2023 is the year of box office bombs, but these movies became huge hits on Netflix and easily rose to the streaming service’s top 10.
Summary
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Despite being a box office failure, films like Morbius and 65 were successful on Netflix and became overnight hits, offering a second chance to win over audiences.
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Netflix’s huge subscriber base offers a potential audience much larger than that of movie theaters, allowing quality movies to find a fan base and achieve newfound fame.
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Although these films performed poorly at the box office, their success on Netflix’s top 10 list indicates their popularity and ability to resonate with audiences.
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The 2023 film landscape has become known for its surprising number of box office flops, but these flops later became Netflix smash hits. Since the streamer has over 200 million subscribers, it can do wonders for a movie and its studio, including turning a box office disaster into an overnight success. That’s exactly what happened with morbium in 2022. Additionally, it has succeeded in reviving interest in obscure decade-old flops like Dredd. Although a box office bomb was once considered devastating for a studio, Netflix is giving movies a second chance to win over audiences.
Taking into account marketing costs and movie theaters cutting ticket sales, movies typically need to earn 2.5 times their budget at the box office to break even. Unfortunately, these films weren’t even close, and most of them lost their studios tens of millions of dollars. However, Netflix gave the movies another chance to find their audience. The streamer is a platform with a much larger potential audience than multiplexes can offer, so quality films are sure to find a fan base of sorts. When a movie enters Netflix’s weekly top 10, it’s obviously a good sign of its newfound fame.
7 love again
Love again It follows a woman who sends messages to her deceased fiancé’s phone, only to fall in love with the respondent. The film grossed $12.6 million worldwide on a $9 million budget (via Box office mojo). According to the 2.5 rule, the 2023 film would have lost around $10 million, which really isn’t much compared to big-budget films. The movie has a very made-for-Netflix feel, and the Hallmark-type romantic drama fits well with Netflix original movies, which might explain why. Love again found more success on the streamer than it ever did in theaters. However, to be fair, the film didn’t stand a chance against Guardians of the Galaxy vol. 3.
6 65
While the year 2023 could have had a lot of bombs, Sixty-five Unfortunately, the trend of Sony’s failures at the beginning of the year continues. Like morbium in 2022, Sixty-five flopped at the box office, earning just $60 million against a $45 million budget (via box office mojo) despite a high concept. Adam Driver stars Sixty-five as an alien who travels to Earth 65 million years ago and takes on the dinosaurs with his advanced weapons. Critics found the film too confusing and disappointing, but Sixty-five found its audience on Netflix. Sixty-five topped the US Netflix chart in July, once again following it in morbium‘Steps.
5 The tutor
Psychological thriller The tutor It follows a tutor who takes a job at a remote mansion, only to discover that his students could expose his darkest secrets.The tutor was released in theaters in March 2024, but there is no information about the box office revenue of the film, which is a strong indicator that the performance was not good. That’s not a huge surprise given that the 2023 film was received negatively and is in a “rotten“18% on Rotten Tomatoes. However, the 2023 film peaked at #7 on the Netflix charts for one week in July, and The tutor The twist ending alone makes the movie worth watching.
4 Big George Foreman
Sports biographical films about famous people are usually very successful at the box office, but Big George Foreman He is one of the few that bombed. The film had a budget of $35 million and grossed a minuscule $6 million at the box office (via Box office mojo), which represents a loss of up to 80 million dollars. The film’s failure is mainly due to poor marketing and negative reception, as the film was criticized for being too ordinary for such a big personality and for making too many changes to George Foreman’s career. Even so, when Big George Foreman was available on Netflix, it jumped straight to #5 on the charts.
3 The son
The son is technically classified as a 2022 film because it premiered at the Venice International Film Festival in September 2022. But the film was released widely in early 2023. Despite starring Hugh Jackman, an actor who has helped earn billions of dollars during the twentieth film. Century Studios, the film earned an unimaginably low total of $3.6 million worldwide (via Box office mojo). When a film is released months before its general release, it is usually a sign of confidence from the studio, since months of word of mouth will be great marketing in itself. Unfortunately, Children The release in September 2022 had the opposite effect.
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The film starring Hugh Jackman is another Sony film that flopped due to overwhelmingly negative reception. The son it has only a 29% on Rotten Tomatoes and was criticized for being too melodramatic. The film also didn’t have much competition at the box office, as the only other film it shared Children the release date was the horror movie Missing, which was not an overwhelming success. However, despite its reception, Netflix still gave The son a platform where the film became a hit of sorts. The film peaked at No. 4 on the Netflix charts in May.
2 Mob Mom
mafia mom was such a big box office bomb that it went unnoticed, and movie pundits zeroed in on another notable bomb the same weekend. The film shared its release date with Renfield, a box office bomb that was talked about endlessly due to the film’s budget and high concept. However, while that was happening, the action comedy starring Toni Collette mafia momwhich follows a woman who discovers her grandmother is a mafia boss, made just $6 million worldwide (via Box office mojo) with a budget of 41 million dollars. mafia mom It finally found some level of popularity in July, as it managed to crack Netflix’s top 10 charts for a week.
1 Miraculous: Ladybug and Cat Noir: The Movie
Miraculous: Ladybug and Cat Noir: The Movie is a French animated film about two superheroes who protect Paris. Given that the film is based on a French intellectual property that is unknown in English-speaking territories, it is no surprise that the film failed to even recoup its budget. The wordy and confusing title would probably also have been off-putting to potential audiences. The 2023 film didn’t even come close to meeting its $86 million budget, as Miraculous earned just $34 million (via Box office mojo). However, the film remained on Netflix’s charts for two weeks in July and August, achieving an impressive feat in the process.
Sources: Box Office Mojo, Rotten Tomatoes, Netflix.