History AndYouThoughtItWouldFail / LiveActionFilm

* ''Film/RedWhiteAndRoyalBlue'': While it was obvious at least some people would watch the movie, considering that the book it was adapted from was a major hit, there was some wariness about just how good it was going to be. Considering how common it is for romance novels adaptations to be phoned in cash grabs, and how the two leads had a spotty history with romance adaptations (having starred in controversial romances like ''Film/TheKissingBooth'' and ''Film/PurpleHearts2022''), fans of the book and the general public ended up very pleasantly surprised with an overall very sweet adaptation that kept the tone and atmosphere of the book, helped by excellent performances all around (most notably Creator/UmaThurman in a pitch-perfect performance as President Ellen Claremont) and truly fantastic chemistry between the leads. Thanks to this, the film was a massive hit for Amazon Prime.

* ''Film/RedWhiteAndRoyalBlue'': While it was obvious at least some people would watch the movie, considering that the book it was adapted from was a major hit, there was some wariness about just how good it was going to be. Considering how common it is for romance novels adaptations to be phoned in cash grabs, and how the two leads had a spotty history with romance adaptations (having starred in controversial romances like ''Film/TheKissingBooth'' and ''Film/PurpleHearts2022''), fans of the book and the general public ended up very pleasantly surprised with an overall very sweet adaptation that kept the tone and atmosphere of the book, helped by excellent performances all around and truly fantastic chemistry between the leads. Thanks to this, the film was a massive hit for Amazon Prime.

* ''Film/SoundOfFreedom'' is a very strange one. The movie deals with a very difficult subject matter which is made even more difficult with the rise of conspiracy theories around the subject matter, which both the real life Timothy Ballard and the actor who portrays him (Creator/JimCaviezel) peddle in. The movie was supposed to be released in 2019, but it was shelved for years before the creators got the rights to the film back and got Angel Films to release it on July 4, 2023. Somehow, the film ended up becoming a SleeperHit, earning back its $14 million budget three times over, holding out against ''Film/MissionImpossibleDeadReckoningPartOne'' and even improving against highly anticipated films ''Film/{{Barbie|2023}}'' and ''Film/{{Oppenheimer}}''. Of course, there are accusations of the box office numbers being inflated as videos of seemingly sold out showings actually having no one watching surfaced.

** Fans thought that the seventh follow-up, ''Film/{{Creed|2014}}'', was completely unnecessary because the previous entry wrapped everything up nicely. In addition, audiences and Stallone himself hated [[Film/RockyV the last film]] that had Rocky as a mentor, so nobody thought a second attempt at that would work. ''Creed'' managed to gain even more critical acclaim than ''Rocky Balboa'', turned in a respectable profit, and brought Stallone both a Golden Globe win and an Oscar nomination for his supporting role. It even had its [[Film/CreedII own]] [[Film/CreedIII sequels.]]

* ''Film/{{Sonic the Hedgehog|2020}}'' had a ''massive'' uphill battle against it. For starters, it's a LiveActionAdaptation of a video game series (which [[VideoGameMoviesSuck hasn't had a great track record]]) of a character that, while still fairly popular, is way past his heyday. Then the project suffered a ChannelHop that saw the rights going from Sony to Paramount. And then the previews came out, with the first posters and trailers revealing an UnintentionalUncannyValley humanoid design that horrified fans, non-fans, and Sonic's own creators, leading to a vocal backlash. To everyone's surprise, Paramount actually ''delayed'' the movie to February 2020 from its initial November 2019 release date to modify Sonic's design. When the second trailer dropped, revealing Sonic's new design, everyone greatly approved of it. And then the movie actually had surprisingly decent reviews and adoration from audiences, also breaking the video game movie curse by having the best opening of the genre (over $110 million worldwide over President's Day weekend, about $70 million domestically, surpassing ''Film/PokemonDetectivePikachu''). By March 15th, it had made over $300 million globally and $145 million domestically, becoming the highest-grossing video game movie ever in the latter category. And this was without the aid of neither Japan ''nor'' China, both countries having to delay their movie premieres due to the UsefulNotes/COVID19Pandemic. And that's before [[Film/SonicTheHedgehog22022 a sequel]] two years later performed even better!

** Fans thought that the seventh follow-up, ''Film/{{Creed}}'', was completely unnecessary because the previous entry wrapped everything up nicely. In addition, audiences and Stallone himself hated [[Film/RockyV the last film]] that had Rocky as a mentor, so nobody thought a second attempt at that would work. ''Creed'' managed to gain even more critical acclaim than ''Rocky Balboa'', turned in a respectable profit, and brought Stallone both a Golden Globe win and an Oscar nomination for his supporting role. [[Film/CreedII It even had its own sequel.]]

* ''Film/MadMaxFuryRoad'' was an R-rated summer blockbuster that was [[SequelGap a revival of a franchise that hadn't seen a movie in three decades]] and was regarded as an aged product restricted to TheEighties. It had also spent ages in DevelopmentHell and had a notoriously TroubledProduction that included losing Creator/MelGibson, plus tension between Creator/TomHardy and fellow star Creator/CharlizeTheron and director, Creator/GeorgeMiller. The fact that it was described as a film-long chase sequence did not raise hopes. On release, it became a box office success, a cultural sensation, and one of the most critically acclaimed films of 2015, praised for its incredible action and near peerless storytelling. The praise and enthusiasm from critics and the public lasted all the way to the end of the year, [[OutOfTheGhetto becoming surprisingly one of the biggest award season contenders]], eventually getting ten Oscar nominations including unheard of nominations for Best Picture and Best Director. It ended up winning six, nearly sweeping the technical categories -- even outclassing ''Film/TheForceAwakens''.

* ''Film/RedWhiteAndRoyalBlue'': People were certain some would watch the movie, considering how much of a smash hit the book which it is adapted from is based, but people had some reluctance about the quality of the movie, considering how common it is for romance novels adaptations to be phoned in cash grabs, and how the two leads had a spotty history with romance adaptations; having starred in controversial romances like ''Film/TheKissingBooth'' and ''Film/PurpleHearts2022''. fans of the book and the general public ended up very pleasantly surprised with an overall very sweet adaptation that kept the tone and atmosphere of the book, as well as the great chemistry between leads. The movie was one of the most watched on Prime thanks to it.

* ''Film/{{Sonic the Hedgehog|2020}}'' had a ''massive'' uphill battle against it. For starters, it's a LiveActionAdaptation of a video game series (which [[VideoGameMoviesSuck hasn't had a great track record]]) of a character that, while still fairly popular, is way past his heyday. Then the project suffered a ChannelHop that saw the rights going from Sony to Paramount. And then the previews came out, with the first posters and trailers revealing an UnintentionalUncannyValley humanoid design that horrified fans, non-fans, and Sonic's own creators, leading to a vocal backlash. To everyone's surprise, Paramount actually ''delayed'' the movie to February 2020 from its initial November 2019 release date to modify Sonic's design. When the second trailer dropped, revealing Sonic's new design, everyone greatly approved of it. And then the movie actually had surprisingly decent reviews and adoration from audiences, also breaking the video game movie curse by having the best opening of the genre (over $110 million worldwide over President's Day weekend, about $70 million domestically, surpassing ''Film/PokemonDetectivePikachu''). By March 15th, it had made over $300 million globally and $145 million domestically, becoming the highest-grossing video game movie ever in the latter category. And this was without the aid of neither Japan ''nor'' China, both countries having to delay their movie premieres due to the UsefulNotes/COVID19Pandemic. And that's before [[Film/SonicTheHedgehog2 a sequel]] two years later performed even better!

* ''Film/BackToTheFuture'' was rejected by every major studio when first pitched in 1980, as the Lorraine/Marty subplot wasn't risqué enough to match other teen comedies at the time (or, in the case of Disney, was ''too'' risqué) and Creator/RobertZemeckis and Bob Gale were just coming off the negative reception of ''[[Film/NineteenFortyOne1979 1941]]''. This caused some embarrassment for a number of Hollywood execs when, five years later, Zemeckis and Gale made ''Future'' under Amblin (with distribution by Universal) and it became the highest-grossing picture of 1985. Plus, an exec at Universal ''hated'' the name ''Back to the Future'' because he felt that any movie with the word "future" in the title was box office poison. It took the intervention of Steven Spielberg for Zemeckis and Gale to keep the original title.

* The first ''Film/{{Saw}}'' movie had some concerning odds against them: Co-created by rookie filmmakers who struggled to finance the movie and find a producer. And even when they got both, they were given a small budget and 18 days to shoot their movie. Despite the challenges, ''Saw'' became an instant hit and spawned numerous spin-offs.
* ''Film/SaloOrThe120DaysOfSodom'' initially faced a ban from the Italy government because of the content, as well as banned or edited in other countries. It was distributed and while it found its' audience, it was still a polarizing piece of art that left its' impact in the world, for better or worse depending on who you ask.

* ''Film/Air2023'' is a movie about the development of the Air Jordans that focuses not on UsefulNotes/MichaelJordan himself, but on the marketing team that came up with the sneakers and signed him to the endorsement deal. Even with the talent behind it (Creator/BenAffleck directing and starring, with Creator/MattDamon, Creator/JasonBateman, Creator/MarlonWayans, Creator/ChrisTucker, and Creator/ViolaDavis co-starring), most critics and film journalists took one look at the very idea behind the film and mocked its very existence as a symbol of everything wrong with modern capitalism, especially given that it was made by Creator/AmazonStudios, the TV/film arm of [[Creator/{{Amazon}} a corporate behemoth]] that has been described as a real-life MegaCorp. Indeed, it was originally supposed to [[DirectToVideo premiere]] on Creator/PrimeVideo... until test screenings came back so good that Amazon gave it a theatrical release and spent $40-50 million on marketing, including a [[SuperBowlSpecial Super Bowl ad]]. That bet paid off, as not only did it earn rave reviews as a [[WinBackTheCrowd return to form]] for Affleck, it made back its marketing budget despite opening against the box-office steamroller that was ''WesternAnimation/TheSuperMarioBrosMovie''.

* ''Film/{{Dune|2021}}'' (2021): Many feared that various factors would potentially leave Creator/DenisVilleneuve's planned two-part adaptation of the original story [[StillbornFranchise doomed to be only half-finished]], given the fact that the story of ''Literature/{{Dune}}'' is a slow-paced, complicated narrative, the AcclaimedFlop status of his previous sci-fi blockbuster ''Film/BladeRunner2049'', and the day-and-date streaming status provided by Creator/HBOMax (which opened the movie up to piracy due to HD copies of the film being easier to distribute) due to the issues with the ongoing UsefulNotes/COVID19Pandemic (which was still depressing box office turnout around the world). Yet the movie consistently overperformed to expectations around the world, thanks in part due to a staggered international release strategy that helped build up good word-of-mouth ahead of its arrival in several key markets and managed to defy expectations to become Warner Bros.'s most successful day-and-date movie since the likes of ''Film/GodzillaVSKong''. It then got a whopping ten Oscar nominations, including Best Picture and Best Adapted Screenplay, [[SciFiGhetto which rarely happens for sci-fi films]], and was the biggest winner of the night with six categories. As such, Creator/LegendaryPictures quickly greenlit the sequel, ''Film/DunePartTwo'', mere days after it opened in the United States.

* ''Film/GetOut'' faced an uphill battle to get greenlit, as many studios didn't understand the underlying message, with one supposedly calling the movie's premise "stupid" and "a failure". Since its' debut, the movie has garnered wide praise, accolades, and put Creator/JordanPeele on the map as a talented director.

* Early trailers for ''Film/Paddington2014'' focused on ToiletHumor and Paddington's UnintentionalUncannyValley look, and with Creator/ColinFirth dropping out many thought the film would flop. When it actually came out it got rave reviews from critics on both sides of the Atlantic for being not only a delightfully sincere family film but also staying very true to the spirit of the books. It was also a financial success, grossing over $259 million with a $55 million budget.

* Before ''Film/{{Big}}'' was released in June 1988, there'd already been three OvernightAgeUp comedies [[FollowTheLeader made between 1987 and 1988]]: ''Like Father, Like Son'', ''18 Again!'' and ''Vice Versa'' (plus the Italian film ''Da grande'', which was this film's direct inspiration), so many expected this film to tank and be forgotten. Instead, ''Big'' became the highest-grossing and most highly-praised film of the bunch, earning Creator/TomHanks his first Oscar nomination.

* ''Film/{{Deadpool|2016}}'' had a fierce opposer in infamous {{Executive Meddl|ing}}er Tom Rothman (the same guy who previously mandated that [[Film/XMenOriginsWolverine Deadpool's mouth had to be sewn shut]]) was strongly opposed to the movie getting made up until he left Twentieth Century Fox out of fear that the movie wouldn't click with audiences. After he left the company, the movie was officially greenlit based on the positive reception of a leaked test footage, and it recuperated its entire budget ''five times over'' in '''a single weekend'''. To add insult to injury toward Rothman, in that same opening weekend, the movie made more than [[Film/FantasticFour2015 the last superhero movie that Rothman greenlit]] did in its entire lifetime, and [[MorePopularSpinoff overtook the main X-Men series in the process]].
* Apparently, before Creator/BruceWillis was approached to play John [=McClane=] in ''Film/DieHard'', the job had already been turned down by Creator/ArnoldSchwarzenegger, Creator/SylvesterStallone, Creator/BurtReynolds, Creator/RichardGere, Creator/HarrisonFord, and Creator/MelGibson, who didn't believe in the script, and John [=McTiernan=], who would later direct it, even turned down ''several'' offers. When his agent delivered the news to Willis, he immediately advised him ''not'' to do it, thinking he'd make a complete fool of himself. However, due to the payment being simply too good to turn down, Willis accepted to play [=McClane=], kicking off his career as one of Hollywood's most popular and well-paid actors. And the movie became influential in [[DieHardOnAnX formula]] and protagonist type of later movies. It is now virtually impossible to find a Best Action Movies list that does not contain it, more often than not, at the top of the pile, and it frequently appears on Best Christmas Movies lists as well.

* ''Film/HomeAlone'' is the ultimate example: anticipated as another John Hughes concept gone awry, its cartoony slapstick combined with an unexpectedly heartwarming story won audiences over and it became the top-moneymaking comedy of all time (keeping the title until ''Film/NightAtTheMuseum'').

* ''Film/LittleMissSunshine'' initially had trouble finding a studio that would greenlit the movie and ''then'' had to face ExecutiveMeddling from the studio that ''did'' greenlit them. The movie was able to keep its premise, go on to make 100 million dollars at the box office, garner critical praise, and win 2 Oscars.
* Once Darryl F. Zanuck purchased the rights for ''Film/TheLongestDay'', his son Richard did not believe in the project, saying "No one cares about World War II anymore!", and his own studio Fox was reluctant, only accepting to make the movie because ''Film/{{Cleopatra}}'' [[TroubledProduction was screwing them big time]] and thus they could take a chance. The film's success, even earning a Best Picture nomination, helped offset some of the losses caused by ''Cleopatra''.

* The premise of ''Film/NapoleonDynamite'' sounded a bit stupid before its premiere. It became an indie sensation, and "Vote for Pedro" became a catchphrase at the time of the film's release. It became a cultural phenomenon in Idaho and got a unanimous vote of the Idaho legislature in its favor.

* ''Film/{{Planet of the Apes|1968}}'': Pierre Boulle, author of ''[[Literature/PlanetOfTheApes La planète des singes]]'', considered it to be one of his lesser works and that any film based off it had no potential for screen success. Fox even only greenlit the movie to compensate [[TroubledProduction the hell producer Arthur P. Jacobs faced with]] ''Film/DoctorDolittle''. Yet it was a great hit, considered a sci-fi classic and [[Franchise/PlanetOfTheApes kick-started a franchise]].

* ''Film/RiseOfThePlanetOfTheApes'' was widely mocked before release as appearing to be an ill attempt to revive what was a dead franchise, especially after [[Film/PlanetOfTheApes2001 a bomb of a remake ten years before]]. Then it came out and, to everyone's surprise, turned out to be a critical success, with a groundbreaking performance by Creator/AndySerkis, as well as a commercial success, bringing hope back to the series. The sequel, ''Film/DawnOfThePlanetOfTheApes'', was [[EvenBetterSequel even more successful]], and ended up being one of the most acclaimed movies of Summer 2014; several film critics even held it up as an example of the kind of film that other Summer blockbusters should strive to be. A trilogy closer, ''Film/WarForThePlanetOfTheApes'', was also highly acclaimed even if it didn't make as much money as ''Dawn''.

* Creator/TwentiethCenturyFox was so certain that ''Film/RomancingTheStone'' would fail, they fired Creator/RobertZemeckis from directing ''Film/{{Cocoon}}''. This turned out to be a benefit: Zemeckis and his friend Bob Gale then had the freedom to pursue their pet project ''Film/BackToTheFuture'', and in the meantime ''Romancing the Stone'' was the surprise box-office smash of the summer of '84.

* It's hard to believe now, but Creator/TwentiethCenturyFox had very little faith in ''[[Film/ANewHope Star Wars]]'' making much money.[[note]]Both Creator/UnitedArtists and Creator/{{Universal}} had passed on the film before it even got to Fox.[[/note]] They put it out as sort of a "last hurrah" to hold off bankruptcy and tasked Creator/AlanDeanFoster with writing ''Literature/SplinterOfTheMindsEye'', a sequel novel written for the sole purpose of facilitating a quick low-budget movie adaptation. Fox had to bully theaters into showing ''Star Wars'', as theaters simply wouldn't touch it and Fox had to make some money back on what they assumed would be a financial fiasco. Fox threatened to withhold the period drama ''The Other Side of Midnight'', which had been tipped to be a hit that summer, unless the theater agreed to screen ''Star Wars'' for a couple of weeks. ''The Other Side of Midnight'' made its budget back, but it was steamrolled at the box office by ''Star Wars'' as it became a cultural phenomenon. Fox had given Creator/GeorgeLucas exclusive rights on TheMerch related to ''Franchise/StarWars'' in exchange for paying him less. They figured the movie would bomb and no one would make, never mind buy the merchandise as a result. [[JustSoStory And that's why no publisher ever gives exclusive merchandising rights to the creator anymore.]]

* Executives were certainly nervous about ''Film/XMen1'', starring a group of superheroes who had never been on the big screen before. This was a time when the failure of ''Film/BatmanAndRobin'' was still fresh in everyone's minds, when Superman's fifth movie languished in DevelopmentHell, and when the only successful Marvel movie had been 1998's ''Film/{{Blade}}''. There are stories ([[http://www.aintitcool.com/node/20443 per Moriarty over at Ain't It Cool News]]) that executive Tom Rothman really opposed this project. It went on to be a [[LongRunner long-running]] 20-year franchise over 13 films, even predating the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

* ''Film/DungeonsAndDragonsHonorAmongThieves'' faced [[TaintedByThePreview awful marketing]], multiple delays, the terrible track record of [[Film/DungeonsAndDragons2000 past]] ''[[TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragons D&D]]'' film adaptations, backlash towards the "[[Franchise/MarvelCinematicUniverse MCU]]" style of non-stop wisecracking action-comedy blockbusters, and ongoing controversy within the ''D&D'' fandom over recent changes to the game and its Open Game License. Going in, many film journalists and analysts expected a cringeworthy film. In the end, it didn't do too well at the box office, but it was warmly received by both critics and ''D&D'' fans as perhaps the best movie one could make out of the property, one that in particular felt like a perfect translation of the experience of playing it with a group of buddies.

* ''Film/DungeonsAndDragonsHonorAmongThieves'' faced [[TaintedByThePreview awful marketing]], multiple delays, the terrible track record of [[Film/DungeonsAndDragons2000 past]] ''[[TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragons D&D]]'' film adaptations, backlash towards the "Marvel" style of wisecracking action-comedy blockbusters, and ongoing controversy within the ''D&D'' fandom over recent changes to the game and its Open Game License. Going in, many film journalists and analysts expected a BoxOfficeBomb and a cringeworthy film. Instead, it was warmly received by both critics and ''D&D'' fans as perhaps the best movie one could make out of the property, one that in particular felt like a perfect translation of the experience of playing it with a group of buddies, and surpassed all box-office expectations.

* ''Film/{{Dune 2021}}'': Many feared that various factors would potentially leave Creator/DenisVilleneuve's planned two-part adaptation of the original story [[StillbornFranchise doomed to be only half-finished]], given the fact that the story of ''Literature/{{Dune}}'' is a slow-paced, complicated narrative, the AcclaimedFlop status of his previous sci-fi blockbuster ''Film/BladeRunner2049'', and the day-and-date streaming status provided by Creator/HBOMax (which opened the movie up to piracy due to HD copies of the film being easier to distribute) due to the issues with the ongoing UsefulNotes/COVID19Pandemic (which was still depressing box office turnout around the world). Yet the movie consistently overperformed to expectations around the world, thanks in part due to a staggered international release strategy that helped build up good word-of-mouth ahead of its arrival in several key markets and managed to defy expectations to become Warner Bros.'s most successful day-and-date movie since the likes of ''Film/GodzillaVSKong''. It then got a whopping ten Oscar nominations, including Best Picture and Best Adapted Screenplay, [[SciFiGhetto which rarely happens for sci-fi films]], and was the biggest winner of the night with six categories. As such, Creator/LegendaryPictures quickly greenlit the sequel mere days after it opened in the United States.

* Virtually nobody in Hollywood saw the success of ''Literature/{{Twilight}}'' coming. When it was first picked up by Creator/{{Paramount}}, they tried [[https://web.archive.org/web/20101001002253/http://movies.yahoo.com/feature/movie-talk-twilight-that-almost-was.html turning it]] into an ActionHorror movie that had more in common with ''[[Film/Underworld2003 Underworld]]'' than [[TheFilmOfTheBook the book it was based on]], thinking that a vampire romance movie, without any horror elements, would bomb. Reportedly, after Creator/StephenieMeyer took ''Twilight'' to the smaller studio Creator/SummitEntertainment, where it became one of the biggest hits of 2008 despite a then-unknown cast and low budget, [[https://www.thewrap.com/twilight-witch-hunt-over-paramount-1009/ heads rolled at Paramount]] as executives argued over who let the film slip through their grasp.

* Early trailers for ''Film/{{Paddington}}'' focused on ToiletHumor and Paddington's UnintentionalUncannyValley look, and with Creator/ColinFirth dropping out many thought the film would flop. When it actually came out it got rave reviews from critics on both sides of the Atlantic for being not only a delightfully sincere family film but also staying very true to the spirit of the books. It was also a financial success, grossing over $259 million with a $55 million budget.