90s movies that absolutely bombed initially – before becoming massive cult hits

While Hocus Pocus is now a Halloween classic, and a seasonal tradition for many families, when it was first released in 1993, it failed to deliver against its $28 million budget. The film stars Bette Midler, Sarah Jessica Parker and Kathy Najimy as three witches resurrected in modern-day Salem, but its untimely summer release meant that it failed to attract audiences.   

Its release on home video and television, however, gave the film a new lease of life as a Halloween (and cult) hit. In fact, the film has had such enduring success that a sequel was made some thirty years on, with Disney releasing Hocus Pocus 2 in 2022.  

Dazed and Confused is now a firm cult classic, but when it was first released in 1993 the film only made $8.4 million against a budget of $6.4 million; its lack of conventional plot made it difficult to market. 

It wasn't until the film, starring Jason London, Matthew McConaughey, and Ben Affleck, was released on home video that it had a second chance, with audiences only then beginning to appreciate its soundtrack and nostalgia.

In 2015, The Shawshank Redemption was voted as 'Britain's favourite film,' however, when it was released more than twenty years earlier in 1994, the now-cult-classic failed to attract audiences. The film stars Tim Robbins and Morgan Freeman and, despite seven Oscar nominations, only grossed $28.9 million against its $25 million budget.  Its initial lack of success is commonly seen as due to its long runtime (almost two and a half hours) as well as competition from other more conventional blockbuster films including Pulp Fiction and Forrest Gump.   

Yet despite initial box office disappointment, upon being released on home video, it soon became 1995's most rented video title. 

Directed by Paul Verhoeven and starring Elizabeth Berkley, Kyle MacLachlan, and Gina Gershon, Showgirls fell $7 million short of its $45 million budget at the box office. When the film was released in 1995, it received scathing reviews, often due to its nudity and controversial subject matter.   

Like many of the movies on this list, its cult turn came with its release on home media and video rentals in the late 1990s and 2000s; the film made $100 million in the United States and became one of MGM's best home releases.  

With a star-studded cast featuring A-listers like Brad Pitt, Helena Bonham Carter and Edward Norton, it's hard to believe that Fight Club would have ever been anything but a hit. But when the movie, directed by David Fincher, was released in 1999 it only grossed $37 million against its $63 million budget.   

The movie's upturn only came upon its release on DVD, selling over $6 million worth of copies in its first ten years, making it one of 20th Century Fox's largest selling home-media titles. The film has now made over $55 million in video and DVD rentals, proving that a box office failure can still become a cult hit.  

Office Space is a workplace satire featuring Ron Livingston, Jennifer Aniston and Gary Cole. Its unconventional humour, however, failed to excite audiences at cinemas, making an estimated $12 million against a $10 million budget at the box office. 

It was only later, when the film became available to rent on home video and was broadcast on Comedy Central, that audiences began to appreciate the film's dry humour.