The business of movies sure is a strange business alright, because while there are many films that we all just know will be massive hits long before they’re even released, every so often a film might quietly show up, make a respectable amount of bank, and then leave as sneakily as it first appeared.
Not all movies that can be called commercially successful have necessarily screamed it from the rafters, as is evidently the case with these 20 recent films, each of which achieved box office gravy without most people even noticing.
Some of these films were undeniably boosted from their international box office performance, while others were small enough that they simply didn’t have a loud enough voice to be heard over the last year’s bigger, splashier hits.
Whatever the reason, these 20 movies all turned a profit without being particularly vocal about it, and in some cases they even performed well enough that a sequel just might be on the way.
The lesson here? Even a film you thought was a flop might’ve actually been a sly hit…
There just wasn’t a whole lot of pre-release hype for the new Anaconda meta-sequel, the combined result of a mediocre marketing campaign, a release date during a crowded Christmas window, thoroughly mixed reviews, and the 1997 original’s rather middling place in general pop culture.
But it ultimately topped out at an impressive $135 million worldwide – triple its relatively modest $45 million budget, in turn performing almost exactly the same as the 1997 film did and becoming the most unexpected hit of last year’s holiday period.
Considering that Anaconda released less than a week after the far buzzier likes of Avatar: Fire and Ash and The Housemaid, its success is no mean feat.
As such, director Tom Gormican has already talked up a potential sequel, which could star Jennifer Lopez, who made a surprise cameo at the very end of the film.
It would’ve surprised few if Anaconda failed to find an audience theatrically before blowing up on streaming, but Sony managed to have their cake and eat it too here.