2000s Exploding Domestic Box Office Movie Duds
If you are an American or Canadian and saw any of these great films: You probably didn't see these films in a movie theater, as hardly anybody did. But, you likely regard them to be good enough to be worthy of the price of admission, based on your collective IMDb ratings.
When "bad" movies go onto break a $100 million or more in domestic box office receipts regularly, it is hard to fathom how these "good" films couldn't do at least a meager $2.5 million in domestic box office receipts. Despite their poor results, every one of these movies eventually found a HUGE audience. They achieved wide spread viewership through VOD, pay TV, cable TV, broadcast TV, Blu-ray/DVD/VHS, media streaming services or another type of screening. Nonetheless, you are probably like me, scratching your head and wondering why these films didn't do better at the box office.
Which of these 2000s movies*, that produced relatively meager North American ticket sales, but went on to be widely seen anyways, is your favorite of the decade? * 90,000+ IMDb votes, < $2.5m Domestic USA-Canada box office, 6.5+ IMDb user rated
Vote in the companion poll: 2010s Exploding Box Office Movie Duds
Discuss the topic here.
When "bad" movies go onto break a $100 million or more in domestic box office receipts regularly, it is hard to fathom how these "good" films couldn't do at least a meager $2.5 million in domestic box office receipts. Despite their poor results, every one of these movies eventually found a HUGE audience. They achieved wide spread viewership through VOD, pay TV, cable TV, broadcast TV, Blu-ray/DVD/VHS, media streaming services or another type of screening. Nonetheless, you are probably like me, scratching your head and wondering why these films didn't do better at the box office.
Which of these 2000s movies*, that produced relatively meager North American ticket sales, but went on to be widely seen anyways, is your favorite of the decade? * 90,000+ IMDb votes, < $2.5m Domestic USA-Canada box office, 6.5+ IMDb user rated
Vote in the companion poll: 2010s Exploding Box Office Movie Duds
Discuss the topic here.
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- DirectorRichard KellyStarsJake GyllenhaalJena MaloneMary McDonnellAfter narrowly escaping a bizarre accident, a troubled teenager is plagued by visions of a man in a large rabbit suit who manipulates him to commit a series of crimes.North American Box Office Totals: $352,411
- DirectorKinji FukasakuStarsTatsuya FujiwaraAki MaedaTarô YamamotoIn the future, the Japanese government captures a class of ninth-grade students and forces them to kill one another under the revolutionary "Battle Royale" act.North American Box Office Totals: Negligible Festival or Limited Run Box Office
- DirectorBrad AndersonStarsChristian BaleJennifer Jason LeighAitana Sánchez-GijónAn industrial worker who hasn't slept in a year begins to doubt his own sanity.North American Box Office Totals: $1,082,044
- DirectorPark Chan-wookStarsChoi Min-sikYoo Ji-taeKang Hye-jeongAfter being kidnapped and imprisoned for fifteen years, Oh Dae-Su is released, only to find that he must track down his captor in five days.North American Box Office Totals: $707,391
- DirectorMatthew VaughnStarsDaniel CraigSienna MillerMichael GambonA successful cocaine dealer gets two tough assignments from his boss on the eve of his planned early retirement.North American Box Office Totals: $2,339,957
- DirectorAamir KhanAmole GupteStarsDarsheel SafaryAamir KhanTisca ChopraAn eight-year-old boy is thought to be a lazy trouble-maker, until the new art teacher has the patience and compassion to discover the real problem behind his struggles in school.North American Box Office Totals: $1,223,869
- DirectorKurt WimmerStarsChristian BaleSean BeanEmily WatsonIn an oppressive future where all forms of feeling are illegal, a man in charge of enforcing the law rises to overthrow the system and state.North American Box Office Totals: $1,203,794
- DirectorAndrew LauAlan MakStarsAndy LauTony Leung Chiu-waiAnthony Chau-Sang WongA story between a mole in the police department and an undercover cop. Their objectives are the same: to find out who is the mole, and who is the cop.
- DirectorDavid SladeStarsPatrick WilsonElliot PageSandra OhHayley's a smart, charming teenage girl. Jeff's a handsome, smooth fashion photographer. An Internet chat, a coffee shop meet-up, an impromptu fashion shoot back at Jeff's place. Jeff thinks it's his lucky night. He's in for a surprise.North American Box Office Totals: $1,007,962
- DirectorAdam ElliotStarsToni CollettePhilip Seymour HoffmanEric BanaIn 1976 Melbourne, a lonely 8-year-old girl strikes up a correspondence with an unlikely pen pal: a severely obese 44-year-old New Yorker with Asperger's syndrome.North American Box Office Totals: Negligible Festival or Limited Run Box Office
- DirectorWilson YipStarsDonnie YenSimon YamSiu-Wong FanDuring the Japanese invasion of China, a wealthy martial artist is forced to leave his home when his city is occupied. With little means of providing for themselves, Ip Man and the remaining members of the city must find a way to survive.North American Box Office Totals: Negligible Festival or Limited Run Box Office
- DirectorJaco Van DormaelStarsJared LetoSarah PolleyDiane KrugerA boy stands on a station platform as a train is about to leave. Should he go with his mother or stay with his father? Infinite possibilities arise from this decision. As long as he doesn't choose, anything is possible.
- DirectorShane MeadowsStarsThomas TurgooseStephen GrahamJo HartleyA young boy becomes friends with a gang of skinheads. Friends soon become like family, and relationships will be pushed to the very limit.North American Box Office Totals: $329,379
- DirectorJaume BalagueróPaco PlazaStarsManuela VelascoFerran TerrazaJorge-Yamam SerranoA television reporter and cameraman follow emergency workers into a dark apartment building and are quickly locked inside with something terrifying.North American Box Office Totals: Negligible Festival or Limited Run Box Office
- DirectorNicolas Winding RefnStarsTom HardyKelly AdamsLuing AndrewsA young man who was sentenced to seven years in prison for robbing a post office ends up spending three decades in solitary confinement. During this time, his own personality is supplanted by his alter-ego, Charles Bronson.North American Box Office Totals: $104,979
- DirectorTomas AlfredsonStarsKåre HedebrantLina LeanderssonPer RagnarOskar, an overlooked and bullied boy, finds love and revenge through Eli, a beautiful but peculiar girl.North American Box Office Totals: $2,122,065
- DirectorRichard SchenkmanStarsDavid Lee SmithTony ToddJohn BillingsleyAn impromptu goodbye party for Professor John Oldman becomes a mysterious interrogation after the retiring scholar reveals to his colleagues he has a longer and stranger past than they can imagine.North American Box Office Totals: Negligible Festival or Limited Run Box Office
- DirectorLexi AlexanderStarsElijah WoodCharlie HunnamClaire ForlaniA wrongfully expelled Harvard undergrad moves to London, where he is introduced to the violent underworld of football hooliganism.North American Box Office Totals: $346,830
- DirectorMike JudgeStarsLuke WilsonMaya RudolphDax ShepardCorporal Joe Bauers, a decidedly average American, is selected for a top-secret hibernation program but is forgotten and left to awaken to a future so incredibly moronic that he's easily the most intelligent person alive.North American Box Office Totals: $444,093
- DirectorGaspar NoéStarsMonica BellucciVincent CasselAlbert DupontelEvents over the course of one traumatic night in Paris unfold in reverse-chronological order as the beautiful Alex is brutally raped and beaten by a stranger in an underpass tunnel.North American Box Office Totals: $790,925
- DirectorLars von TrierStarsWillem DafoeCharlotte GainsbourgStorm Acheche SahlstrømA grieving couple retreat to their cabin in the woods, hoping to repair their broken hearts and troubled marriage, but nature takes its course and things go from bad to worse.North American Box Office Totals: $404,122
- DirectorLars von TrierStarsNicole KidmanPaul BettanyLauren BacallA woman on the run from the mob is reluctantly accepted in a small Colorado community in exchange for labor, but when a search visits the town she finds out that their support has a price.North American Box Office Totals: $1,535,286
- DirectorRian JohnsonStarsJoseph Gordon-LevittLukas HaasEmilie de RavinA teenage loner pushes his way into the underworld of a high school crime ring to investigate the disappearance of his ex-girlfriend.North American Box Office Totals: $2,075,743
- DirectorTom TykwerStarsBen WhishawDustin HoffmanAlan RickmanJean-Baptiste Grenouille, born with a superior olfactory sense, creates the world's finest perfume. His work, however, takes a dark turn as he searches for the ultimate scent.North American Box Office Totals: $2,223,293
- DirectorTarsem SinghStarsLee PaceCatinca UntaruJustine WaddellIn 1920s Los Angeles, a bedridden patient in a hospital captivates a young girl with a fantastic tale of heroes, myths, and villains on a desert island.North American Box Office Totals: $2,260,557
- DirectorJosé PadilhaStarsWagner MouraAndré RamiroCaio JunqueiraIn 1997 Rio de Janeiro, Captain Nascimento has to find a substitute for his position while trying to take down drug dealers and criminals before the Pope visits.
- DirectorBong Joon HoStarsSong Kang-hoKim Sang-kyungKim Roe-haIn a small Korean province in 1986, two detectives struggle with the case of multiple young women being found raped and murdered by an unknown culprit.
- DirectorAshutosh GowarikerStarsAamir KhanRaghubir YadavGracy SinghThe people of a small village in Victorian India stake their future on a game of cricket against their ruthless British rulers.North American Box Office Totals: $909,043
- DirectorShane CarruthStarsShane CarruthDavid SullivanCasey GoodenFour friends/fledgling entrepreneurs, knowing that there's something bigger and more innovative than the different error-checking devices they've built, wrestle over their new invention.North American Box Office Totals: $424,760
- DirectorRakeysh Omprakash MehraStarsAamir KhanSoha Ali KhanSiddharthThe story of six young Indians who assist an English woman to film a documentary on the freedom fighters from their past, and the events that lead them to relive the long-forgotten saga of freedom.North American Box Office Totals: $2,197,694
- DirectorBong Joon HoStarsSong Kang-hoByun Hee-BongPark Hae-ilA monster emerges from Seoul's Han River and begins attacking people. One victim's loving family does what it can to rescue her from its clutches.
- DirectorJacques AudiardStarsTahar RahimNiels ArestrupAdel BencherifA delinquent Muslim man struggles to get by in prison until he is taken under the wing of a powerful mob boss. But his gradual rise through the mob's ranks brings him in conflict with his mentor.
- DirectorMichael HanekeStarsNaomi WattsTim RothMichael PittTwo psychopathic young men take a family hostage in their cabin.
- DirectorGlenn FicarraJohn RequaStarsJim CarreyEwan McGregorLeslie MannA cop turns con man once he comes out of the closet. Once imprisoned, he meets the second love of his life, whom he'll stop at nothing to be with.
- DirectorAshutosh GowarikerStarsShah Rukh KhanGayatri JoshiKishori BallalA successful Indian scientist returns to an Indian village to take his nanny to America with him and in the process rediscovers his roots.Another 2000s Exploding Box Office Duds Not Listed
Choosing From Among These Not Listed 2000's Duds: Swades (2004) $1,223,240, Triangle (2009) Negligible Festival or Limited Run Box Office, Dogtooth (2009) $110,248, and The Experiment (2001) $144,634
Pictured Example: Swades (2004) North American Box Office Totals: $1,223,240
added 01 February 2023