What makes a movie a “classic”?
Time is certainly important. No matter how popular in theaters or on streaming, nothing released in 2026 will be called a classic for at least a decade or two (at least not without a qualifier like “instant” thrown into the mix). Quality also matters; nobody calls Gigli or Battlefield Earth a classic (at least not without a qualifier like “so-bad-its-good” thrown into the mix). Awards help too, at least insofar as they help build consensus among viewers.
One thing that doesn’t make a movie a classic, somewhat paradoxically, is how many tickets it sells in theaters. Sometimes an eventual classic is also a major box-office hit. The Godfather was the highest-grossing film ever at one point in the 1970s and then Jaws surpassed it. You’d be hard-pressed to find anyone who doesn’t consider both of those titles classics now.
But there are also a ton of movies that qualify as blockbusters that are anything but classics. Is Star Wars: Episode II — Attack of the Clones a classic? Is Tim Burton’s Planet of the Apes? How about Superman Returns? All three of those movies earned hundreds of millions of dollars in theaters. None are worthy of the title of “classic.”
On the flip side, many films that grossed a fraction of what Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen or X-Men Origins: Wolverine earned in theaters gradually evolved into true classics. Despite limited success in on the big screen, they became beloved favorites on home video and cable. Like, for example, the 12 films below. They’ve been watched countless times. They’re studied and examined and passed down from one generation to the next. That’s the mark of a true classic.
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These films were flopped in theaters, but now they are all remembered as classics.
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These movies all made more than $150 million worldwide — some several multiples of $150 million worldwide.