While there's nothing wrong with enjoying hundreds of million dollars in worldwide gross from a movie, big numbers do not always equal quality. Sometimes, a movie might flunk so hard at the box office and fail to perform commercially, but it becomes a cult classic or a sleeper hit for years and years.
That said, reviewing box office figures should not be the sole testament to a movie's quality. From The Room, the worst movie ever made that we ironically enjoy, to The Shawshank Redemption, a movie that almost failed because of its "unmemorable" title, here are some box offices flops that became cult classics.
10 'The Room'
The Room is a prime example of how a low-budget Z-movie could be so bad it's good. The movie barely grossed more than $2,000 by the time of its release, but after word spread, it became a cult classic for its bizarre, chaotic, and unconventional scriptwriting and storytelling. The actor himself, Tommy Wiseau, has his story written in a book, The Disaster Artist: My Life Inside The Room, the Greatest Bad Movie Ever Made.
9 'Donnie Darko'
Nostalgia also plays a strong element in gaining a cult following, and that's what Donnie Darko excelled at. Its retro aesthetic and nostalgic pastiche, plus controversial advertisement featuring a crashing plane amidst the height of the 9/11 attack, heavily affected its commercial performance.
However, after its release on home video in March 2002, Donnie Darko soon attracted a well-devoted fanbase and became one of the most well-known examples of cult-classic.
8 'The Warriors'
The Warriors takes you on a journey of a New York City gang who must travel 30 miles (48 km) from the Bronx to their home turf after being framed for an assassination they didn't commit. The movie was halted from advertising following reports of vandalism and violence that were allegedly inspired by it.
Years later, The Warriors emerged as a cult classic and even gained a video game adaptation from Rockstar, the developers of the infamous Grand Theft Auto franchise.
7 'Fight Club'
Although Fight Club did elevate David Fincher and Brad Pitt's career to a whole new level, it did not start that way. The reason it flopped so hard was the creative differences of advertising between Fincher, the director, and 20th Century Fox as the publisher. For $65 million spent on the movie, Fight Club only opened to $11 million in the U.S. box office. Its DVD release established the movie as a cult classic.
6 'Office Space'
Office Space's transformation from a midnight, black-comedy movie to a cult classic is inspired by how the director pushed the limit in satirizing white-collar's everyday work in a typical mid-to-late-1990s software company. The movie, which has also generated some internet memes over the years, starred the likes of Jennifer Aniston, Roy Livingston, Gary Cole, and many more.
5 'Cry-Baby'
There's also the term, "B movie," used to describe low-budget movies. However, the term has simply blurred with C and Z movies in recent years. One of the prime examples is Johnny Depp's Cry-Baby in 1990, which grossed only $8 million out of a $12 million budget. It's become a sleeper hit and a cult classic and even spawned a Broadway musical that gained four Tony Awards nominations.
4 'Cannibal Holocaust'
The exploitative cannibalism genre rose to its prominence in the 1970s and the 1980s. One of the most prominent titles to be released during the time period is Cannibal Holocaust by Italian filmmaker Ruggero Deodato. The movie chronicles a rescue team in search of a crew of filmmakers who had gone missing while filming a local cannibal tribe.
Thanks to its notoriety and its graphic violence, Cannibal Holocaust attracted controversies and cult following from horror fans at the same time. The director even faced several charges due to a rumor that the actors' deaths on the camera were real.
3 'The Shawshank Redemption'
The Shawshank Redemption may be seen as one of the best movies of all time now, but that wasn't the case 20-years-ago. It may not have been a massive box office hit, despite its star-studded cast, but the film's cultural impact was undeniable. In 2015, the United States Library of Congress even placed the movie in the National Film Registry for being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant."
2 'The Human Centipede'
Another movie that gained notoriety for its over-the-top violent scenes, Tom Six-directed The Human Centipede (First Sequel) rose to cult status in 2009 and 2010 after several clips of the movie surfaced online.
1 'Birdemic: Shock and Terror'
Lastly, there's Birdemic: Shock and Terror, another poorly-edited "so bad that it's so good" movie. As the title of the movie suggests, it centers around two lovers amidst the catastrophe incident where birds attack their city. Its bland dialogue, amateurish sounding and editing, and physically awkward body movements are what makes the movie so memorable. It's a must-watch cult hit for bad movie lovers.