History Main / AndYouThoughtItWouldFail

* Adaptations of the Japanese franchise ''SuperSentai'' had been in DevelopmentHell for years, and was only SavedFromDevelopmentHell because the exec was sympathetic, having worked in that same Dev Hell herself. Even then, it was pre-emptively canned as soon as the season finished. Nearly twenty years later and ''PowerRangers'' is still on the air, having survived multiple [[UnCancelled uncancellations]] and two {{Channel Hop}}s.

''ThePhiladelphiaStory'' was released at a time when Katherine Hepburn was considered "box office poison". The film became a resounding success and subsequently restored Hepburn's reputation.

* ''{{Portal}}'', a GaidenGame (side story game) developed by ten people as a follow on to a freeware game, was put on ''The Orange Box'' with little fanfare. It wasn't expected to really ''fail'', seeing as how it was packaged with the complete ''HalfLife 2'' collection and the [[DevelopmentHell long-awaited]] ''TeamFortress2'', but it also wasn't expected to become the EnsembleDarkhorse of ''The Orange Box''. Fans ate it up, the critics loved it, it sold quickly when released as a stand alone, has inspired [[SequelEscalation a massive sequel]], and it became a FountainOfMemes.

* ''{{Portal}}'', a GaidenGame (side story game) developed by ten people as a follow on to a freeware game, was put on The Orange Box with little fanfare. While not exactly expected to fail, its success was a complete surprise. Fans ate it up, the critics loved it, it sold quickly when released as a stand alone, has inspired a massive sequel, and was the source of several internet memes.

* ''BlazingSaddles'' was a quirky blaxploitation comedy set in the Wild West. [[ExecutiveMeddling Warner Brothers almost didn't release it at all]] because they figured it just wouldn't sell. But it did.

* ''FinalFantasy'' was so named because Square-Enix [[Square Software at the time]] thought it would close its doors after shipping the game. Today, Square-Enix enjoys strong sales and a fan base best described as both rabid and numerous. The series is a massive commercial success, though it does not always critical praise. Most of the early games are considered classics, even by those who do not like the JRPG genre.

* The ''NapoleonDynamite'' premise of sounded a bit stupid before its premiere. It became a indie sensation.
* ''Vote for Pedro'' is the "[[TheEighties Frankie Says Relax]]" of [[TurnOfTheMillennium an entire generation]].
* Animation was considered a medium inferior to live action and destined to remain 7-minute-long curtain raisers to feature films ... until ''Disney/SnowWhiteAndTheSevenDwarfs'', which was labeled "Disney's Folly" by film industry insiders but at its premiere proved an amazing picture, and the worldwide highest-grossing until ''GoneWithTheWind''. (Since then it has become the subject of much strife for being the comparison point for all other animated features.)

* ''PiratesOfTheCaribbean'' started off as [[RuleOfThree the first of three Disney park ride adaptations]], the other two being ''TheHauntedMansion'' and ''TheCountryBears''. A franchise for ''Pirates'' was in no way anticipated by Michael Eisner and his fellow execs. The original film, ''Curse of the Black Pearl'', quickly took off and paved the way for a different trilogy, one whose cinematic epicness has ultimately rivalled ''TheLordOfTheRings''. (A fourth film scheduled for release summer 2011.)
* ''NapoleonDynamite'' [[BetterThanItSoundsFilm sounded stupid to many people]] before its premiere. As an indie sensation it was unmatched, and now "Vote for Pedro" is the "[[TheEighties Frankie Says Relax]]" of [[TurnOfTheMillennium an entire generation]].
* Animation was considered a medium inferior to live action and destined to remain 7-minute-long curtain raisers to feature films ... until ''Disney/SnowWhiteAndTheSevenDwarfs'', which was labelled "Disney's Folly" by film industry insiders but at its premiere proved an amazing picture, and the worldwide highest-grossing until ''GoneWithTheWind''. (Since then it has become the subject of much strife for being the comparison point for all other animated features.)

* 20th Century Fox was so certain that ''RomancingTheStone'' would fail, they fired RobertZemeckis from directing ''{{Cocoon}}''. This turned out to be a benefit: Zemeckis and his friend Bob Gale then had the freedom to pursue their pet project ''BackToTheFuture'' where everything suddenly clicked. Meanwhile, ''Romancing the Stone'' was the surprise box-office smash of the summer of '84.

* The Bengali coming-of-age film ''PatherPanchali'' had little hope of being recognized as more than a renegade/experimental Indian product. Upon release it quickly made heaps of money everywhere it was shown and through this Satyajit Ray introduced the world to the possibilities of low-budget filmmaking.
* Walt Disney making live-action comedies was not considered a good idea, but ''TheShaggyDog'', ''TheAbsentMindedProfessor'' and others of its kind cleared the Disney Studio of financial debt by 1961.
** In fact, most of Walt's major milestones (''Steamboat Willie'', ''Flowers and Trees'', ''Snow White'', Disneyland) all seemed impossible to work from everyone else's perspective ... until work began on ''MaryPoppins'', at which point the whole world had unconditional faith in Walt, and his status as an enterainment god was permanently cemented.

* Before the first book, literary critics expected HarryPotter to be just another lame 90s juvenile fantasy, destined to be forgotten. The seven resulting novels are some of the best-selling pieces of literature in history.
* First editions of {{Terry Pratchett}}'s first Discworld novel ''Discworld/TheColourOfMagic'' are quite rare because no one really thought it would sell and the publishing run was therefore rather low.

* The Disney TV movie ''HighSchoolMusical'' ... nobody, absolutely NOBODY, saw its mega-popularity coming.

* FinalFantasy was named because Square Software, now Square-Enix, thought it would close its doors after shipping the game. Today, Square-Enix enjoys strong sales and a fan base best described as rabid, large, and often [[BrokenBase broken]]. No one denies that it's found commercial success, though not always critical praise. Most of the early games are considered classics, even by those who do not like the JRPG genre.
* [[{{Portal}} Portal]], a GaidenGame developed by ten people as a follow on to a freeware game, was put on TheOrangeBox with little fanfare. While not exactly expected to fail, its success was a complete surprise. Fans ate it up, the critics loved it, it sold quickly when released as a stand alone, has inspired a massive sequel, and was the source of countless internet memes.

* ''PiratesOfTheCaribbean'' started off as [[RuleOfThree the first of three Disney park ride adaptations]], the other two being ''TheHauntedMansion'' and ''TheCountryBears''. A franchise for ''Pirates'' was in no way anticipated by Michael Eisner and his fellow execs. The original film, ''Curse of the Black Pearl'', quickly took off and paved the way for a different trilogy, one whose cinematic epicness has ultimately rivalled ''TheLordOfTheRings''.

* ''AnimalHouse'' was the ambitious foray of the National Lampoon magazine into silver-screen entertainment. Universal execs politely allowed the filmmakers to go wild in their own special way, quietly hoping ''Animal House'' wouldn't damage the company's checkbooks. DonaldSutherland famously chose several thousand dollars in payment over a percentage of the box-office gross, expecting the film wouldn't sell. However, ''Animal House'' 's charmingly dark and hard-hitting observations on college life, as well as its undeniably quirky brand of vulgar humor, was so refreshing to moviegoers in the late 70s that the film recouped its $2 million budget 50 times over.

* Walt Disney making live-action comedies was not considered a good idea, but ''TheShaggyDog'',
''TheAbsentMindedProfessor'' and others of its kind cleared the Disney Studio of financial debt by 1961.

* James Cameron's ''{{Titanic}}'' ran overbudget, gathered plenty of naysayers and made $1 billion.
* James Cameron's ''{{Avatar}}'' ran overbudget, gathered plenty of naysayers and made $2 billion.

* TheRockyHorrorPictureShow wasn't even given a full theatrical release because of low expectations, but in spite of this it is still running in theatres across the globe, in some locations every weekend and in many more annually.

* ''NapoleonDynamite'' [[BetterThanItSoundsFilm sounded stupid to many people]] before its premiere. As an indie sensation it was unmatched, and now "Vote for Pedro" is the "[[TheEighties Frankie Says Relax]]" of an entire generation.

* ''NapoleonDynamite'' [[BetterThanItSoundsFilm sounded stupid to many people]] before its premiere. As an indie sensation it was unmatched, and now "VOTE FOR PEDRO" is the private joke of an entire generation.

When a book or movie with low expectations pulls a megaprofit stunt and becomes a classic. Usually accompanied by HypeBacklash.

* Animation was considered a medium inferior to live action and destined to remain 7-minute-long curtain raisers to feature films ... until ''SnowWhiteAndTheSevenSwarfs'', which was labelled "Disney's Folly" by film industry insiders but at its premiere proved an amazing picture, and the worldwide highest-grossing until ''GoneWithTheWind''. (Since then it has become the subject of much strife for being the comparison point for all other animated features.)

* ''PiratesOfTheCarribbean'' started off as [[RuleOfThree the first of three Disney park ride adaptations]], the other two being ''TheHauntedMansion'' and ''TheCountryBears''. A franchise for ''Pirates'' was in no way anticipated by Michael Eisner and his fellow execs. The original film, ''Curse of the Black Pearl'', quickly took off and paved the way for a different trilogy, one whose cinematic epicness has ultimately rivalled ''TheLordOfTheRings''.

* ''PiratesOfTheCarribean'' started off as [[RuleOfThree the first of three Disney park ride adaptations]], the other two being ''TheHauntedMansion'' and ''TheCountryBears''. A franchise for ''Pirates'' was in no way anticipated by Michael Eisner and his fellow execs. The original film, ''Curse of the Black Pearl'', quickly took off and paved the way for a different trilogy, one whose cinematic epicness has ultimately rivalled ''TheLordOfTheRings''.

* The Disney TV movie ''HighSchoolMusical'' ... nobody, absolutely NOBODY, saw its mega-popularity coming.

* ''AnimalHouse''.

* ''{{Clerks}}''.