson

22. Lars and the Real Girl (2007)
> Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 84% (105,777 votes)
> Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer score: 81% (138 reviews)
> Worldwide box office, adj. for inflation: $15.0 million (1.6 million tickets)
> Est. production budget, adj. for inflation: $16.6 million
> Directed by: Craig Gillespie

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21. The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants (2005)
> Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 78% (271,973 votes)
> Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer score: 77% (135 reviews)
> Worldwide box office, adj. for inflation: $59.4 million (6.5 million tickets)
> Est. production budget, adj. for inflation: $35.7 million
> Directed by: Ken Kwapis

20. Ed Wood (1994)
> Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 88% (107,299 votes)
> Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer score: 92% (65 reviews)
> Worldwide box office, adj. for inflation: $13.1 million (1.4 million tickets)
> Est. production budget, adj. for inflation: $40.4 million
> Directed by: Tim Burton

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19. Gone Baby Gone (2007)
> Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 86% (210,008 votes)
> Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer score: 94% (181 reviews)
> Worldwide box office, adj. for inflation: $45.7 million (5.0 million tickets)
> Est. production budget, adj. for inflation: $25.3 million
> Directed by: Ben Affleck

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18. The Savages (2007)
> Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 75% (135,344 votes)
> Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer score: 90% (172 reviews)
> Worldwide box office, adj. for inflation: $14.2 million (1.5 million tickets)
> Est. production budget, adj. for inflation: $12.0 million
> Directed by: Tamara Jenkins

17. Rescue Dawn (2006)
> Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 75% (125,788 votes)
> Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer score: 90% (163 reviews)
> Worldwide box office, adj. for inflation: $9.8 million (1.1 million tickets)
> Est. production budget, adj. for inflation: $14.0 million
> Directed by: Werner Herzog

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16. Mulholland Dr. (2001)
> Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 87% (189,369 votes)
> Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer score: 83% (181 reviews)
> Worldwide box office, adj. for inflation: $33.7 million (3.7 million tickets)
> Est. production budget, adj. for inflation: $24.3 million
> Directed by: David Lynch

15. Almost Famous (2000)
> Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 92% (325,177 votes)
> Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer score: 89% (174 reviews)
> Worldwide box office, adj. for inflation: $80.5 million (8.8 million tickets)
> Est. production budget, adj. for inflation: $102.0 million
> Directed by: Cameron Crowe

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14. The Machinist (2004)
> Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 83% (156,143 votes)
> Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer score: 77% (143 reviews)
> Worldwide box office, adj. for inflation: $12.8 million (1.4 million tickets)
> Est. production budget, adj. for inflation: $7.4 million
> Directed by: Brad Anderson

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13. 3:10 to Yuma (2007)
> Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 86% (394,530 votes)
> Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer score: 89% (224 reviews)
> Worldwide box office, adj. for inflation: $94.8 million (10.3 million tickets)
> Est. production budget, adj. for inflation: $63.9 million
> Directed by: James Mangold

12. Zodiac (2007)
> Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 77% (494,558 votes)
> Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer score: 89% (259 reviews)
> Worldwide box office, adj. for inflation: $110.6 million (12.1 million tickets)
> Est. production budget, adj. for inflation: $113.2 million
> Directed by: David Fincher

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11. The Virgin Suicides (1999)
> Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 81% (192,575 votes)
> Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer score: 77% (102 reviews)
> Worldwide box office, adj. for inflation: $19.2 million (2.1 million tickets)
> Est. production budget, adj. for inflation: $10.9 million
> Directed by: Sofia Coppola

10. True Romance (1993)
> Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 93% (192,545 votes)
> Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer score: 93% (54 reviews)
> Worldwide box office, adj. for inflation: $28.0 million (3.1 million tickets)
> Est. production budget, adj. for inflation: $27.7 million
> Directed by: Tony Scott

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9. Gattaca (1997)
> Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 87% (208,849 votes)
> Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer score: 83% (64 reviews)
> Worldwide box office, adj. for inflation: $25.0 million (2.7 million tickets)
> Est. production budget, adj. for inflation: $71.8 million
> Directed by: Andrew Niccol

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8. Paris, je t’aime (2006)
> Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 84% (192,613 votes)
> Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer score: 86% (112 reviews)
> Worldwide box office, adj. for inflation: $7.2 million (790,090 tickets)
> Est. production budget, adj. for inflation: $18.2 million
> Directed by: Ethan Coen

7. Children of Men (2006)
> Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 85% (531,198 votes)
> Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer score: 92% (255 reviews)
> Worldwide box office, adj. for inflation: $97.7 million (10.7 million tickets)
> Est. production budget, adj. for inflation: $106.3 million
> Directed by: Alfonso CuarÃ³n

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6. What’s Eating Gilbert Grape (1993)
> Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 89% (301,866 votes)
> Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer score: 90% (51 reviews)
> Worldwide box office, adj. for inflation: $20.3 million (2.2 million tickets)
> Est. production budget, adj. for inflation: $24.3 million
> Directed by: Lasse HallstrÃ¶m

5. Requiem for a Dream (2000)
> Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 93% (328,609 votes)
> Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer score: 79% (138 reviews)
> Worldwide box office, adj. for inflation: $12.6 million (1.4 million tickets)
> Est. production budget, adj. for inflation: $7.6 million
> Directed by: Darren Aronofsky

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4. American History X (1998)
> Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 96% (479,979 votes)
> Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer score: 83% (87 reviews)
> Worldwide box office, adj. for inflation: $13.1 million (1.4 million tickets)
> Est. production budget, adj. for inflation: $19.5 million
> Directed by: Tony Kaye

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3. Fight Club (1999)
> Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 96% (1.1 million votes)
> Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer score: 79% (179 reviews)
> Worldwide box office, adj. for inflation: $182.5 million (19.9 million tickets)
> Est. production budget, adj. for inflation: $117.7 million
> Directed by: David Fincher

2. The Shawshank Redemption (1994)
> Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 98% (887,061 votes)
> Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer score: 91% (77 reviews)
> Worldwide box office, adj. for inflation: $63.8 million (7.0 million tickets)
> Est. production budget, adj. for inflation: $56.1 million
> Directed by: Frank Darabont

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1. Donnie Darko (2001)
> Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 80% (31.0 million votes)
> Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer score: 86% (118 reviews)
> Worldwide box office, adj. for inflation: $12.2 million (1.3 million tickets)
> Est. production budget, adj. for inflation: $7.3 million
> Directed by: Richard Kelly

About the Author Hristina Byrnes →

Hristina Byrnes is the editor of 247Tempo.com, where she handles the site's assignments and editing. She holds a master's degree in journalism from Columbia University, which she earned in 2012, and she specializes in translating complex health data research into engaging, accessible stories for a general audience.

When she's not poring over the latest data sets or brainstorming story ideas, you can find Hristina watching tennis, playing tennis with her son, or trying to get her daughter into tennis.