Summary

• Cult classics like The Rocky Horror Picture Show and The Princess Bride found success after initial box office disappointments.
• Underrated fantasy movies from the past like Labyrinth and Hocus Pocus gained popularity through later appreciation.
• The recent fantasy movie, Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves, became a Netflix favorite post-flop.

Fantasy is a genre rife with cult classics, meaning that there are numerous fantasy movies that bombed at the box office but made a comeback, and came to be beloved by audiences later on. Underrated fantasy movies from the 1970s and 1980s are especially common in this category, as many of them come across as tacky due to being produced before the advent of modern CGI. That is not to say that there are not some more recent fantasy movies that flopped for a variety of reasons before people discovered their merits.

Even underrated animated fantasy movies also gained more attention and praise. For a long time, fantasy was a difficult genre to integrate into highbrow entertainment due to the extensive world-building and massive production costs, while box office challenges today make things difficult for all movies. However, despite the circumstances at the time of release, some fantasy movies made surprising comebacks.

10 Labyrinth (1986)

Domestic Gross: $13.7 Million | Worldwide Total: $14.6 Million

Labyrinth has all the trappings of a standard fairy tale: a heroine who makes a wish she wants to take back, a pure evil villain, plenty of magical creatures, etc. However, Labyrinth didn't quite land with audiences back in the day. Its biggest selling point is David Bowie, which was doubtlessly the point of casting a musical star as the Goblin King. Although it has come to be considered one of the best Jim Henson creature shop movies, Labyrinth was too disconnected in comparison to the Muppets movies working with an established premise.

Arguably, Labyrinth is a better movie to watch at home anyway. The adorable Muppets-like goblins aren't nearly as terrifying as the story treats them, while Sarah's adventure is too simple to hold up in a theater. However, Labyrinth works well as an indulgent fantasy adventure where the point isn't for it to be scary but fun. It became a kind of comforting dose of nostalgia from the days of the Jim Henson golden age.

All box office information contained in this list is according to boxofficemojo.com.

9 Hocus Pocus (1993)

Domestic Gross: $49.3 Million | Worldwide Total: $50.8 Million

Hocus Pocus is also too clichéd and too wacky to serve as a huge box office success. It also came out in the summer of 1993, apparently aiming to be a summer blockbuster, which is completely incongruous with the movie's branding. Hocus Pocus' significant legacy is in being a goofy Halloween classic, and trying to hit Summerween notes didn't work for it. Once people figured out that it was perfect for the Halloween season, Hocus Pocus took off as a cult classic.

Hocus Pocus is brought out (or looked up on Disney+ nowadays) every year for Halloween parties, delighting viewers of all ages with the laugh-out-loud antics of the Sanderson sisters. The performances of the main trio are perfect, while all the most typical Halloween iconography creates an overblown holiday aesthetic. Hocus Pocus is a movie that isn't meant to be taken too seriously, which is part of the reason the sequel didn't work and Hocus Pocus 3 is a bad idea.

8 The Rocky Horror Picture Show (1975)

Domestic Gross: $113 Million | Worldwide Total: $115.7 Million

The Rocky Horror Picture Show is a bizarre, out-of-this-world experience, which is what has made it an incredible cult classic. Like many weird fantasy movies, Rocky Horror flopped when it first came out largely because it was too weird. With time, it amassed a fervent fanbase that loved it for exactly this reason, which led to interactive and theatrical screenings that are still happening today. Tim Curry's performance as Dr. Frank-N-Furter might be the only one more iconic than the Sanderson Sisters in the realm of campy horror movies.

Rocky Horror faced some challenges during the pandemic when it could not be screened at traditional cinemas.

Larushka Ivan-Zadeh recounts (via BBC) the profound history of Rocky Horror, from a forgotten musical play to a box office flop to the title that "[defines] what we mean by a ‘cult’ movie," as well as its importance to LGBTQ+ individuals and communities. Ivan-Zadeh also notes that Rocky Horror faced some challenges during the pandemic when it could not be screened at traditional cinemas. However, it is unlikely that Rocky Horror will ever fade into obscurity.

7 Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves (2023)

Domestic Gross: $93.3 Million | Worldwide Total: $208.2 Million

Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves became a Netflix favorite after its box office failure, demonstrating a just as tumultuous setting for fantasy movies in the modern day. It is definitely meant to be a comedic, enjoyable action movie that was never going to win any awards, with stars like Chris Pine, Michelle Rodriguez, and Regé-Jean Page thrown in for good measure. However, Honor Among Thieves proves that pure enjoyability isn't likely to turn a profit nowadays.

With many people expecting that Honor Among Thieves would be available streaming before too long, they likely wrote it off as not important enough to go see in theaters. With so many bad movies based on IP coming out, potential audiences had reason to believe that Honor Among Thieves wouldn't be anything special. Yet the movie has shockingly high ratings; once the price of a ticket was no longer standing in the way, Honor Among Thieves became a fan-favorite romp of D&D players and the actors' fans.

6 The Nightmare Before Christmas (1993)

Domestic Gross: $87.6 Million | Worldwide Total: $101.7 Million

The Nightmare Before Christmas was technically not a box office flop, just a disappointment to the Disney executives. With a budget of $24 million and needing to gross two and a half times that much to break even, The Nightmare Before Christmas turned a modest profit. Netflix's documentary The Movies That Made Us still characterizes this as an unremarkable opening, while widespread adoration of The Nightmare Before Christmas' aeshetics and music came later.

Disney's working relationship with Tim Burton had long been fluctuating, as executives never understood his spooky visions and shelved The Nightmare Before Christmas until Burton became very successful working with other studios. The results of The Nightmare Before Christmas arguably come down on both sides of the argument. The movie was not the massive box office hit Disney was hoping for, but they have doubtlessly made all this money back over the years through merchandise because of its incredible legacy.

5 Stardust (2007)

Domestic Gross: $38.6 Million | Worldwide Total: $137.5 Million

Stardust is nowhere near as composed or sophisticated as Coraline, the other major movie adaptation of one of fantasy legend Neil Gaiman's novels. The book Stardust is also a lot darker than the movie, delving more into the violent and sexual aspects of the story. Die-hard fans of the novel would have been disappointed by the unfaithful adaptation, while those who knew nothing about the source material probably found it cheap. At this point, high-quality CGI was present in Hollywood, but Stardust's effects look like cartoon slapstick.

Once one gets past the cheesiest parts of Stardust, it is an immensely enjoyable and even romantic movie. Robert De Niro's performance as Captain Shakespeare is a highlight that no one re him for, while the narrative plays with the conventions of the fairy tale romance in a surprisingly good way. Stardust showcases an idealized romance that is false against one that is based on unconditional love, with some beautiful settings and costumes as a backdrop.

4 Hugo (2011)

Domestic Gross: $73.8 Million | Worldwide Total: $185.8 Million

The idea of Martin Scorsese directing Hugo might have raised some eyebrows at the time. The legendary creator of crime sagas suddenly opting to adapt a whimsical classic children's novel about the history of a groundbreaking French filmmaker would have been news. It's not as though Hugo's "failure" would last for long, as once it came back around with Scorsese's usual sweep of Oscar nominations, everyone started paying attention to it.

Issues with marketing a movie that failed to appeal to all ages possibly contributed to its failure. Hugo's box office flop has also been attributed to competition with The Muppets and The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn — Part 1 (via The Los Angeles Times). It was later established by movie critics and the Academy that Hugo is a visually stunning masterpiece that tells a strong story about found family and the history of cinema, making it a success in the long run.

3 Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World (2010)

Domestic Gross: $33.4 Million | Worldwide Total: $51.7 Million

Scott Pilgrim vs. the World flopped for all the reasons that might be expected: it was too campy and too weird, full of references that only a select number of people would get and stars that were not as famous then as they are now. Lisa Laman also argues (via Collider) that marketing made the mistake of only advertising it to the nerd culture the movie most appeals to via Comic-Con rather than trying to get the word out to the rest of the public. Yet Scott Pilgrim vs. the World eventually became the emblem of nerd culture that grew beyond this demographic.

Laman also argues that as things conservatively considered to be geeky became much more popular, more people were able to enjoy the movie's references. The stars also became a lot more famous, allowing the movie to draw attention from the fans of Chris Evans, Brie Larson, Kieran Culkin, and Anna Kendrick. Scott Pilgrim vs. the World was always loved by video game, anime, and Edgar Wright fans, which allowed it to amass its cult following after its initial release until even more people came to love it.

2 Treasure Planet (2002)

Domestic Gross: $38.2 Million | Worldwide Total: $110 Million

Treasure Planet is one of Disney’s most expensive failures that exists in the same cult classic realm as The Black Cauldron — but is arguably the better movie. Treasure Planet has a strong narrative, as it is essentially Treasure Island with a more uplifting ending. The visuals are beautifully dynamic, showcasing the cosmos through which the characters sail in a setting that is technically sci-fi but is still imbued with a bit of classic Disney fantasy.

These are all things people came to love about Treasure Planet in the years after its release. However, at the time, Treasure Planet was a major box office bomb due to the expensive production costs and competition with Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets. In the post-Disney Renaissance days, the traditional 2D cell animation of Disney’s regular animated movies was struggling to keep up with Pixar turning out hit after hit, and Treasure Planet is one of the victims.

1 The Princess Bride (1987)

Domestic Gross: $30.8 Million | Worldwide Total: $31 Million

Everyone loves The Princess Bride, still held in high regard as possibly the best fantasy cult classic of all time. The plot is not that of an epic fantasy and demonstrates some confusing motivations at some points, but this is not the type of movie that needs to adhere to strict logic. Robin Wright, Cary Elwes, and Mandy Patinkin’s performances are iconic, while all the superficial elements of the story — the costumes, the jokes, and definitely the action — are completely perfect.

It is hard to imagine that this classic adventure filled with some of the most quotable lines in cinematic history was ever considered a disappointment.

It is hard to imagine that this classic adventure filled with some of the most quotable lines in cinematic history was ever considered a disappointment. When it was first released, The Princess Bride got strong reviews but was only a “modest” commercial success (via BFI). Director Rob Reiner said:

"I think we had a real marketing problem with Princess Bride. It was hard to categorise, and I think the title also scared a lot of people. It sounds like a children’s fairytale or something."

Yet The Princess Bride and many other fantasy movies rallied in years to come, when a typical theatrical release didn’t give movie fans enough time to appreciate all they had to offer.

Source: boxofficemojo.com, BBC, The Los Angeles Times, Collider, BFI