10 Great Movies Of The 21st Century That Were Box Office Flops

10. Popstar: Never Stop Never Stopping (2016)

Created by the musical comedy trio The Lonely Island, this hilarious mockumentary perfectly skewered the modern music industry and celebrity culture. It features a relentless joke density and incredibly catchy, highly absurd original songs. Unfortunately, the title was heavily mocked, and audiences simply did not show up to theaters for a comedy that felt like an extended Saturday Night Live digital short, cementing it as one of the most underrated comedies of the decade.

9. Dredd (2012)

This gritty, ultra-violent adaptation of the iconic British comic book completely wiped the bad taste of the 1995 Sylvester Stallone version out of fans' mouths. Karl Urban perfectly captured the stoic, uncompromising nature of the titular Judge in a tight, highly efficient action thriller set inside a single mega-apartment block. Despite glowing reviews for its fantastic action and spectacular 3D effects, awful marketing completely doomed its box office potential.

8. Sunshine (2007)

Directed by Danny Boyle and written by Alex Garland, this tense sci-fi thriller follows a crew of astronauts attempting to reignite a dying sun with a massive nuclear bomb. The film perfectly blends the psychological dread of isolation with awe-inspiring visuals of space. However, a jarring, highly controversial genre shift in the third act and a virtually nonexistent marketing campaign caused it to completely slip under the radar of mainstream moviegoers.

7. The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford (2007)

This sweeping, deeply melancholic revisionist Western features incredible performances from Brad Pitt and Casey Affleck, alongside some of the most beautiful cinematography of the decade by Roger Deakins. However, the studio had absolutely no idea how to market a slow-burning, highly poetic psychological drama. It was released in an incredibly crowded fall season, barely made a dent at the box office, and was quickly pulled from theaters despite glowing reviews.

6. Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World (2003)

Starring Russell Crowe as a British naval captain during the Napoleonic Wars, this epic is a masterclass in historical accuracy, sound design, and practical effects. It is a thrilling, highly sophisticated adventure film that earned 10 Academy Award nominations. Unfortunately, its massive $150 million production budget meant it needed to be a colossal, Pirates of the Caribbean-level hit to break even, which its slower, more methodical pacing simply could not achieve.

5. Scott Pilgrim vs. the World (2010)

Edgar Wright’s brilliant, kinetic adaptation of the beloved graphic novel is a massive love letter to video games, indie rock, and comic books. The incredibly unique visual style and fast-paced editing were universally praised by critics, but the marketing completely failed to explain what the movie actually was to general audiences. It opened against The Expendables and was instantly crushed, though it almost immediately found a massive, fiercely dedicated cult following on DVD.

4. Annihilation (2018)

Directed by Alex Garland, this deeply unsettling, visually beautiful sci-fi horror film follows a group of female scientists entering a rapidly expanding, alien quarantine zone known as "The Shimmer." The studio lost faith in the movie after test screenings deemed it "too intellectual" and "too complicated." As a result, it received a highly limited theatrical release in the US before being unceremoniously dumped onto Netflix internationally, guaranteeing its status as a box office flop.

3. The Nice Guys (2016)

Shane Black’s neon-soaked, 1970s detective comedy features some of the best comedic chemistry of the decade between Ryan Gosling and Russell Crowe. The incredibly sharp script and hilarious physical comedy should have made it a massive hit, but it was unfortunately released on the exact same weekend as Neighbors 2 and The Angry Birds Movie. It was completely buried at the box office, robbing fans of what could have been a brilliant comedy franchise.

2. Children of Men (2006)

Alfonso Cuarón’s dystopian thriller is widely considered one of the greatest films of the 21st century, famous for its breathtaking, visceral single-take action sequences. Set in a bleak future where humanity has become completely infertile, it follows a cynical bureaucrat (Clive Owen) tasked with protecting the first pregnant woman in 18 years. Despite its incredible technical achievements and terrifyingly prescient themes, the bleak marketing and heavy subject matter kept audiences away.

1. Blade Runner 2049 (2017)

Following up Ridley Scott’s legendary 1982 sci-fi noir was an incredibly daunting task, but director Denis Villeneuve delivered a visually staggering, philosophical masterpiece. Despite universal critical acclaim and winning two Academy Awards (including Best Cinematography for Roger Deakins), the film’s massive $150 million budget and nearly three-hour runtime alienated mainstream audiences. It was simply too slow and highly cerebral to compete as a standard blockbuster, resulting in a massive financial loss for the studio.