Box Office Flops That Became Iconic

You know how sometimes you work your hardest on a project or an assignment and the end result is good. Not just good, no. The end result is actually great. Quite frankly, if you weren’t bragging, you’d see it was the best project you’d ever seen.

But just because your project is insanely good doesn’t mean it gets first place. And if you got that very vivid example, you’ll get how some filmmakers feel when their films flop in the box office even though they’re really good.

You’d actually be surprised just how many iconic films, ones we swear by today, quite literally flunk the box office. Just check this list and you’ll get it.

Fatat El-Masna3

This movie was responsible for a lot of things. It signaled a resurgence for renowned director Mohamed Khan, an introduction to Yasmine Raes, a chance to see Hany Adel actually doing some decent acting — the works!

But guess what? Moviegoers at the time didn’t really care. The movie only made a million pounds and then some, which may sound great until you realize that blockbusters released at the same time generated about 31 million pounds.

Febrayer El-Eswed

Maybe it simply wasn’t meant to be for the movie. See, even the filmmakers behind Febrayer El-Eswed were kind of reluctant about releasing it so they picked a haphazard date that in turn meant slim profits.

But, you know, maybe it was for the best. Febrayer El-Eswed enjoyed a substantial success, of near-iconic lengths, when it was released on TV.

El-Hasa El-Sab3a

Yes, we know, we couldn’t believe it too. When El-Hasa El-Sab3a was released, everyone (and we mean everyone) was against it because the plot was considered a bunch of youthful nonsense featuring Ahmed El-Fishawy.

Now, El-Hasa El-Sab3a is a widely known favorite and we’re pretty sure if it was released in any other year, it would have been an insta-success.

El-7areef

Can you imagine a star like Adel Imam leaving the theater thirty minutes into the premiere of El-7areef because the audience was booing him? Yeah, neither can we!

But, see, this is exactly what happened. The audience, accustomed to Adel Imam in a very specific set of roles, couldn’t really accept El-7areef. That is, of course, until it finally got its TV release and people actually understood it.

Ma3aly El-Wazeer

This was actually all a matter of luck when we think about. It just so happened that 2002 was the year for young aspiring actors rather than veterans of the acting world and this is kind of why Ahmed Zaki’s Ma3aly El-Wazeer flopped.

When it finally got its TV release, this movie (and Ahmed Zaki’s wonderful, awarded performance) finally got its public due.

Shay2 Min El-Khouf

Surprisingly, this classic didn’t really bring in the numbers when it first came out, which didn’t make sense to most people. See, when you put Shadia, Mahmoud Morsy, and Yehia Shahine in a movie you will expect results.

But as luck would have it, people at the time thought the film was too morbid to buy a ticket to…if only they’d known what was coming next.

Ayam El-Sadat

Maybe there’s something about Ahmed Zaki playing politically influential roles that makes these type of movies box office flops. We honestly don’t know, but what we do know is that it personally cost the actor, who sold his own car to produce Ayam El-Sadat.

There’s a happy ending here, though. This movie generated an impeccable buzz when it was set to be released on TV and is a fan-favorite to many today.

EL-Nasser Salah El-Din

A classic feature in special holidays, El-Nasser Salah El-Din was one of our greater attempts at a war epic that actually landed. For some reason, this five-year production didn’t find any luck with our audiences.

Naturally, with the passage of time, Egyptians warmed up to this fun war epic and took every opportunity to blast it on TV.

What movie especially surprised you on this list?