Comingsoon.net is looking back at some of the riskiest, most absurd films to come out of the studio system. Check out our picks in the gallery below!
As we head into the 2020s, it’s really interesting to look back on how drastically the box office has changed in the past several decades or so. The types of movies audiences flock to see—right now, that means an endless stream of live-action remakes of classic animated films and interconnected superhero movies—determine the types of movies studios give the green light to. It hasn’t always been this way, though. American moviemaking used to be a whole lot different, and the types of movies produced are pretty unrecognizable compared to the ones put out today.
Honestly, it’s not hyperbole to say that there are movies released before the 2010s that simply wouldn’t have been made today. Whether it’s because they’re too absurd, too risky, or too niche, there’s just no doubt that—if pitched today—studios would present the filmmakers with a big fat no.
green light movies
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Attack of the Killer Tomatoes (1978)
A send-up of the B-movies of the past, Attack of the Killer Tomatoes is tongue-in-cheek as can be. Moviegoers appreciated this, finding it darkly comedic and plenty clever back in the late 70s. Today, B-movies live and die on streaming services and spoof movies are less relevant than ever. It just wouldn’t fly.
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Baby Geniuses (1999)
The 90s saw all kinds of baby movies, for some reason. The most indescribable of the bunch is Baby Geniuses, which followed a group of super intelligent infants tasked with saving the world. Children’s movies look nothing like this today, and studios wouldn’t have thought twice about shutting this film down.
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Bruno (2009)
Sacha Baron Cohen was seemingly unstoppable in the years before and immediately after the release of his magnum opus, Borat. With that being said, it’s hard to imagine any one studio or producer spending a cent on something as controversial or risky as Bruno.
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The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Across the 8th Dimension (1984)
One of the most quintessentially 80s films to come out of the decade, The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Across the 8th Dimension stars a whole slew of icons from the era and features a truly one-of-a-kind plot line and equally original visuals. However, this is the type of original film that wouldn’t stand a chance up against the behemoths of the late-10s box office.
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G-Force (2009)
The only live-action films Disney’s interested in making right now rely exclusively on preexisting intellectual property (or IP). Needless to day, G-Force would have absolutely zero chance up against the studio’s current mode of filmmaking. It was nearly 300 million back in 2009, but it’d be a bona fide flop today.
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Norbit (2007)
Like Mike Myers, Eddie Murphy was a superstar for his ability to don elaborate makeup and churn out impression after impression. Playing more than a handful of characters was Murphy’s knack, and audiences loved it. In the years since, studios have seemingly lost faith in the raunchy studio comedy. Norbit would be nonexistent if it arrived any later than 2007.
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Team America: World Police (2004)
Trey Parker and Matt Stone have had their ups and downs in Hollywood—South Park isn’t nearly as relevant in 2019 as it was back in the early 2000s, but the creators still have some clout following the smash success of their Broadway musical The Book of Mormon. If they tried to put out this marionette movie in the late 10s, there’s no doubt studios would ask them for a Book of Mormon movie instead.
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The Love Guru (2008)
Mike Myers absolutely dominated the back end of the 90s and the first half of the 2000s, with franchises like Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery and Shrek bringing in all kinds of revenue for the studios and their stars. The Love Guru shouldn’t have been an exception—more of the same from Myers, dressed in all kinds of costumes with plenty of sight gags and wordplay. Over ten years later, there’s just no way this movie would’ve ever made it past development.
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The Neverending Story (1984)
When it comes to fantasy films, a studio would undoubtedly want to put all their money into remaking or expanding a preexisting IP like Narnia, Harry Potter, or something else of the sort before they ever put a dime into something as unique as The Neverending Story. It’s a shame, too, because it’s an 80s classic.
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Time Bandits (1981)
In the same vein as The Neverending Story, 1981’s Time Bandits remains incredibly watchable even after all these years. Monty Python’s Holy Grail might have plenty of notoriety still today, but Terry Gilliam and the gang just don’t have box office draw (at least in the eyes of executives). There’s just no way we’d get Time Bandits in 2019.
