4 Box Office Flops You Skipped That Are Actually Great Films
When a movie tanks, we blame the movie. Often fair. Sometimes flat-out wrong. From cult classics to ambitious risks, history is full of great films that bombed at the box office—and deserve a second look.
Box office math is brutal. Sometimes a turkey earns what it earns. But every now and then, audiences shrug at a legitimately great movie and leave it to die in the theater. Here are four infamous faceplants that actually rule — and where to watch them now.
Ali (2001)
Long before his eventual Best Actor win, Will Smith turned in one of his finest performances playing Muhammad Ali — and got an Oscar nomination for it. The movie didn’t land with ticket buyers at the time, but critics weren’t wrong: Smith is terrific, and Jon Voight nabbed a Supporting Actor nomination for his uncanny Howard Cosell.
Instead of a cradle-to-grave approach, the film zeroes in on the most defining stretch of Ali’s life: his embrace of Islam and rejection of the name Cassius Clay Jr., the standoff with the draft that knocked him off the mountaintop, and the climb back culminating in the Rumble in the Jungle against George Foreman (played by Charles Shufford) for the heavyweight crown. Jada Pinkett Smith also shows up as Ali’s first wife, Sonji Roi. Undersold then, still potent now.
Where to watch: Ali is available to rent or buy on Prime Video.
John Carter (2012)
Disney wanted a franchise, and on paper it made sense. The source material — Edgar Rice Burroughs’ A Princess of Mars — helped shape decades of sci-fi, from Flash Gordon to Star Wars. Andrew Stanton, fresh off Pixar glory, made his live-action debut with a massive budget and plans for multiple sequels. Then the box office cratered and those plans went poof.
Which is a shame, because the movie’s fun. Taylor Kitsch gives John Carter some scrappy charm as a former Confederate officer yanked to Mars (called Barsoom by the locals), where multiple factions are fighting for control. He’s drawn to Dejah Thoris (Lynn Collins), a warrior-princess determined to save her people. Is it pulpy? Absolutely. But it’s also big-hearted, weird in the right ways, and better than its reputation.
Where to watch: John Carter is streaming on Disney+.
Tomorrowland (2015)
Brad Bird used his Pixar clout (The Incredibles, Ratatouille) to turn Disneyland’s Tomorrowland into a movie with its own mythology and, ideally, a franchise runway. It didn’t catch. Maybe the marketing, maybe the timing, maybe audiences weren’t in the mood for optimism — but the movie itself has plenty to like.
George Clooney plays Frank Walker, a once-brilliant tinkerer who got invited to a parallel world built by the best minds on Earth — and later exiled from it. In the present, he’s dragged back into the fight by Casey Newton (Britt Robertson), a curious optimist who believes Tomorrowland isn’t just real, it might be the key to saving the world. It’s earnest, hopeful sci-fi delivered with Bird’s clean action sense. Not enough people showed up. They should have.
Where to watch: Tomorrowland is streaming on Disney+.
The Last Duel (2021)
This one wasn’t just a miss; it was a wipeout: roughly $30 million worldwide on a $100 million budget, before marketing. Ridley Scott adapts Eric Jager’s nonfiction book about a real 14th-century trial by combat between former friends Sir Jean de Carrouges (Matt Damon ) and Jacques le Gris (Adam Driver ). The spark: Marguerite de Carrouges (Jodie Comer) accuses le Gris of rape.
The film unfolds in three chapters — Jean’s version, Jacques’ version, and finally Marguerite’s — and their perspectives diverge in ways that matter. The outcome isn’t just about pride or property; if Jean loses the duel, Marguerite’s life is at stake. It’s sharp, angry, and meticulously staged. The theatrical run did it no favors, but at home it plays like the heavyweight it is.
Where to watch: The Last Duel is streaming on Hulu.