A great science fiction film doesn’t necessarily translate to box office success, and some of the best sci-fi movies ever were financial bombs. Though the genre is known for its limitless imagination, it isn’t always perfect for a general audience. Sometimes the ideas are too heady, or the movie doesn’t connect with the right audience at the right time.

Movies with wonderful reviews can still be box office disasters, and critical success rarely translates to commercial windfalls. Profits in the film world are very complicated, and even a movie that makes more than its production budget can still be a significant bomb. Film finances are often obfuscated, and additional costs can sometimes double or triple a movie’s reported budget.

Critical reception can be just as fickle as the box office, and many sci-fi films get poor reviews upon release only to gain significant accolades later. Atтιтudes toward sci-fi have changed, and some movies were so far ahead of their time that they left critics and audiences in the dust. Thankfully, both have had a chance to catch up.

Starship Troopers (1997)

Paul Verhoeven’s action-packed movie Starship Troopers had audiences and critics scratching their heads in the late 1990s. The story involves a futuristic military force who battles supposedly evil aliens on planets throughout the galaxy. In typical Verhoeven fashion, the movie was actually a biting commentary about propaganda and the military industrial complex.

Many critics took the movie at face value at the time, but modern audiences have caught onto the joke and rightfully bestowed the film the mantle of cult classic. Box Office Mojo notes the film grossed an impressive $120 million, but its $110 million budget means it lost a lot of money.

The Iron Giant (1999)

The Iron Giant is one of the most beloved animated films from the 1990s, so it’s hard to believe that it was a gigantic box office bomb. With the Cold War as a backdrop, the film follows an outcast young boy who befriends a giant robot in a small town in Maine.

The stunning animation is complimented by a terrific script, and it’s a heartwarming adventure that challenges younger viewers. Critics heaped praise on the film, but it wasn’t enough to get anyone to show up to the theater. On a reported budget of around $50 million, The Iron Giant only made about $30 million, according to Box Office Mojo.

Strange Days (1995)

Though the 1990s produced plenty of successful sci-fi films, it also spawned many cult classics that have only become beloved in the years since. Kathryn Bigelow’s near-future epic, Strange Days, involves artificial memories and murder, and is a deft combination of genres like sci-fi and noir. It’s a prescient story that has aged surprisingly well.

The reception to Strange Days was mixed, with detractors taking offense to the story choices while praising the film’s visuals. Making only $17 million (Box Office Mojo) against a $40 million budget, it’s impossible to know exactly how much the movie lost. Director Kathryn Bigelow’s career took a hit, but she rebounded with The Hurt Locker in 2008.

The Thing (1982)

Director John Carpenter’s career is filled with cult classics that underperformed at the box office, but none were quite like The Thing. Reimagining the classic B-movie, the film is set in an arctic research station where a mysterious alien begins switching places with the human crew. Unflinchingly scary, Rob Bottin’s special effects are some of the grossest in cinema history.

Released just weeks after E.T., The Thing was the anтιтhesis of an optimistic, family-friendly summer blockbuster. Critics and fans hated the movie at first, but that quickly changed when it landed on home video. The Thing is now considered one of the all-time greats of ’80s horror, and it has since become profitable after its underwhelming theatrical run.

Sunshine (2007)

Sunshine is a sci-fi movie that straddles the line between complex and simple, and that indecision ultimately doomed the film. Danny Boyle’s space adventure involves a crew tasked with reigniting the dying sun in order to save all life on earth. Underneath is a psychological analysis of death, and the various reactions to impending doom.

Boyle’s deft direction was enough to earn praise from critics, and the stripped-down approach to sci-fi was refreshing. However, its tonal issues were picked apart in contemporary reviews. The movie bombed when it only made $35 million against a $40 million budget (Box Office Mojo), but is now seen as a hidden gem in the Aughts sci-fi catalog.

Dredd (2012)

Iconic comic book antihero Judge Dredd hasn’t fared well in his big screen adventures thus far, but 2012’s Dredd is the most disappointing of all. Set in a dystopian future, the тιтle character is a cop who uses excessive violence to clean up the streets. With Alex Garland penning the script, Dredd was a vast improvement over the 1995 version.

The reboot got strong reviews and critics were able to look past its somewhat simplistic story to enjoy the action-packed romp. Much like its predecessor, Dredd was a box office disappointment, and earned only $41 million against a $45 million budget (Box Office Mojo). Subsequent rewatches have uncovered Garland’s subtle approach to the source material’s aggressive social commentary.

Gattaca (1997)

Gattaca was the type of movie that was never destined to be a huge box office hit, but it was held back by its lavish budget. Essentially a social commentary about the dangers of eugenics, the story concerns a man who fakes his idenтιтy to go to space in a world where supposedly genetically inferior people are banned.

The movie’s social commentary and beautiful visuals were given high marks by critics, and the film was well-received by those that saw it. Unfortunately, too few people actually saw the movie, which contributed to its notorious financial failure. Gattaca only made $12 million of its $36 million (Box Office Mojo) budget back, making it the 119th highest-grossing film of 1997.

Dark City (1998)

Alex Proyas’ late ’90s gem continued a trend of heady sci-fi in the 1990s, but Dark City was almost too smart for its own good. Mixing science fiction and noir (among many other influences), Dark City is the story of a man who works to clear his name when he is accused of murder.

That summary doesn’t do the film justice, and it quickly devolves into a mind-bending adventure. The movie got strong reviews, and particular support from Roger Ebert, but that wasn’t enough to keep it from bombing. The movie earned back its production budget of $27 million (Box Office Mojo), but still lost a ton of money when additional costs are factored.

Edge Of Tomorrow (2014)

Calling a movie that grossed over $370 million (Box Office Mojo) a bomb would be a stretch, but Edge of Tomorrow still underperformed. The Tom Cruise vehicle involves a future where an alien invasion is countered using time loop technology that allows a soldier to live the same day repeatedly. The cast, action, and visual effects were all exemplary.

Edge of Tomorrow got stellar reviews, but it was quickly clear that marketing had failed the action spectacle. тιтle confusion and a lack of advertising meant the movie didn’t get all the attention it deserved, and its hefty $178 million production budget was just too much to overcome. Thankfully, streaming has helped the movie find its audience a decade later.

Blade Runner 2049 (2017)

35 years after Blade Runner was a box office disappointment, director Denis Villeneuve hoped to make amends with Blade Runner 2049. Delving back into the beloved sci-fi noir universe, the movie stars Ryan Gosling as a new Blade Runner who must work to uncover a mᴀssive conspiracy at the heart of society.

Though some critics lamented that the movie was a bit too slow, it garnered heaps of praise for its visuals and imaginative continuation of the Blade Runner mythos. The Hollywood Reporter estimated that the science fiction film needed to make $400 million to break even, but it only grossed $270 million (Box Office Mojo).