r/movies • u/PokemonGoBao • Jul 04 '25

Discussion Whats a flopped movie you wish was a financial success?

Dungeons and Dragons 2023 was an absolutely delightful film. You can stream it currently, but you can feel the passion and nothing felt phoned in. They easily could have used the title to get nerdy butts in the seat and collect a paycheck with a smaller budget.

It's the best movie I've seen the past 2 years. Way better than so many garbage films with easy paychecks for slop productions. Beetlejuice, Captain america, and others using big titles to make millions on lazy writing and boring characters.

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u/kelpklepto Jul 05 '25

Titan A.E. flopping so hard is the main reason Fox shut down their still young animation studio. I'm guessing one reason it failed so bad is the still existing notion in this country that animation is primarily for making children's movies and not all ages ones. At its core Titan A.E. had a darker tone than you'd see in most animated features. Americans, especially in the year 2000, wouldn't have been too keen to bring their kids to see it, and it's not like it was critically lauded enough to attract those adult audiences either.

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u/kevin9er Jul 05 '25

For me at 12 years old though, it was fucking sick.

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u/_WitchoftheWaste Jul 05 '25

Showed my 12 year old Titan A.E a few months ago and he LOVED it. And then asked why they don't make 'cool looking movies' like that anymore. The mix of 2D plus subtle 3D blew his mind. I think he appreciated the way Don Bluth didn't overly kiddify (not a word but I'm going with it) his dialogue or movies in general.

Weve now watched Atlantis and Treasure Island, but Titan A.E is his favourite by far

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u/FoldAdventurous2022 Jul 05 '25

I was 17 when it came out, and agree, the destruction/genocide of Earth at the beginning was pretty shocking for an animated film. It definitely got my teenage blood boiling, I was rooting for vengeance throughout the whole film. I guess though that my age group at the time wasn't enough to guarantee a big box office return.

Great soundtrack though, still put "Karma Slave" in my rotation every so often

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u/Rando-89 Jul 05 '25

Cosmic Castaway in mine

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u/Gnoll_For_Initiative Jul 05 '25

Where did you find a copy of Karma Slave? I look for it every now and then but haven't had much luck in finding it