From Famous Flops To Cult Hits

[Shayn•Da•Pain]

From Famous Flops To Cult Hits: ‘Big Lebowski,’ ‘Clue’ and, Yes, ‘Citizen Kane’

By Will Leitch
http://movies.yahoo.com/blogs/the-p...ult-hits-big-lebowski-clue-yes-192920942.html

Focus Features
It was Bloody Monday for Hollywood today: Studios released four new high-profile movies over the weekend, and every single one of them flopped. "Spy Kids: All the Time in the World?" Odious! "Fright Night?" Bloodless! "Conan the Barbarian?" Vivisected! "One Day!" More like "One Dollar," are we right? Lots of carnage out there.

The studios and filmmakers behind the movies should take heart, though: Just because a movie has flopped doesn't mean it goes off to movie heaven with a harp and wings and clouds. No, some of the most beloved and lasting cult films of all time initially tanked at the box office. So take heart, Anne Hathaway: Just because no one can quite decipher your accent in "One Day" doesn't mean the movie won't live forever. (Though, seriously, it's not gonna live forever. That movie stinks.)

Here are some of the most famous cult films to start out as box office duds:

"The Big Lebowski." Finally -- finally! -- out on Blu-Ray this month, "The Big Lebowski" is one of those movies that transcend movies: Even if you've never seen it, you know almost everything about it. But of course you've seen it! Jeff Bridges is one of the most respected, beloved actors of his generation, and still, the first line of his obituary will include the word "Dude." Not that anyone noticed when the film hit theaters: Its opening weekend, it finished sixth with only $5.53 million, behind another movie called "Twilight" that you probably didn't even know existed until right now. But the Lebowski cult popped up shortly thereafter, and now not only the movie a legend, it has even inspired its own religion.

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r_GCRFRcWxA[/ame]

"Clue." The wacky comedy based on the board game has the distinct advantage of actually becoming popular because it was a flop. It barely made back its budget when released in 1985, but because of that, it was discounted when sold for home video, one of the first movies that was sold on VHS for less than the ridiculous $99.99 retail price. (Remember when VHS movies used to cost that much?) But "Clue" was such a flop in theaters that it was discounted down to $19.99, which is why so many parents across the country owned it. This was still early on in the VCR process, and "Clue" became the "Hey, I have a VCR, I should own a movie!" movie. This, strangely, kind of made it do for the VCR what "The Matrix" did for DVDs: It became the movie that helped mainstream a new technology. Also, it's funny.

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NHEpuz_gUGM[/ame]

"Office Space." We were such big "Beavis and Butt-head" fans that we actually went to see Mike Judge's comedy on the big screen, opening day. It was pretty lonely in there: The film actually finished behind the Freddie Prinze Jr. vehicle "She's All That," and that movie had been out for a month already. And even then, people only went to see it because of Jennifer Aniston. Now most people don't even remember she's in it. The movie's dialogue is now canon, from "TPS reports" to "O-face" to "Yeahhh, I'm gonna go ahead and have you come in on Saturday." It's no surprise that Hollywood didn't understand Judge's brilliant workplace satire; we working drones out there in the cubicle world, though, we got it all too well.

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ND7tU8JME_g[/ame]

"Fight Club." It seems bizarre to think a movie in which Brad Pitt spends most of the movies getting in fights, drinking heavily and having lots of sex would not have been a smash when it came out, but, mostly, people were just scared of David Fincher's film. It inspired wide protests, various cuts to avoid an X-rating and even had a Senator or two up in arms. It did so poorly at the box office that it cost a top Fox executive his job. Now, of course, every film seems pointed exactly at the young male audience that this film was made for, and obsesses over it. It did nothing for IKEA's stock, though.

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2QgFWXLN-ug[/ame]

"Citizen Kane." Believe it or not, the movie most consider the greatest American film of all time was originally thought a disaster: It did so poorly at the box office that many wondered if writer/director/star Orson Welles would ever be allowed to make a movie again. Much of this was because William Randolph Hearst, on whose life the film was based, had threatened so many journalists and studio execs that he would destroy them if they supported the film. At the Academy Awards, the film was booed every time its name was mentioned. Turns out, though, the film had a little staying power.

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zyv19bg0scg[/ame]

 

[Houston]

RKO also distributed It's a Wonderful Life.

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AXLFyONzzyw[/ame]

Opened to horrible reviews and hardly made any money.



RKO Pictures is responsible for some of the most iconic and critically acclaimed movies ever(King Kong and Citizen Kane), but they hardly made any money.
It is unique for something though. Unlike bigger companies RKO is really only associated with a few films. So many films have been distributed by Warner Brothers or Paramount that you probably couldn't even name one for certain. Anyone who has seen Citizen Kane or King Kong should instantly think of them when they see the logo.

 

 

[dell71]

Good read.

I will say one thing, though: Saying <em>The Big Lebowski</em> finished behind <em>Twilight</em> is a bit misleading. When we hear that title now everyone automatically thinks vampires, but those movies came out 10 years apart. The <em>Twilight</em> the article refers to is a thriller which was also a bomb. The reason is even did as well as it did (& better than TBL) is because it starred some big names: Paul Newman, Gene Hackman & Susan Sarandon. BTW, it also had a young Reese Witherspoon before she hit it big. Nope, didn't see it - can't tell you if its any good or not. Bridges was known & liked OK, but it wasn't like "OMG, a Jeff Bridges movie!", same for the Coens.

Speaking of Bridges, that brings me to <em>Tron</em>. Now, it's a beloved cult classic hailed as a technological leap forward. It's basically, the first mostly cgi movie. And of course, it's so loved we got a sequel almost 30 years later. Back then, audiences were lukewarm at best. The budget was a then fairly high $17 mil. It's opening weekend it did manage to finish 2nd, but it was a distant 2nd to <em>E.T.</em> making about $4.7 mil (<em>ET</em> did more than twice that and had been out for quite awhile). <em>Tron</em> was the only new movie in the top 10 that weekend and would only spend its first 3 weeks there earning about $10 mil during that stretch. However, in 1982 movies weren't immediately yanked and readied for home viewing, they lingered around in theaters for long stretches of time. As such, <em>Tron</em> would never again break $1.5 mil in a single week, but hung around long enough to earn $33 mil total.

 

[nflman2033]

Tron was shit then and shit now, no idea why the did a new one.


Donnie Darko needs some live here, opened up weekend of 911, huge cult following.

 

[Fappin Raptor]

I watched Clue for the first time last week. It wasn't my cup of tea as far as comedy. Got a few laughs out of me but overall I thought it was meh. :ionno:

 

[tigstah]

i remember clue. i dont remember how it ended, i just remember susan sarandon and the chick who played the maid, they had nice racks.

 

[BigBucs]

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EB4PmbfG4bw[/ame]

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HvXSDfC7PLc[/ame]

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Z6howjQDjA[/ame]

 

[dope]

i remember clue. i dont remember how it ended, i just remember susan sarandon and the chick who played the maid, they had nice racks.

it ends multiple ways, just like the game

 

[Warner2BruceTD]

I never understood the facination with 'The Big Lebowski'. I've tried to watch it probably a half dozen times, and I get bored every time. I hate the style and tone of the movie and just don't get it. Eh.

 

[dope]

I never understood the facination with 'The Big Lebowski'. I've tried to watch it probably a half dozen times, and I get bored every time. I hate the style and tone of the movie and just don't get it. Eh.

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=24Vlt-lpVOY[/ame]

 

[EmpireWF]

All the movies mentioned in the OP were awesome. Saw Clue when I was a kid, great stuff. Great ensemble cast and all that clue shtick.

 

[LiquidLarry2GhostWF]

I never understood the facination with 'The Big Lebowski'. I've tried to watch it probably a half dozen times, and I get bored every time. I hate the style and tone of the movie and just don't get it. Eh.

When it comes to movie taste, you have a really tiny dick.

 

[Senser81]

Clue was terrible.

Tron was a great movie. Very unique. Audiences didn't know what to make of it.

 

[LiquidLarry2GhostWF]

Clue was terrible.

Tron was a great movie. Very unique. Audiences didn't know what to make of it.

And 30 years later, they still don't...that just means its a shitty movie.

:yeah:

 

[bcransom]

I remember watching Clue on Netflix Instant like 4 years ago and being surprised at how good it was.

 

[Houston]

Never even heard of Clue:nope: will have to check out.

 

[nflman2033]

And 30 years later, they still don't...that just means its a shitty movie.

:yeah:

yeah, gotta say that I am proud to admit i don't get it then, because it was really just bad, the ultimate in style over substance film.

 

[NAHSTE]

yeah, gotta say that I am proud to admit i don't get it then, because it was really just bad, the ultimate in style over substance film.

Shut the fuck up Donny.

 

[Villain]

You can get past a guard dog but no one fucks with a lion.