Posted 26 minutes agoSubscribe to Screen Time NewsletterCaret Down16 Movies Everyone Thought Would Be Total Flops, But Became Unexpected HitsWDYM Titanic was expected to be a flop?by Tanishtha KotianBuzzFeed StaffFacebookPinterestLink Did you know Titanic was originally expected to be a massive flop? I certainly didn't. And honestly, I've never understood why so many films that later became cinematic icons were first predicted to be box-office disasters. It's wild how often history's most beloved movies started out with expectations that they would just not do good. Tap to play GIF Tap to play GIF The Office / Via giphy.com Since I already found out about this, I decided to delve in deeper and see which other favorite movies of all time everyone thought would bomb at the box office-and I did not see some of these coming! Here are 16 films that everyone thought would utterly fail but turned out to be MAJOR successes: 1. Iron Man, 2008 Marvel Entertainment / IMDB The now iconic film by Marvel Studios was first met with widespread uncertainty over a number of factors. Firstly, the character of Iron Man himself was lacking household recognition among fans and within the industry itself. Moreover, the extravagant budget seemed to be higher in comparison to the expected box office returns-this definitely had people not too convinced of the film. However, the major cause of uncertainty was the casting of Robert Downey Jr. as Iron Man. Given his troubled past in the news, his casting as the iconic superhero in a lead role posed a significant risk in the eyes of the studio. But nonetheless, Iron Man was an overwhelming success, collecting over $585 million at the box office-a brilliant start to the Marvel Cinematic Universe. 2. Pirates of the Caribbean: Curse of the Black Pearl, 2003 Walt Disney Films / IMDB Given the fact that the Pirates of the Caribbean originated from a Disney World ride, it definitely faced challenges in the adaptation process with regards to the plot and character inspiration. Although studio executives were not convinced with Johnny Depp playing the titular character of Captain Jack Sparrow, once cast, the character struck a chord with the audiences, marking Sparrow an iconic film character universally. At the box office, the film defied expectations and grossed over $600 million worldwide, paving the way for the iconic pirates franchise. 3. 21 Jump Street, 2012 Columbia Pictures / IMDB The revival of 21 Jump Street was not seen as a great idea at the time, and the announcement was met with skepticism across Hollywood. Channing Tatum, who had made a name for himself as the new heartthrob for teenage girls, was not seen as a comedy actor just yet-even if he were to be paired with Jonah Hill.
On the contrary, however, the film went on to become a cult classic comedy film of the '00s. The response encouraged the studios to produce a sequel-both films would earn over $500 million at the box office. 4. Elf, 2003 New Line Cinema / IMDB The role which was originally meant for Jim Carrey was given to Will Ferrell. Given that most of his comedic work revolved around Saturday Night Live and his Night At The Roxbury was not much of a success, he was not considered a safe choice. It is safe to say, however, that Ferrell proved everyone wrong, with Elf paving the way for more comedic cult classic films in his career, such as Anchorman and Step Brothers. Elf to date remains a beloved Christmas comedy classic. 5. Batman, 1989 Warner Bros / IMDB Nobody at the time thought that a dark, gritty, and noir version of the caped crusader would work with audiences. Batman was seen as a relic of the '60s. After Michael Uslan acquired the movie rights to Batman in 1979, it took a decade for the movie to get made. But that was not the only issue; when Tim Burton cast Michael Keaton as Batman, fans revolted, with over 50,000 protest letters flooding Warner Bros. But the letters clearly did nothing, as the film went on to earn $401 million worldwide, silencing all the skeptics and critics. 6. Jaws, 1975 Universal Pictures / IMDB The skepticism that came towards the film was around the rookie director at the time, Steven Spielberg. Even though he did not have a single successful film before Jaws, the studios gave the green light to film, which came as a surprise. Even with the mechanical shark posing problems during filming and adding to production costs, the film was on. And of course, it smashed box office records-grossing over $480 million worldwide-and would go on to become an important film in the history of pop culture. 7. The Guardians of the Galaxy, 2014 Marvel Studios / IMDB In 2014, this film was seen as a footnote to Marvel Comics, not that important as compared to the Avengers. When Marvel Studios announced a film adaptation, people were ready to see the studio's first big failure. And it wasn't just the fans but also the people making the film. Both the director, James Gunn, and the actor, Chris Pratt, were af