# What movie you saw in the theater had the lowest box office total? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [November 9, 2017, 2:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-movie-you-saw-in-the-theater-had-the-lowest-box-office-total/801093 "2017-11-09T02:34:11Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2017, 2:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-movie-you-saw-in-the-theater-had-the-lowest-box-office-total/801093/1 "2017-11-09T02:34:11Z")
Pretty much, what movie did you see in the theater that was the least popular ticket seller? Adjust for inflation if you like. I saw the following movies in the theater. I know few others who did: \*\*Pi \*\*- Darren Aronfonsky’s first movie and I saw it. I don’t know many others who did. $3.2 million in 1998. \*\*Hamlet(1996) \*\*- saw it in the theater twice. In 70MM film, too. Very nice. Only drew $4.7 million, though. Shame because it is the best Shakespeare movie I’ve seen. I’m sure these were huge hits compared to what many of you saw. What did you see that almost no one else did? ---
**Author:** ![snfaulkner](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snfaulkner/32/433_2.png) [@snfaulkner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/snfaulkner)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2017, 2:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-movie-you-saw-in-the-theater-had-the-lowest-box-office-total/801093/2 "2017-11-09T02:40:42Z")
I remember seeing Pi in the theater. But it was only showing at some tiny geeky art house theater that probably only held like 100 ppl tops. And wasn’t full. ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2017, 2:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-movie-you-saw-in-the-theater-had-the-lowest-box-office-total/801093/3 "2017-11-09T02:49:55Z")
I’ve had occasion to see locally produced, ultra-low budget movies (both fiction and documentary) for which the screening I attended was probably the only time they were shown in a theater, so it’s hard to say. Is the OP referring to major-studio productions that were in at least limited release? ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2017, 2:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-movie-you-saw-in-the-theater-had-the-lowest-box-office-total/801093/4 "2017-11-09T02:55:40Z")
Note: I have reported this for a forum change to Cafe Society. I misposted. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2017, 3:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-movie-you-saw-in-the-theater-had-the-lowest-box-office-total/801093/5 "2017-11-09T03:07:11Z")
> [@Mahaloth](#): > > Note: I have reported this for a forum change to Cafe Society. I misposted. Moved. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2017, 3:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-movie-you-saw-in-the-theater-had-the-lowest-box-office-total/801093/6 "2017-11-09T03:10:39Z")
I saw [_Futz_,](http://www.nytimes.com/movie/review?res=940DE3DB1E3AEF3BBC4F52DFB7678382679EDE) a 1969 movie about a man in love with his pig, in a theater. I haven’t been able to find any box office info, which suggests it was pretty negligible. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2017, 3:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-movie-you-saw-in-the-theater-had-the-lowest-box-office-total/801093/7 "2017-11-09T03:18:42Z")
Recently, it would have to be [Captain Fantastic.](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt3553976/) $5.8 million gross strictly on the power of Viggo Mortenson. A quirky little movie that I liked a lot. ---
**Author:** ![Derleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Derleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Derleth)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2017, 3:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-movie-you-saw-in-the-theater-had-the-lowest-box-office-total/801093/8 "2017-11-09T03:19:24Z")
> [@Mahaloth](#): > > \*\*Pi \*\*- Darren Aronfonsky’s first movie and I saw it. I don’t know many others who did. $3.2 million in 1998. > > \*\*Hamlet(1996) \*\*- saw it in the theater twice. In 70MM film, too. Very nice. Only drew $4.7 million, though. Shame because it is the best Shakespeare movie I’ve seen. I’ve seen both of these, but not in the theater. First was a rental, second was in a high school class. I saw _Eraserhead_ in a theater. It was a midnight showing at the Roxy in Missoula, MT, the local arthouse theater. It’s made seven million in box office _to date_, but I’m guessing it was much, much less when it was first-run, as opposed to its decades-long life in midnight movie showings, like the one I saw. Oh, that reminds me: I saw _Seven Eves_ at its gala premier, in 2011, and if you’ve never heard of it that’s only because you’re not related by marriage to the man responsible for it. I’m pretty sure that beats pretty much everyone else. ---
**Author:** ![mikecurtis](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mikecurtis/32/3284_2.png) [@mikecurtis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mikecurtis)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2017, 3:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-movie-you-saw-in-the-theater-had-the-lowest-box-office-total/801093/9 "2017-11-09T03:26:34Z")
Saw\* Doc Savage\* in 1975 (and it still haunts me today). Don’t know the numbers, but they can’t be good! > [@](#): > > Savage is hampered by budget woes, weak acting, a sluggish script, and some painfully forced attempts at camp. It bombed at the box office, opening in June to be buried by Steven Spielberg’s Jaws. > **[Doc Savage: The Man of Bronze](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Doc_Savage:_The_Man_of_Bronze)** > > Doc Savage: The Man of Bronze is a 1975 American action film starring Ron Ely as pulp hero Doc Savage. This was the last film completed by pioneering science fiction producer George Pal. It was directed by Michael Anderson, who had previously directed another big-budget adventure film, Around the World in 80 Days, the 1956 Best Picture of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. > In 1936, Doc Savage (Ron Ely) returns to New York City following a visit to his top-secret Arctic hideaway, t... ---
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2017, 3:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-movie-you-saw-in-the-theater-had-the-lowest-box-office-total/801093/10 "2017-11-09T03:33:47Z")
_Condorman_ apparently made only $4m in 1981, which was around a quarter of its budget. I really like that movie, and would love to remake it. ---
**Author:** ![hogarth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hogarth/32/1773_2.png) [@hogarth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hogarth)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2017, 3:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-movie-you-saw-in-the-theater-had-the-lowest-box-office-total/801093/11 "2017-11-09T03:44:02Z")
According to Wikipedia, “Hobo With A Shotgun” made $748,453 at the box office. I liked it. ---
**Author:** ![blondebear](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blondebear/32/1022_2.png) [@blondebear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blondebear)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2017, 3:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-movie-you-saw-in-the-theater-had-the-lowest-box-office-total/801093/12 "2017-11-09T03:45:50Z")
Probably _Let It Be_. ---
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2017, 3:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-movie-you-saw-in-the-theater-had-the-lowest-box-office-total/801093/13 "2017-11-09T03:49:38Z")
It’s hard to come up with box office totals from 40-50 years ago, but I saw a LOT of arty film school type projects and drive-in fillers in my high school and college days. I remember seeing the original _Little Shop of Horrors_ when it first came out. I’m pretty sure that wasn’t popular until years later. _Zabriskie Point_ had a famous director (Michelangelo Antonioni) and a big budget, but it was a bomb. Wiki says it grossed $900,000, but I have to believe that was inflated. Ever hear of a film named [Harvey Middleman, Fireman](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0059256/?ref_=nv_sr_1)? Don’t worry, no one else has, either. But I saw it in a real theater and everything. ---
**Author:** ![nightshadea](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/7ba0ec/32.png) [@nightshadea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nightshadea)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2017, 3:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-movie-you-saw-in-the-theater-had-the-lowest-box-office-total/801093/14 "2017-11-09T03:52:48Z")
Pokémon heroes which had the lowest total ever for a widely released movie …it was when pokemon was going through one of its lulls between game releases I think its total was between 400-800k It was the last pokemon movie released theatrically in the us ---
**Author:** ![Enocavy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/e480ec/32.png) [@Enocavy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enocavy)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2017, 3:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-movie-you-saw-in-the-theater-had-the-lowest-box-office-total/801093/15 "2017-11-09T03:54:40Z")
_Sea of Trees_ had a total domestic box office of $20444, according to Box Office Mojo. It really wasn’t that bad. ---
**Author:** ![Skammer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skammer/32/143_2.png) [@Skammer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skammer)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2017, 4:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-movie-you-saw-in-the-theater-had-the-lowest-box-office-total/801093/16 "2017-11-09T04:03:24Z")
Probably the recent _All Saints_ at $5.8 million. _Barton Fink_ was close at $6.2 million, but that was in 1991 dollars. ---
**Author:** ![caligulathegod](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/caligulathegod/32/9685_2.png) [@caligulathegod](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/caligulathegod)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2017, 4:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-movie-you-saw-in-the-theater-had-the-lowest-box-office-total/801093/17 "2017-11-09T04:33:06Z")
Twin Peaks Fire Walk With Me, at $4.2 Million. ---
**Author:** ![Defensive\_Indifference](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/defensive_indifference/32/6502_2.png) [@Defensive\_Indifference](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Defensive_Indifference)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2017, 4:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-movie-you-saw-in-the-theater-had-the-lowest-box-office-total/801093/18 "2017-11-09T04:52:38Z")
Probably _My Son the Fanatic_, which took in about $408K in 1997, according to IMDB. I remember liking it, but not much about it. But it has Om Puri and Stellan Skarsgaard, so it must be good. > **[My Son the Fanatic (1997) - IMDb](https://m.imdb.com/title/tt0119743/)** > > My Son the Fanatic: Directed by Udayan Prasad. With Om Puri, Rachel Griffiths, Akbar Kurtha, Stellan Skarsgård. Pakistani taxi-driver Parvez and prostitute Bettina find themselves trapped in the middle when Islamic fundamentalists decide to clean up... ---
**Author:** ![Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eyebrows_0f_doom/32/3119_2.png) [@Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eyebrows_0f_Doom)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2017, 5:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-movie-you-saw-in-the-theater-had-the-lowest-box-office-total/801093/19 "2017-11-09T05:52:38Z")
Well, according to Box Office Mojo, “Visitor Q” by Takashi Miike made $12,397. I saw that in a theater. Last month I saw “78/52: Hitchcock’s Shower Scene” which so far has made $30,335, it is still running so that will increase a bit. I also saw a film called “The American Astronaut” in 2001 that made $38,170 total according to IMDB. ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2017, 6:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-movie-you-saw-in-the-theater-had-the-lowest-box-office-total/801093/20 "2017-11-09T06:26:51Z")
I saw a film called “[The Godfather of Green Bay](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0385727/?ref_=nv_sr_1)” in the theater – it was at an actual big multiplex (a Marcus Theater), but in one of their smallest auditoriums, and probably only shown for a night or two. It was fairly funny, especially for me (since I grew up in Green Bay). It had a couple of recognizable actors: Lauren Holly, and Tony Goldwyn (who went on to play the President in “Scandal”). It was _so_ small that neither Box Office Mojo nor IMDB have any details on its actual box office. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-movie-you-saw-in-the-theater-had-the-lowest-box-office-total/801093.md?page=2)