- 8 hours ago
These movies deserved all the commercial success.
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00:00So, there's no denying that the theatrical movie landscape is in a major state of flux
00:04right now. The pandemic dealt a major blow to the box office revenues around the globe,
00:08and though the ongoing recovery is encouraging, it seems unlikely that we're ever going to
00:13fully return to the normality of 2019. These 10 films, each of them largely acclaimed by
00:19critics, all failed to make a dent with the mainstream, for a multitude of reasons. And
00:24while they may fare better on streaming, it is a damn shame that so few people showed
00:28out to watch them on the big screen, because you know what? They absolutely deserve to do so,
00:33so much better. So, let's take a look at them as I'm Jules, this is WhatCulture.com,
00:37and these are 10 awesome recent movies that didn't deserve to bomb.
00:4110. The Last Duel
00:43Ridley Scott's historical action drama The Last Duel received predominantly positive reviews
00:48from critics, with much praise for its cast, and the nuanced means through which it examined
00:52its delicate subject matter. Despite a first-rate director and an A-list cast, the film ended up
00:58tanking catastrophically at the box office, grossing less than half of initial projections on its
01:03opening weekend, and going on to nab a total of $30.6 million, a mere fraction of its hefty
01:09$100 million price tag. The Last Duel was a great movie, caught in a perfect storm of bad
01:15circumstances. Old cinemographers were still staying away from cinemas, and at a time where
01:19cinema audiences were largely craving escapist spectacle, a two-and-a-half-hour drama about sexual
01:25assault wasn't going to get many out of the house. But The Last Duel has reportedly been
01:29a solid performer on streaming, though, seemingly ensuring it's enjoying something of a second life
01:34at home.
01:359. Ambulance
01:36Michael Bay might have a reputation as one of the most prolific and commercially successful
01:41filmmakers working today, but he actually hasn't had a box office hit since 2014. Bay's new project,
01:47Ambulance, seemed like a sure thing on paper. A high-concept genre film filled with explosions,
01:53high-octane chase sequences, and awesome drone shots, and was going to be led by the beloved
01:58Jake Gyllenhaal. Hell, even with Bay's reputation for commanding massive budgets,
02:02Ambulance was made for an impressive $40 million, and in a marketplace dominated by CGI-heavy tent
02:08poles, the presence of a more robust mid-budget action flick seemed pretty refreshing. The irony
02:14is that despite being Bay's best-reviewed film in over 25 years, Ambulance sank like a stone at the
02:20box office. In a theatrical landscape dominated by $200 million blockbusters, audiences may have
02:26taken one look at this film and decided to wait it out for streaming. Don't be shocked if it does
02:30become a big performer on video on demand, though.
02:338. The Suicide Squad
02:34James Gunn's The Suicide Squad was basically a big, bombastic apology for 2016's David Ayer-directed
02:41Suicide Squad, which, despite negative reviews, grossed a mammoth $746.8 million worldwide.
02:47Sadly, the vitriolic response to that film seemed to help poison this soft reboot of sorts,
02:52despite the fact it received rave reviews from critics and fans alike. With a colossal $185
02:58million budget, The Suicide Squad realistically needed to make around $450 million to be profitable,
03:04though it is worth noting that the film released day and date on HBO Max in the US,
03:08so Warner Bros. clearly sacrificed a portion of its box office to bolster their streaming service.
03:13Yet even accepting this simultaneous release, The Suicide Squad still performed horribly,
03:17making just $167.4 million globally. Compare that to Godzilla vs. Kong, which also released
03:24day and date on HBO Max and still made $468.2 million worldwide. One oft-cited reason is, again,
03:32that the 2016 Suicide Squad simply soured people on the property. And given that 2020's Birds of
03:38Prey also tanked, the interest just wasn't there. The film was a strong performer on streaming,
03:43though, and thankfully Gunn had already shot the John Cena-starring Peacemaker spin-off series
03:47before The Suicide Squad even hit cinemas. With Peacemaker proving a strong ratings hit on HBO Max,
03:53it seems highly likely that the squad's future will remain on the small screen.
03:577. Licorice Pizza
03:59Paul Thomas Anderson's Licorice Pizza is, true to form for the director,
04:02an impeccably crafted piece of work, a deliriously entertaining coming-of-age dramedy which received
04:08three Oscar nominations for Best Picture, Best Director, and Best Original Screenplay.
04:13But, despite rave reviews, the film didn't get anywhere close to turning a profit theatrically,
04:18ultimately failing to recoup even its modest $40 million budget.
04:22This speaks once again to adult and arthouse films largely struggling to find larger audiences
04:27at the box office. Yet, this admittedly isn't something new for Anderson, who has in fact only
04:31had two of his nine movies to date turn a profit in cinemas, Boogie Nights and There Will Be Blood.
04:37In the case of Licorice Pizza, the budget was undoubtedly bloated out by its period setting,
04:41which always adds millions onto any film's price tag, ensuring its chances of immediate
04:45profitability in the pandemic landscape were always going to be extremely slim. Despite Anderson's poor
04:51commercial track record, though, studios evidently continue to work with him because the prestige
04:56and potential for Oscar nominations is definitely there.
04:596. Nightmare Alley
05:01Guillermo del Toro's new period psychological thriller Nightmare Alley was one of 2021's
05:06most unforgettable genre films, a sumptuously shot and brilliantly acted effort that received
05:11four Oscar nominations, including Best Picture. Nightmare Alley's Oscar recognition is all the more
05:16surprising given the film's atrocious box office performance, barely clawing back half its $60 million
05:22budget. The reasons for its failure are myriad, though. Older viewers' reluctance to return to cinemas,
05:27a vague marketing campaign which didn't sell the movie well, and surely, worst of all,
05:32deciding to release it on the same day as Spider-Man No Way Home. Counterprogramming can work
05:37sometimes, but not against a film as enormously hyped as No Way Home that basically everybody
05:42and their grandma wanted to see.
05:445. The Green Knight
05:46Unlike most films on this list, David Lowry's surreal fantasy epic The Green Knight didn't have a hefty
05:51budget to recoup at the box office, having been made for an impressively svelte $15 million. Yet,
05:57despite receiving rave reviews for its writing, direction, performances, and jaw-dropping production
06:02quality, the film sadly failed to break out as a larger hit. A24 boldly decided to give The Green Knight
06:08a wide theatrical release, dropping it in 2,790 North American cinemas last summer. Yet,
06:14it only barely made back its budget and ultimately failed to turn a profit on the big screen.
06:19Given the director's artsy approach to well-trod subject matter that would surely alienate more
06:23casual audiences, it's little surprise that the film netted a dismal C-plus cinema score
06:28and quickly fell off the cliff at the box office. It also didn't help that The Green Knight ended up
06:33skipping a major theatrical release in some prominent markets, such as the UK, where it
06:37went direct to Amazon Prime the same day it hit cinemas.
06:404. West Side Story
06:42Bets don't come much surer than Steven Spielberg, who over the last 20 years has produced just two
06:47box office underperformers, Munich and the BFG, and almost a dozen smash hits. A Spielberg-directed
06:54remake of West Side Story, one of the most iconic musicals ever, must have seemed like a financial
06:59slam dunk to 20th Century Studios when the project began filming back in the summer of 2019. But,
07:05with the pandemic pumping the brakes on adults skewing movies and younger audiences having little
07:09to no nostalgia for the original 1961 film, West Side Story failed to turn a profit.
07:14With its massive $100 million budget and extensive marketing campaign, it likely needed to gross around
07:20$250 million in order to be a success, but ultimately didn't even crack one-third of that figure.
07:26Even with rave reviews and a mighty A cinema score, leading to seven Oscar nominations including
07:31Best Picture, this was a film that categorically failed to entice general audiences. Though West Side
07:36Story has been another strong performer on streaming, it's a shame that arguably Spielberg's
07:41best movie in 20 or so years was largely ignored on the big screen.
07:453. The Outfit
07:46Quietly dropped in cinemas earlier this year with minimal marketing, The Outfit is one of 2022's
07:52most entertaining movies to date, a low-key crime drama starring Mark Rylance as a tailor who finds
07:57himself caught in a battle of wits with a group of gangsters. The film was largely praised by critics
08:01for its smart screenplay, fun plot twists, and great performances, though this sadly failed to
08:06translate into box office gravy. Even with the film clearly being made on a relatively low budget,
08:11taking place primarily in just one location with just a few actors, the low worldwide total of just
08:16$3.6 million wasn't enough for it to turn a profit. Between the film targeting older audiences,
08:22Focus features rather lackluster marketing push, and many viewers now just preferring to wait for
08:27streaming for lower-budget films that they perceive as less cinematic, it unfortunately never really
08:31stood a chance.
08:322. The Northman
08:33Robert Eggers' historical epic The Northman may have only recently hit cinemas, but its opening weekend
08:38box office in the US confirms that it's going to be a commercial failure. No matter how warmly received
08:43the film was by critics, and that it scored a surprisingly not bad B-cinema score despite
08:48its surreal nature, it was always going to face an uphill struggle theatrically. With a stonking
08:53$70 million budget, or if some sources can be believed $90 million, The Northman would need to
08:59cross the $150 million mark to get anywhere close to profitability, which even with pop culture's
09:04current obsession with Vikings had zero chance of doing. As brilliant as the film is, Universal was
09:10mightily optimistic here, or some might say delusional to think that a big-budget Eggers-directed
09:15film would catch on with the mainstream. Given that his previous film The Lighthouse failed to
09:19turn a profit on a mere $11 million budget, it was undeniably wishful thinking that The
09:24Northman would be a breakout hit, even with its more accessible subject matter.
09:281. The Nighthouse
09:30Horror is one of those genres that's continued to thrive throughout the pandemic, largely because
09:34their budgets tend to be relatively low, and they typically skew towards younger audiences.
09:38Yet more artsy horror has still faced an uphill struggle, as evidenced by the brilliant Rebecca
09:44Hall starring The Nighthouse, which was dumped in 2,240 North American cinemas with minimal
09:49marketing last audiences. Despite rave reviews for Hall's superb, award-worthy performance and
09:55Dave Bruckner's tense, restrained direction, it failed to become a wider word-of-mouth hitter
09:59searchlight pictures clearly hoped, finishing at a paltry $15.5 million worldwide. Even though
10:05the film's undisclosed budget wasn't massive, it clearly wasn't super low either, and so there's
10:10no chance of it turning a profit theatrically. It also didn't help that the trailers largely sold
10:14the film as a more conventional horror flick, when it was in fact a quiet, restrained, weird type of
10:19genre offering, as surely led to it receiving a dire C-minus cinema score from audiences who felt
10:25deceived. This likely killed its word of mouth and ensured that a lot of potential customers just
10:30waited to watch it on streaming instead.
11:00night. You're not going to bomb, my friend. You're going to go out there to big box office
11:03success, you massive star. As always, I've been Jules, you have been awesome, never forget that,
11:08and I'll speak to you soon. Bye.
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