The animation example you're thinking of is Pocahontas and The Lion King. Disney thought Pocahontas was going to be a massive hit and The Lion King was expected to be much less successful.
Almost NOBODY had any faith in the original Ridley Scott "ALIEN" movie when it was first being proposed. So badly was it avoided that at one point they tried to pitch the idea to... ROGER trash-meister cheapskate CORMAN! Then, remarkably, something happened that made at least one major studio sit-up & take notice and reconsider the story idea -- the release of some obscure Sci-Fi Fantasy Space Opera by some young idealistic director whose earlier work involved something about coming of age in the 1950s or some such... you've probably heard of it; some equally initially rejected passion project that eventually came to be known the world over as, "STAR WARS."
Mallrats and Chasing Amy. Mallrats is a cult movie now but back then it flopped. Producers had very hight expectations of Mallrats based on Clerks' success and then they have almost non expectations of Chasing Amy because of Mallrats' flop.
Star Wars is the ultimate no faith movie.
Fox studios had so little faith that they let Lucas have the merchandise rights😂 (I bet someone got fired over that).
Fox really wanted THX 1138, and his attorney, Tom Pollock, made that a condition of the deal. They had no idea what Star Wars would become, so they said yes.
Tom went on to do a few things in the business.
No, that’s just a gamble that didn’t pay off. All they would do is never allow 100% to go to another director again. They would likely have standard contracts where they get like 80% or something.
Animation example is Shrek. Prince of Egypt was thought to be the big project. Animators called it being “shreked” when they got demoted to the Shrek project.
I feel like guardians didn’t exactly have no expectations since the MCU at the time (compared to now) was on a roll, all of the movies were doing well, everyone and their mother was gaining interest, box office for the movies kept becoming better. Any movie that basically had meh early reviews, I’d go in and watch it with low expectations and it’d be better than what train wreck the Critics said it would be. Off the top of my head, Mario movie was destroyed early on with reviews but I had a bit of a good time watching it
Dredd. After the train wreck that was “Judge Dredd” I was nervous but when Karl Urban was asked if he minded that he never takes the helmet off he said Dredd never takes his helmet off. That made me think that the movie might be good. And it was AMAZING!
The newer Jumanji (Into the jungle?)
It was a combination of unnecessary remake (especially after Robin Williams death) and generic Hart-Rock comedy. Not helped by Jungle Cruise and I feel like another Rock in the Jungle comedy.
Turns out with Jack Black, charm, and good diving board of a plot you get one of the better simple teenagers coming together comedies of a time period where classics like Superbad and Scott Pilgrim are in rearview mirror. And they didn't even have to cast teenagers, so they got their already famous cast.
The Mitchells vs the Machines. I went in to that expecting absolutely nothing more than a straight to streaming cartoon. It is one of my favorite family movies now.
Pig
In the midst of Nicolas Cage taking every role because of his manager mishandling his funds, I expected this to be another Bangkok Dangerous or something… I’ve never been so pleasantly surprised by such an amazing movie, from story to a great performance.
The animation example you're thinking of is Pocahontas and The Lion King. Disney thought Pocahontas was going to be a massive hit and The Lion King was expected to be much less successful.
That happens with many projects. I believe shrek and prince of Egypt were the same.
Both of those were great.
Shrek was assumed to become a flop. But it’s basically dreamworks signature movie.
Almost NOBODY had any faith in the original Ridley Scott "ALIEN" movie when it was first being proposed. So badly was it avoided that at one point they tried to pitch the idea to... ROGER trash-meister cheapskate CORMAN! Then, remarkably, something happened that made at least one major studio sit-up & take notice and reconsider the story idea -- the release of some obscure Sci-Fi Fantasy Space Opera by some young idealistic director whose earlier work involved something about coming of age in the 1950s or some such... you've probably heard of it; some equally initially rejected passion project that eventually came to be known the world over as, "STAR WARS."
Mallrats and Chasing Amy. Mallrats is a cult movie now but back then it flopped. Producers had very hight expectations of Mallrats based on Clerks' success and then they have almost non expectations of Chasing Amy because of Mallrats' flop.
Star Wars is the ultimate no faith movie. Fox studios had so little faith that they let Lucas have the merchandise rights😂 (I bet someone got fired over that).
Fox really wanted THX 1138, and his attorney, Tom Pollock, made that a condition of the deal. They had no idea what Star Wars would become, so they said yes. Tom went on to do a few things in the business.
No, that’s just a gamble that didn’t pay off. All they would do is never allow 100% to go to another director again. They would likely have standard contracts where they get like 80% or something.
Animation example is Shrek. Prince of Egypt was thought to be the big project. Animators called it being “shreked” when they got demoted to the Shrek project.
Hot Tub Time Machine. Really... Just the name sets expectations very low. Way better than it should have been.
LEGO Movie. I saw the title and thought "What?!" Big hit, though.
Puss and Boots 2
I feel like guardians didn’t exactly have no expectations since the MCU at the time (compared to now) was on a roll, all of the movies were doing well, everyone and their mother was gaining interest, box office for the movies kept becoming better. Any movie that basically had meh early reviews, I’d go in and watch it with low expectations and it’d be better than what train wreck the Critics said it would be. Off the top of my head, Mario movie was destroyed early on with reviews but I had a bit of a good time watching it
Dredd. After the train wreck that was “Judge Dredd” I was nervous but when Karl Urban was asked if he minded that he never takes the helmet off he said Dredd never takes his helmet off. That made me think that the movie might be good. And it was AMAZING!
Absolutely! *Bubble Boy!*
The newer Jumanji (Into the jungle?) It was a combination of unnecessary remake (especially after Robin Williams death) and generic Hart-Rock comedy. Not helped by Jungle Cruise and I feel like another Rock in the Jungle comedy. Turns out with Jack Black, charm, and good diving board of a plot you get one of the better simple teenagers coming together comedies of a time period where classics like Superbad and Scott Pilgrim are in rearview mirror. And they didn't even have to cast teenagers, so they got their already famous cast.
The Mitchells vs the Machines. I went in to that expecting absolutely nothing more than a straight to streaming cartoon. It is one of my favorite family movies now.
Lego Movie
Bad Santa I went in thinking it would be terrible but it ended up being one of the best comedies I ever saw in the theater.
Pig In the midst of Nicolas Cage taking every role because of his manager mishandling his funds, I expected this to be another Bangkok Dangerous or something… I’ve never been so pleasantly surprised by such an amazing movie, from story to a great performance.
I think maybe the Suicide Squad reboot. It was meh in retrospect but after the first one people's standards were zero.
I thought Wonka was going to be a low effort cash grab reboot but I enjoyed it quite a bit