'Children of Men' and more classics that bombed at the box office

I am eminently grateful that it appears most audiences and critics are appreciating Jordan Peele's brilliant new film Us, but there are so many examples of critically acclaimed, solid films with relatively big budgets that somehow were not a commercial success, and some of these films are later remembered as or become cult classics.

Think of a movie like The Big Lebowski, a movie that has a devoted following and fanbase, perhaps more than any other Coen Brothers movie, but it flopped hard, tapping out at $28 million back in 1998.

Last night, I revisited Alfonso Cuaron's riveting and gorgeous dystopian thriller Children of Men, and I still am completely shocked that it wasn't more of commercial hit. It may simply been too bleak for 2006 audiences, but its vision of a proto-fascist future, feels more on target than may of the genre films that have come in its wake. And Cuaron's immerse, single-take style would finally enjoy a commercial home run with Gravity seven years later.

Speaking of George Clooney vehicles, why did no one go see Out of Sight? It's a funny, sexy, smarty and stylish action comedy of the first order, with a very attractive cast (Clooney and Lopez at peak hotness) and a charming-as-hell screenplay. I am just mystified by why this Elmore Leonard adaptation, coming on the heels of Get Shorty and another underperforming classic, Jackie Brown, but history will remember it as one of director Steven Soderbergh's best commercial offerings.

Both films wouldn't crack $40 million in 1997 and 1998.

And then there's The Shawshank Redemption, probably one of the best known, most beloved movies of the 1990s and it did terrible business when it came out in 1994. It's title, a mouthful that meant nothing to anyone unfamiliar with its source material, was probably the reason this enduring film failed (and it did get Oscar nom love later) but it's probably watched far more often than that year's big blockbuster (and Best Picture winner) Forrest Gump.

Here are a few other surprisingly unpopular movies:

Boogie Nights - Although it made Mark Wahlberg a leading man and introduced 'Rollergirl' into the popular consciousness, this masterpiece from P.T. Anderson made only $26 million. The fact is, pretty much all of Anderson's films haven't been hits per se. His highest grossing film is There Will Be Blood, which tapped out at $40 million.

It Follows - One of the best horror movies of the past decade, with an elegantly simple but killer premise (a relentless entity that is transferred sexually and then never stops stalking you until you pass it on). I don't know anyone who doesn't like it, it got great reviews -- I simply don't understand why this one didn't connect with paying audiences.

A History of Violence - A sexy, violent and pretty fast-paced thriller from David Cronenberg. I don't think this one ever got the distribution it should have, because I find it hard to believe that audiences wouldn't be intrigued by a movie about a gangster who has gone straight in a small town who gets flushed out into the open by a moment of chance. I feel like if it came out today it'd get a much better reception.

Green Room - The late Anton Yelchin gave a breakthrough performance in this gritty thriller which felt like the second coming of Pulp Fiction -- to me. Ironically, it's take on the budding white supremacist movements around the country feels very prescient now.

Annihilation - It had a wonderful, intense trailer -- Natalie Portman in peak movie star mode -- and it was based on a popular book, so the underwhelming commercial performance of this movie is a mystery to me. Perhaps audiences wan't a little less mystery. It's clearly ripe for reappraisal.

Blade Runner - Although this is one of my favorites -- I can actually kind of understand why it didn't connect with audiences back in 1982. It's bleak, eerie and very heady. But still, it's kind of crazy that a film that was a big failure at the time of its release has endured as one of the most influential sci-fi movies of all time.

Steve Jobs - It's not a perfect movie, but coming on the heels of the Apple CEO's death and boasting a dream team of Aaron Sorkin, director Danny Boyle and star Michael Fassbender, I expected another Social Network-sized smash. Instead, this unconventional biopic was dead on arrival, at least commercially.

The Thing and most John Carpenter's best movies - Here's the thing, Carpenter is really enjoying a renaissance right now, but the fact is that with the exception of Halloween most of his most beloved movies were big flops: They Live, Big Trouble in Little China, Escape From New York and especially The Thing, which is now seen as a horror classic but it was hardly appreciated when it came out over 35 years ago. Shows what audiences knew then.