# 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:** 3
**Author:** ![StusBlues](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/dc4da7/32.png) [@StusBlues](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/StusBlues)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2017, 3:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-movie-you-saw-in-the-theater-had-the-lowest-box-office-total/801093/41 "2017-11-09T15:16:55Z")
> [@Les\_Espaces\_Du\_Sommeil](#): > > I saw it in the theater at the time and loved it (I was 6-7) but have not heard of it since then. Without your post, I might have thought I had hallucinated the whole experience. I saw that, too - at the Majestic in Lexington, NE. I thought it was a fun film. I can see why it didn’t do well commercially, but it’s enjoyable enough. The “comic book guy as hero” motif might play better today. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2017, 3:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-movie-you-saw-in-the-theater-had-the-lowest-box-office-total/801093/42 "2017-11-09T15:17:51Z")
> [@Les\_Espaces\_Du\_Sommeil](#): > > I saw it in the theater at the time and loved it (I was 6-7) but have not heard of it since then. Without your post, I might have thought I had hallucinated the whole experience. I sought out Condorman on video (I missed it in the theaters) because: a.) It stars Michael Crawford (The Phantom of the Opera) and Oliver Reed b.) It’s another of those movies based on a book by science fiction author Robert Sheckley. Unfortunately, it jettisons most of his average-joe-mistaken-for-a-secret-agent-a-la-North-by=Northwest for a completely different plot and thus removes the whole point of buying Sheckley’s work in the first place. You should know that the film has achieved cult status, especially among Pixar employees. That’s why they worked in a “Condorman” fast food franchise “Happy Meal”-style giveaway toy in the _Toy Story_ short _Small Fry_: > **[Condorman](https://pixar.fandom.com/wiki/Condorman)** > > Condorman is one of the discarded fun meal toys in Small Fry. He is paired up with DJ Blu-Jay during the reenactment therapy session. His only line is "All right!"  "When comic book artist Wiley Wilkins is given the opportunity to act out the... > **[The Legacy of Condorman!](http://lightearsdsf.blogspot.com/2016/08/the-legacy-of-condorman.html)** > > By Michael Goldtrap. Be it known that we here at LightEars LOOOOVE Condorman!  In departure from the good reviewers at Rotten Toma... ---
**Author:** ![awldune](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c77e96/32.png) [@awldune](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/awldune)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2017, 3:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-movie-you-saw-in-the-theater-had-the-lowest-box-office-total/801093/43 "2017-11-09T15:38:43Z")
**Mystery Science Theater 3000: The Movie** apparently only made $1,007,000 Second place would be **My Mother’s Castle** (1.4M), although I’m not sure whether foreign films should count. Also, 1990 dollars. ---
**Author:** ![AlsoNamedBort](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alsonamedbort/32/3213_2.png) [@AlsoNamedBort](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AlsoNamedBort)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2017, 4:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-movie-you-saw-in-the-theater-had-the-lowest-box-office-total/801093/44 "2017-11-09T16:12:00Z")
**The Slammin’ Salmon** which according to Box Office Mojo only made 41K domestic, 60K total. ---
**Author:** ![Two\_Many\_Cats](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/8dc957/32.png) [@Two\_Many\_Cats](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Two_Many_Cats)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2017, 4:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-movie-you-saw-in-the-theater-had-the-lowest-box-office-total/801093/45 "2017-11-09T16:12:07Z")
> [@TriPolar](#): > > I’m guessing it was The Man with Two Brains. I saw that. I only remember Merv Griffin, and the wonderful line, “I couldn’t fuck a gorilla!” My guess, and I’m not looking up the numbers, is “Harry and Walter Go to New York”. If you read that title and think, ‘Who the fuck are Harry and Walter?’, well, yes, exactly. ---
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2017, 4:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-movie-you-saw-in-the-theater-had-the-lowest-box-office-total/801093/46 "2017-11-09T16:27:40Z")
I saw _Rosencrantz & Guildenstern Are Dead_ at a theater. IMDb says it grossed $739,104 in the U.S. (1990 dollars). I always associate Tim Roth and Gary Oldman because it was the first time I saw either of them, although I’m still not sure which was which. > [@kunilou](#): > > 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. When you saw the dental patient did you think “that guy’s gonna be a star”? > [@CalMeacham](#): > > Probably the French-German “psychological horror film” **Possession** 91981), the only name most people would likely know from this was Sam Neill, who hadn’t yet been in _Reilly: Ace of Spies_ (let alone _Jurassic Park_) and was pretty unknown in the US. I saw Sam Neill in a small, one-shot guest role in an Australian TV comedy series made after he was a big star in Hollywood. I read later that he was a friend of the show’s writer and star from his early days in New Zealand. > [@installLSC](#): > > [The Wrecking Crew](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Wrecking_Crew_(2008_film)), a superb documentary about 60s LA session men. Earned about 800 grand. I actually saw it before it was officially released, in Tacoma of all places. Movie producer Denny Tedesco shipped it around special screenings around the country to raise money for an official release. The Grand Cinema, by any chance? Nice little place. Hmm, I may have to revise my answer. I saw _Senna_ at the Grand. IMDb says it grossed about $1.6 million. Adjusted for inflation that’s probably pretty close to R&GAD. I saw _Theremin: An Electronic Odyssey_ ($187,923) at the Harvard Film Archive. Not sure if that strictly counts as a theater, and it was a few years after the initial release. ---
**Author:** ![Max\_Torque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e9bcb4/32.png) [@Max\_Torque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Max_Torque)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2017, 5:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-movie-you-saw-in-the-theater-had-the-lowest-box-office-total/801093/47 "2017-11-09T17:24:48Z")
I’ve seen some of the movies mentioned on home video, but not in the theater. The winner for that is probably **[The Beaver Trilogy](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0256639/)**. There’s no box office information available, because unless you’re catching it at a special showing or at a film festival, the only way to see it is to buy it directly from the filmmaker. **The Beaver Trilogy** only has 412 ratings on IMDb, that’s how little-seen it is. And I want to stress here that this is a film that has both Crispin Glover (before **Back to the Future** ) and Sean Penn (before **Fast Times at Ridgemont High** ). I saw it at a special showing at the local Alamo Drafthouse; the director of programming there puts on “film club” screenings of small but good films on Wednesdays. It was a good movie, and there’s a lot there to talk about, especially if you’re into film. ---
**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, 5:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-movie-you-saw-in-the-theater-had-the-lowest-box-office-total/801093/48 "2017-11-09T17:46:09Z")
> [@caligulathegod](#): > > Twin Peaks Fire Walk With Me, at $4.2 Million. Oh! That reminds me! I saw David Lynch’s _Lost Highway_ in the theater. $3.8 million. ---
**Author:** ![divemaster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/divemaster/32/78_2.png) [@divemaster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/divemaster)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2017, 6:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-movie-you-saw-in-the-theater-had-the-lowest-box-office-total/801093/49 "2017-11-09T18:16:29Z")
When I was a kid, I liked Dukes of Hazzard on TV. A movie came out during that time that supposedly was a “fun romp in the style of Dukes of Hazzard” so of course I had to go see it. The movie was **Soggy Bottom, USA**. I couldn’t find numbers on IMDb, but according to [**this site**](http://www.the-numbers.com/movie/Soggy-Bottom-U-S-A#tab=summary), \*\*Soggy Bottom, U.S.A. \*\*(1981) Theatrical Performance Domestic Box Office $19,225 Even as a kid, I knew the movie sucked. ---
**Author:** ![drad\_dog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/aeb1de/32.png) [@drad\_dog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drad_dog)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2017, 6:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-movie-you-saw-in-the-theater-had-the-lowest-box-office-total/801093/50 "2017-11-09T18:19:52Z")
I worked at a theater where Citizens Band, the Jon Demme movie played, in 1977. Nobody came to see it, and when they did we sent them away with free passes. It was not worth the electricity to run it. A priest came by and said he wanted to see it, cause it got good reviews. Nope. it grossed $815,530 to date, but that includes everything that happened after jon became big. I’m surprised that people think a million is a small box office. I went to film school and lived in an urban area. I have to have seen a whole ton of movies that made virtually nothing. When I was in school we had a visit from filmmakers from canada with this movie called “The Rubber Gun Show.” Allan Moyle and Stephen Lack were there. (Lack was the lead in Scanners later on) It played at the local hip commercial outlet. The Box Office per my checking now was $90,000 canadian. If you were to check the programs of these theaters I think you would find a lot of low box office flicks. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2017, 6:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-movie-you-saw-in-the-theater-had-the-lowest-box-office-total/801093/51 "2017-11-09T18:24:48Z")
> [@drad\_dog](#): > > I’m surprised that people think a million is a small box office. I went to film school and lived in an urban area. I have to have seen a whole ton of movies that made virtually nothing. Since you went to film school, I assume you know this, but if a film _cost_ virtually nothing then a million dollars at the box office is great. But if it’s a big-time studio production with millions spent in production and millions more in marketing, a million dollars at the box office is a _bad_ thing. ---
**Author:** ![Dropo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ce7236/32.png) [@Dropo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dropo)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2017, 6:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-movie-you-saw-in-the-theater-had-the-lowest-box-office-total/801093/52 "2017-11-09T18:39:12Z")
I saw _Subway Riders_ (1981) at its premiere. I don’t remember much except how dark, sound-muddled, boring and awful it was. I think someone (Susan Tyrrell?) shoots up under the tongue. I was not able to find box office figures for it, but I didn’t look very hard. It’s on YT for cinema masochists. I saw the aforementioned _Possession_ (1981) on Betamax! Ugh… I have tried to sit through other films by the same director and mostly failed. ---
**Author:** ![It\_s\_Not\_Rocket\_Surgery](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/it_s_not_rocket_surgery/32/312_2.png) [@It\_s\_Not\_Rocket\_Surgery](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/It_s_Not_Rocket_Surgery)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2017, 6:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-movie-you-saw-in-the-theater-had-the-lowest-box-office-total/801093/53 "2017-11-09T18:50:52Z")
I saw _[The First Saturday In May](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1003115/)_ in a theater. It made $124,294, which is not all that bad since it only played on 17 screens. ---
**Author:** ![MovieMogul](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f08c70/32.png) [@MovieMogul](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MovieMogul)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2017, 7:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-movie-you-saw-in-the-theater-had-the-lowest-box-office-total/801093/54 "2017-11-09T19:01:02Z")
I’ve seen **The Pulitzer at 100** , which is ranked #583 for this year’s box office, earning $4,468, just edging out #574’s **Brimstone and Glory** (which I’ve seen once but will see again tonight, and is hands down the most stunning visual achievement I’ve seen from any film this year). I suspect I could go through the other years on the site and find similar examples. ---
**Author:** ![drad\_dog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/aeb1de/32.png) [@drad\_dog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drad_dog)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2017, 7:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-movie-you-saw-in-the-theater-had-the-lowest-box-office-total/801093/55 "2017-11-09T19:05:37Z")
> [@Dewey\_Finn](#): > > Since you went to film school, I assume you know this, but if a film _cost_ virtually nothing then a million dollars at the box office is great. But if it’s a big-time studio production with millions spent in production and millions more in marketing, a million dollars at the box office is a _bad_ thing. The topic is lowest box office total. It’s not relative to the budget, as I understand it. I could have that conversation too, but I’m not there right now. ---
**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, 7:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-movie-you-saw-in-the-theater-had-the-lowest-box-office-total/801093/56 "2017-11-09T19:17:25Z")
> [@awldune](#): > > **Mystery Science Theater 3000: The Movie** apparently only made $1,007,000 Me too! That beats Lost Highway. Jeez you guys are reminding me of movies I had put out of my mind. I also remembered _Brain Candy_ (the Kids in the Hall movie) but that did an amazing $2.6 million. ---
**Author:** ![Clawdio](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/d07c76/32.png) [@Clawdio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Clawdio)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2017, 7:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-movie-you-saw-in-the-theater-had-the-lowest-box-office-total/801093/57 "2017-11-09T19:18:36Z")
Off the top of my head: I saw **Gimme Danger** , a documentary about The Stooges (Iggy’s band, not Moe, Larry & gang), which only did $440,627. Pretty sure I also saw **The Summit** in the theater. A 2012 documentary about a climbing disaster on K2 - $243,550 And **The Galapagos Affair** , documentary about the bizarre goings on in a paradise island clocking in at $247,159 These are probably my best, though I definitely ordered **We are Twisted Fucking Sister** on Comcast On Demand at home, which was only in theaters for a week and pulled in a cool $8,277 from 8 theaters. ---
**Author:** ![bibliophage](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bibliophage/32/7615_2.png) [@bibliophage](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bibliophage)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2017, 7:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-movie-you-saw-in-the-theater-had-the-lowest-box-office-total/801093/58 "2017-11-09T19:26:23Z")
Around 1987, I went to the theater to see some particular movie, I forget which one. It wasn’t playing so instead I saw some very forgettable Brian Dennehy movie that came out around the same time. It might have been the ironically named [Best Seller](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Best_Seller) which took in only $4.3 million at the box office. It was so forgettable that even after reading the plot summary I’m still not sure that’s the right movie. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2017, 7:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-movie-you-saw-in-the-theater-had-the-lowest-box-office-total/801093/59 "2017-11-09T19:35:47Z")
_[Screen Door Jesus](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0339638/)_. Excellent film (“And then after three days, Jesus rose from the dead.” “Like in a horror movie?”) but never got national distribution. I saw it as part of a film festival in our local movie palace. Total box office seems to be under $50,000 [Trailer](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=puLHRmfVqac) (“If Jesus has superpowers, he could make a robot with a soul.”) ---
**Author:** ![ThisIsTheEnd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thisistheend/32/4713_2.png) [@ThisIsTheEnd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThisIsTheEnd)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2017, 8:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-movie-you-saw-in-the-theater-had-the-lowest-box-office-total/801093/60 "2017-11-09T20:03:56Z")
Swept Away (the Madonna one): ~$500,000-something US box office. I went to see it because I had seen the original 1974 Wertmuller film when it came out. Tickets for that were only a dollar or two, I couldn’t find a US box office number for it, but I’d guess it was easily less than $500,000. The only movie I’ve ever walked out on was Johnny English and that did $28 mil. I walk out on a lot of DVDs these days though. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-movie-you-saw-in-the-theater-had-the-lowest-box-office-total/801093.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-movie-you-saw-in-the-theater-had-the-lowest-box-office-total/801093.md?page=4)