Streaming Successes That Theatergoers Rejected
Not everything that reaches the movie theater enjoys multi-million dollar success. Sure, some have fans who are super excited about the movie, but that doesn't always translate to box office views. But when the movie's released on Netflix, HBO Max, Amazon Prime, or Crave? People go crazy for it! Let's examine streaming blockbusters that theatergoers rejected.
The Suicide Squad
Despite the insane popularity of Margot Robbie's Harley Quinn costume at Halloween in 2021, The Suicide Squad (2021) wasn't the success that Warner Bros hoped it would be at the box office, despite drawing on the prior success of Suicide Squad (2016). With a budget of $185 million, it only made $167 million at the box office. But once it hit HBO Max? It was streamed 4.7 million times in its first three weekends.
Warner Bros., The Suicide Squad (2021)
Air
The biographical feature about Michael Jordan's relationship with Nike and the creation of the Air Jordan basketball shoe was an interesting topic for sports fans in 2023. Ben Affleck was the lead producer and director as well as playing the role of Bill Knight, co-founder of Nike. With a budget of $125 million, Air only made $90 million at the box office. However, upon its release on Amazon Prime, it was streamed over a million times during its first-weekend release.
Don't Look Up
For a comedy starring Lenny DiCaprio, Jennifer Garner, Angelina Jolie, Meryl Streep, and Timothée Chalamét, Don't Look Up (2021) wasn't all that. It's a comedy about the destruction of Earth by a comet and two astronauts' frantic struggle to warn Earth of the impending disaster, but being consistently ignored by those in power. Don't Look Up had a small budget—only $75 million—but didn't even break the $1 million mark at the box office.
However, in January of 2022, the viewership of Don't Look Up skyrocketed. It became Netflix's third most-watched show.
Hyperobject Industries, Don't Look Up (2021)
Lightyear
When a film about Buzz Lightyear first hit the box office in 2022, some were skeptical, feeling that perhaps the film was just a Disney cash-grab. Despite the attempt to humanize and give a backstory to Buzz Lightyear's animated character, the film did not perform well at the box office. Overall, when factoring in marketing and other associated costs, it lost $106 million, despite making $225 million at the box office.
It would go on to become the most-watched movie on Disney+ in 2022. To Disney+, and beyond!
Mortal Kombat
When lovers of the video game series of the same name went to see Mortal Kombat (2021) in theaters, they may have returned from their two-hour excursion feeling disappointed. Mortal Kombat only made $84 million at the box office, with a $50 million budget. While not a loss, it certainly wasn't the enormous success enjoyed by the 1995 original film.
However, putting Mortal Kombat onto HBO Max saw it hit 3.8 million households.
Warner Bros., Mortal Kombat (2021)
The Snowman
Released in 2017, and a Norwegian psychological thriller adapted from a novel of the same name, The Snowman stars Michael Fassbender as a police officer determined to stop a serial killer on the loose in Oslo. The killer leaves a mysterious snowman as his calling card at each crime scene.
The Snowman only made $8 million at the box office, limping home with a total of $43 million on a $35 million budget. Hardly anything to write home about. It also only received 7% on Rotten Tomatoes. However, on Netflix? In April of 2023, The Snowman was #1 on the most-watched list. Maybe people were on a not-quite-true crime kick.
Elemental
This one was a strange take on the world for a Pixar film. Elemental is a film all about elements, but it's a romantic comedy instead of being the classic good-versus-evil story we've come to expect from Pixar. It featured Ember (as the fire element) and Wade (as the water element) and tells their love story.
With a budget of $200 million, the film only grossed $154 million in the US and Canada. However, once it was released on Disney+, it received 26.4 million streams, making it one of the most popular Disney+ movies of all time. It eventually grossed an extra $342 million worldwide, making it a quintessential "sleeper" success.
Warner Bros., Elemental (2023)
The Last Duel
Based on the non-fiction book of the same name, The Last Duel (2021) starred Jodie Comer as Marguerite, a young woman whose husband Jean de Carrouges (Matt Damon) must duel with his best friend, Jacques Le Gris (Adam Driver), after Marguerite accuses Jacques of assaulting her. Le Gris and de Carrouges duel in a trial-by-combat.
The Last Duel had a budget of $100 million but only made $30 million at the box office. A total, abject failure. However, it was picked up by HBO Max and in January of 2022 was their second most-watched program.
Twentieth Century, The Last Duel (2021)
The Matrix: Resurrections
Premiering in 2021, 18 long years after the last film, The Matrix: Resurrections was intended to be the fourth installment in the franchise. Catching up with Neo sixty years after the events of Revolutions, Neo has forgotten who he was and believes himself to be a simple video game developer who created "The Matrix". It's not long before the agents remind him who he is.
We might as well all have needed reminding of who Neo is. The movie grossed $159 million at the box office, with a budget of $190 million. However, put it in front of HBO Max viewers and it was streamed 2.8 million times in its first five days. HBO Max always seems to have that happen...
Warner Bros., The Matrix Resurrections (2021)
West Side Story
West Side Story (2021) is a musical directed by Steven Spielberg, based on a theater musical of the same name. Set against a backdrop of gang warfare, West Side Story was supposed to be released in 2020, but the world was in chaos, so its release date was pushed back a year. Even with the world reawakening from the grips of the COVID-19 pandemic and people eager to get back out into the world, West Side Story was a flop.
It didn't come close to breaking even on its $100 million budget, only making $76 million at the box office. Despite this lack of box office success, it did receive multiple Academy Award nominations. Perhaps that helped to reinvigorate people to watch it, as it was streamed 1.9 million times on Disney+ and (you guessed it) HBO Max.
Twentieth Century, West Side Story (2021)
Strange World
This animated flick featured the voice talents of Dennis Quaid, Jake Gyllenhaal, Gabrielle Union, and Lucy Liu. Set in the fictional world of Avalonia, Strange World follows the adventures of a father-son duo that must save the planet of Avalonia from destruction by working together, despite years of a rift between the pair.
Strange World's budget is predicted to be around $180 million, but it made only $73 million at the box office. However, once released on Disney+, the family adventure film skyrocketed to the #1 spot during its initial release phase.
Walt Disney, Strange World (2022)
Eternals
The Marvel Universe sure does like their live-action movies, don't they? Eternals (2021) is all about conflict between two groups of aliens, one—the Eternals—are a set of immortals from another planet sent to Earth to destroy a group of evil aliens called the Deviants. Unfortunately, the Deviants co-exist peacefully with existing humanity, so the Eternals must lie in wait and bide their time before striking.
Unfortunately, Eternals really didn't do well. "Superhero fatigue" is blamed; recycled plotlines, same-old-same-old good-versus-evil. It did exceed its budget of $236 million and grossed over $400 million at the box office. But, Marvel was used to its films tripling (or at least doubling) that amount, based on a budget of around $200 million. It was a failure...until it hit Disney+. Then, it broke 2 million views in the first days of its release and broke MCU's Disney+ viewership record at the same time.
Twentieth Century, Eternals (2021)
Wonder Woman 1984
Set as a sequel to the hugely popular Wonder Woman (2017), Wonder Woman 1984 features Gal Gadot as a superhero-by-night character that works at the Smithsonian during the height of the Cold War. Friends become foes and one powerful adversary rears their ugly head in Wonder Woman 1984.
It was released at the end of 2020, as the world still reeled from the Coronavirus pandemic, and had a production budget of $200 million to make ground on. Ooof. It made $170 million at the box office, but during Christmas of 2020, it had almost 2.3 million minutes of streaming on HBO Max.
Warner Bros., Wonder Woman 1984 (2020)
Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning Part One
Tom Cruise is back again for another Mission: Impossible film and water is wet. It would be difficult for a Mission: Impossible movie to flop. And, in fact, Dead Reckoning (2023) couldn't even be considered a flop—it had a budget of $291 million and grossed $567 million at the box office. But, it was expected to well exceed its budget (perhaps even doubling it), an expectation that proved too ambitious when the movie found itself competing with the summer of Barbie and Oppenheimer.
However, when it was released on Paramount+, Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning was the platform's most-streamed film, as recently as March 2024.
Paramount, Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning (2023)
Hocus Pocus
A rather strange entrant on a list packed with late-2010s/early-2020s flicks, we'll admit. But the Halloween comedy classic has been reinvigorated by streaming. Despite being a box office flop of only $50 million on a $28 million budget in 1993, streaming services have revitalized the popularity of Hocus Pocus.
In October of 2021, fans streamed Hocus Pocus for more than 240 million minutes—it was so popular that a sequel was released across platforms in 2022, grossing 2.7 billion (with a b) streaming minutes.
Walt Disney, Hocus Pocus (1993)
Space Jam: A New Legacy
Space Jam: A New Legacy features LeBron James and is a sequel to the 1996 smash hit Space Jam. It tells the story of LeBron James' battle to save his son from Artificial Intelligence by playing the most important basketball game ever. It was one of those titles that people would have been quite happy had it not be made.
The box office performance for Space Jam: A New Legacy was underwhelming—it had a budget of $150 million and only made $163 million. Not a loss, but close enough. However, on the weekend of its release, it reached 2.1 million households, with none other than Cleveland, Ohio leading the way.
Warner Bros., Space Jam: A New Legacy (2021)
Turning Red
Turning Red (2022) was an interesting coming-of-age film about a girl who turns into a red fox whenever she has strong emotions. Filled with all of the other associated puberty-related changes, Turning Red was either offensive or genius and broached an important subject, depending on who you spoke to.
Turning Red's budget? $175 million. Turning Red's box office performance? $21.5 million worldwide. Ouch. However, several Academy Award nominations later and Disney+ would stream Turning Red to millions. In fact, it amassed over 1.6 billion minutes of streaming and was #1 on the Nielsen ratings list of most-streamed animated movies. "Turning" the tide, you might say.
Walt Disney, Turning Red (2022)
Ruby Gillman: Teenage Kraken
Imagine finding out that you're a sea monster in front of your crush while you try to save him from drowning? Brutal. Imagine finding out that your parents kept your sea-monster-ness from you and that you're also a princess destined to become Queen of the Seven Seas? Also, brutal. But not quite as brutal as the audience's reaction to Ruby Gillman: Teenage Kraken. Its budget was $70 million and it only made $46 million at the box office.
Luckily for Netflix, Ruby Gillman apparently "released the Kraken!" and it found its way to #1 on Netflix during the month of its release, in July of 2023. It remained in the top 10 for the month of July and performed well throughout last summer.
DreamWorks, Ruby Gillman: Teenage Kraken (2023)
Knights Of The Zodiac
This Japanese action film about an orphan searching for his sister, but attracting the wrong kind of attention, is based on a popular manga series of the same name. Living proof, however, that one medium doesn't always translate well to another, Knights of the Zodiac didn't even gross $8 million at the box office. However, one day after being released on Netflix in May of 2023, it was the service's fifth-most watched movie.
Stage 6 Films, Knights of the Zodiac (2023)
Madame Web
Madame Web was a Sony production intended to expand their Spider-Man universe. However, it was an abject failure, bringing in only $100.5 million on a $100 million budget—not including a marketing cost of around $60 million. Ouch. However, Madame Web found success on Netflix, debuting a few months after its theatrical flop, and becoming the second most-viewed title on Netflix during the week of its release, with 10.8 million views.
Assassin's Creed
Based on the best-selling video game of the same name, Assassin's Creed was released to much fanfare in 2016, but ultimately ended up flopping at the box office. With a budget of $125 million for production, the box office choked in $245 million, but lost 20th Century Fox around $100 million when all other expenses were accounted for.
However, once the film was released on Netflix (some seven years after its initial release), it leapt into Netflix's top 10, spurring Netflix themselves to order a sequel.
New Regency, Assassin's Creed (2016)
Blended
Despite starring Adam Sandler and Drew Barrymore, Blended (2014) took many years to find its audience. When it was first released, it grossed $128 million worldwide, with only $46 million of that coming from a North American audience—a poor performance considering Sandler and Barrymore's notoriety (and the film's $45 million budget).
However, once Blended was released on Netflix in May 2024, it became one of the most-watched movies on the platform in the US.
65
Adam Driver stars in this strange sci-fi action thriller as a space explorer who must find a way to survive dangerous dinosaurs and extreme elements after crashing his shuttle on Earth, some 65 million years ago. 65 (2023) had a budget of $45 million and only brought in $60 million at the box office. However, just four months after its underwhelming theatrical performance, it was released on Netflix and was both the second and most-viewed film just a few days after its arrival.
The Little Things
Denzel Washington stars in The Little Things, as a California sheriff investigating a serial killer, played by Jared Leto. Unfortunately, The Little Things' possible theatrical success was totally derailed by COVID. Debuting on streaming services and in theaters simultaneously in 2021, the movie only made $800,000 more than its $30 million budget.
It mysteriously exploded on Netflix in April of 2024, being seen by over 1.7 million households in that month.
Warner Bros., The Little Things (2021)
Dumb Money
Dumb Money is all about the short squeeze on GameStop during the pandemic and how Redditors saved the company. It lost a lot in the box office, only grossing $20 million worldwide on a $30 million budget. However, when it hit Netflix in January of 2024, it took off like the Reddit craze that it was based on, earning 3.5 million views in the first few days of its release.
Crimson Peak
Ever heard of Crimson Peak? No? Didn't think so. How about The Shape of Water? Of course you have. Both are directed by Guillermo del Toro, but while one won Best Picture in 2017 at the Oscars, the other barely made its budget back at the box office—I'll let you guess which is which.
Crimson Peak (2015) had a gothic horror romance theme, but even that wasn't enough to sway viewers into going to see it. The movie's budget was $55 million and it only made $74 million at the box office. Not great by del Toro standards. However, when Crimson Peak was released on Netflix in Spring 2021, it claimed one of the top spots on the site's most-viewed list that Spring.
The Nice Guys
The Nice Guys premiered in 2016, starring Ryan Gosling and Russell Crowe (I can hear the swooning from here), and had all the hallmarks of a successful movie. Yet, the film struggled in theaters, making only $62.8 million against a $50 million budget. It took a decade for The Nice Guys to make it to Netflix, but just one day to break into the most-watched list.
Warner Bros., The Nice Guys (2016)
Annihilation
Even though it starred Natalie Portman, Tessa Thompson, and Oscar Isaac, Annihilation (2018) did not perform well at the box office. With a $55 million budget, Annihilation would only make $43 million upon its release in theaters—an underwhelming number that gave Paramount Pictures pause for thought. The studio struck a deal with Netflix to release the movie onto the service some two weeks after the movie's theatrical release, gaining an international audience along the way. Annihilation proved very popular on Netflix, landing in its top-viewed shows for July of 2023.
Paramount, Annihilation (2018)
How Do You Know?
Paul Rudd, Reese Witherspoon, and Owen Wilson, all in one romantic comedy? That's a guaranteed success, right? Well, you'd think so. But How Do You Know? (2010) only made $48 million at the box office, on a budget of $120 million. Ouch. However, when it was picked up by Netflix in the middle of 2020, it became one of the most-viewed titles of that torrid summer.
Columbia, How Do You Know (2010)
Mortal Engines
In 2018, Peter Jackson helped write the screenplay for an adaptation of a Phillip Reeve novel called Mortal Engines, from 2001. I'm sure Universal Pictures were expecting Mortal Engines to be a massive hit given the name "Peter Jackson" on its title card. However, that wasn't the case. With a budget of between $100 and $150 million, it flopped, hard, only making about $80 million.
But, all wasn't lost, as the biggest box office flop in Peter Jackson's career found its way onto Netflix's most-watched list in April of 2024.
Media Rights Capital, Mortal Engines (2018)
The Son
In 2022, The Son was released by Film4. The British adaptation of a 2018 stage play was directed by Florian Zeller, writer of the play. It followed the life of a family trying to save their son from depression, and starred Hugh Jackman and Anthony Hopkins.
Despite Jackman being nominated for Best Actor in the drama category at the Golden Globes, The Son only made $3.6 million at the box office and left theaters after four weeks. It's budget? $6 million. But, when it was released to Netflix in 2023, it took fourth place on the service's most-viewed list.
Mulan
The live-action Mulan (2020) was a movie made at the very precipice of the COVID-19 pandemic—and perhaps no movie was as hard hit by the pandemic than Mulan. The Disney classic took $200 million to make and only grossed $69.9 million at the box office. However, Mulan did much better on Disney+ when it was released. So much so that it made more money on Disney+ Premier Access purchases than it did at the box office.
Our Friend
Released in 2021, Our Friend was an unfortunate bomb in the box office, for a touching story based on the truth. It told the story of a family struggling with a terminal cancer diagnosis and how their friend moves into their family home and helps them through the process of loss and grief. It's a touching tale of the importance of friendship in a time of loss.
The budget for Our Friend was $10 million. Unfortunately, it only grossed $714,000 at the box office. But, when it was released on Netflix, the heartbreaking tale found success, appearing on the service's most-watched charts for June 2021.
Scott Free Productions, Our Friend (2021)
Encanto
Encanto was released in late November of 2021 and tells the story of a girl named Mirabel and her family of humans with magical powers (except for Mirabel, she doesn't have any). The bulk of the plot centers on Mirabel keeping her family together as a unit, particularly as strains in the family's relationship threaten the magical powers they've been gifted.
With a budget of between $120 and 150 million, Encanto doubled that at the box office, earning $250 million. However, Disney+ (and the world) was completely unprepared for the seismic event that was the viral hit "We Don't Talk About Bruno" from the movie. So viral that it made people watch Encanto over and over and over again. It was the most-streamed title of 2022—viewed for over 27.4 billion minutes, the equivalent of the movie being watched 269 million times.
