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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 right now.
00:05The pandemic dealt a major blow to the box office revenues around the globe,
00:09and though the ongoing recovery is encouraging,
00:11it seems unlikely that we're ever going to fully return to the normality of 2019.
00:16These 10 films, each of them largely acclaimed by critics,
00:20all failed to make a dent with the mainstream, for a multitude of reasons.
00:23And while they may fare better on streaming,
00:25it is a damn shame that so few people shouted out to watch them on the big screen,
00:30because you know what? They absolutely deserve to do so, so much better.
00:34So, 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 from critics,
00:49with much praise for its cast, and the nuanced means through which it examined its delicate subject matter.
00:54Despite a first-rate director and an A-list cast,
00:57the film ended up tanking catastrophically at the box office,
01:00grossing less than half of initial projections on its opening weekend,
01:04and going on to nab a total of $30.6 million,
01:07a mere fraction of its hefty $100 million price tag.
01:11The Last Duel was a great movie, caught in a perfect storm of bad circumstances.
01:16Old cinemographers were still staying away from cinemas,
01:18and at a time where cinema audiences were largely craving escapist spectacle,
01:22a two-and-a-half-hour drama about sexual assault wasn't going to get many out of the house.
01:28But The Last Duel has reportedly been a solid performer on streaming, though,
01:31seemingly ensuring it's enjoying something of a second life at home.
01:359. Ambulance
01:36Michael Bay might have a reputation as one of the most prolific and commercially successful filmmakers
01:41working today, but he actually hasn't had a box office hit since 2014.
01:46Bay's new project, Ambulance, seemed like a sure thing on paper.
01:50A high-concept genre film filled with explosions, high-octane chase sequences,
01:55and awesome drone shots, and was going to be led by the beloved Jake Gyllenhaal.
01:59Hell, even with Bay's reputation for commanding massive budgets,
02:02Ambulance was made for an impressive $40 million,
02:05and in a marketplace dominated by CGI-heavy tentpoles,
02:09the presence of a more robust mid-budget action flick seemed pretty refreshing.
02:13The irony is that despite being Bay's best-reviewed film in over 25 years,
02:18Ambulance sank like a stone at the box office.
02:21In a theatrical landscape dominated by $200 million blockbusters,
02:25audiences may have taken one look at this film and decided to wait it out for streaming.
02:29Don't be shocked if it does become 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 Suicide Squad,
02:41which, 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.
02:56With a colossal $185 million budget,
02:59The 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,
03:15The Suicide Squad still performed horribly, making just $167.4 million globally.
03:21Now, compare that to Godzilla vs. Kong, which also released day and date on HBO Max,
03:26and still made $468.2 million worldwide.
03:30One oft-cited reason is, again, that the 2016 Suicide Squad simply soured people on the property,
03:36and given that 2020's Birds of Prey also tanked, the interest just wasn't there.
03:41The film was a strong performer on streaming, though,
03:43and thankfully Gunn had already shot the John Cena starring Peacemaker spin-off series
03:47before The Suicide Squad even hit cinemas.
03:49With 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
04:07which received three 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 adults and arthouse films largely struggling to find larger audiences at the box office.
04:28Yet, this admittedly isn't something new for Anderson, who has in fact only had two of his nine movies to date
04:33turn 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,
04:44ensuring its chances of immediate profitability in the pandemic landscape were always going to be extremely slim.
04:50Despite Anderson's poor commercial track record, though,
04:52studios evidently continue to work with him because the prestige and potential for Oscar nominations is definitely there.
04:596. Nightmare Alley
05:01Gilmore del Toro's new period psychological thriller Nightmare Alley was one of 2021's most unforgettable genre films,
05:08a sumptuously shot and brilliantly acted effort that received four Oscar nominations, including Best Picture.
05:14Nightmare Alley's Oscar recognition is all the more surprising given the film's atrocious box office performance,
05:19barely clawing back half its $60 million budget.
05:23The reasons for its failure are myriad, though.
05:25Older viewers' reluctance to return to cinemas, a vague marketing campaign which didn't sell the movie well,
05:30and surely, worst of all, deciding to release it on the same day as Spider-Man No Way Home.
05:36Counterprogramming can work sometimes, but not against a film as enormously hyped as No Way Home
05:41that basically everybody and their grandma wanted to see.
05:445. The Green Knight
05:46Unlike most films on this list, David Lowery's surreal fantasy epic The Green Knight
05:50didn't have a hefty budget to recoup at the box office, having been made for an impressively svelte $15 million.
05:57Yet, despite receiving rave reviews for its writing, direction, performances, and jaw-dropping production quality,
06:02the film sadly failed to break out as a larger hit.
06:05A24 boldly decided to give The Green Knight a wide theatrical release, dropping it in 2,790 North American cinemas last summer.
06:14Yet, it 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 casual audiences,
06:24it's little surprise that the film netted a dismal C-plus cinema score and quickly fell off the cliff at the box office.
06:30It also didn't help that The Green Knight ended up skipping a major theatrical release in some prominent markets,
06:35such as the UK, where it went 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,
06:45who over the last 20 years has produced just two box office underperformers, Munich and the BFG,
06:51and almost a dozen smash hits.
06:53A Spielberg-directed remake of West Side Story, one of the most iconic musicals ever,
06:58must have seemed like a financial slam dunk to 20th Century Studios when the project began filming back in the summer of 2019.
07:05But, with the pandemic pumping the brakes on adults skewing movies,
07:08and younger audiences having little to no nostalgia for the original 1961 film,
07:12West Side Story failed to turn a profit.
07:14With its massive $100 million budget and extensive marketing campaign,
07:18it likely needed to gross around $250 million in order to be a success,
07:23but ultimately didn't even crack one-third of that figure.
07:26Even with rave reviews and a mighty A cinema score,
07:29leading to seven Oscar nominations including Best Picture,
07:32this was a film that categorically failed to entice general audiences.
07:36Though West Side Story has been another strong performer on streaming,
07:39it's a shame that arguably Spielberg's best 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,
07:50The Outfit is one of 2022's most entertaining movies to date,
07:53a low-key crime drama starring Mark Rylance as a tailor who finds himself caught in a battle of wits with a group of gangsters.
08:00The film was largely praised by critics for its smart screenplay, fun plot twists, and great performances,
08:05though this sadly failed to translate into box office gravy.
08:08Even with the film clearly being made on a relatively low budget,
08:11taking place primarily in just one location with just a few actors,
08:15the low worldwide total of just $3.6 million wasn't enough for it to turn a profit.
08:20Between the film targeting older audiences,
08:22focus features rather lackluster marketing push,
08:25and many viewers now just preferring to wait for streaming for lower-budget films that they perceive as
08:29less cinematic,
08:30it unfortunately never really stood a chance.
08:322. The Northman
08:33Robert Eggers' historical epic The Northman may have only recently hit cinemas,
08:37but its opening weekend box office in the US confirms that it's going to be a commercial failure.
08:42No matter how warmly received the film was by critics,
08:45and that it scored a surprisingly not-bad B-cinema score despite its surreal nature,
08:50it was always going to face an uphill struggle theatrically.
08:52With a stonking $70 million budget, or if some sources can be believed $90 million,
08:58The Northman would need to cross the $150 million mark to get anywhere close to profitability,
09:03which even with pop culture's current obsession with Vikings had zero chance of doing.
09:07As brilliant as the film is, Universal was mightily optimistic here,
09:11or some might say delusional to think that a big-budget Eggers-directed film
09:15would catch on with the mainstream.
09:17Given that his previous film, The Lighthouse, failed to turn a profit on a mere $11 million budget,
09:21it was undeniably wishful thinking that The Northman would be a breakout hit,
09:25even 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,
09:34largely because their budgets tend to be relatively low,
09:36and they typically skew towards younger audiences.
09:39Yet more artsy horror has still faced an uphill struggle,
09:42as evidenced by the brilliant Rebecca Hall starring The Nighthouse,
09:45which was dumped in 2,240 North American cinemas with minimal marketing last audiences.
09:51Despite rave reviews for Hall's superb, award-worthy performance
09:54and Dave Bruckner's tense, restrained direction,
09:57it failed to become a wider word-of-mouth hitter searchlight pictures clearly hoped,
10:01finishing at a paltry $15.5 million worldwide.
10:05Even though the film's undisclosed budget wasn't massive,
10:07it clearly wasn't super low either,
10:09and so there's no chance of it turning a profit theatrically.
10:12It also didn't help that the trailers largely sold the film as a more conventional horror flick,
10:16when it was in fact a quiet, restrained, weird type of genre offering,
10:20as surely led to it receiving a dire C-minus cinema score from audiences who felt deceived.
10:26This likely killed its word of mouth,
10:28and ensured that a lot of potential customers just waited to watch it on streaming instead.
10:32And there we go, my friends, those were 10 awesome recent movies that didn't deserve to bomb.
10:36I hope that you enjoyed that,
10:37and please let me know what you thought about it down in the comments section below.
10:40As always, I've been Jules,
10:41you can go follow me over on Twitter at RetroJay with a zero,
10:44or you can swing by Liv and Let's Dice,
10:46where I do all of my streaming outside of work,
10:48and it'd be great to see you over there, my friends.
10:50But before I go,
10:51I hope you're treating yourself with love and respect, my friend,
10:53because you deserve all of the best things in life,
10:55like love, happiness, and success.
10:57And don't let anyone or anything else tell you otherwise, alright?
11:00You're not going to bomb, my friend.
11:01You're going to go out there to big box office success, you massive star.
11:05As always, I've been Jules.
11:06You have been awesome.
11:07Never forget that.
11:08And I'll speak to you soon.
11:09Bye.
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