Sam Raimi directed two of the most iconic film franchises of all time, evil Dead and spider man, but his film career was far from black and white. The director is the king of minor hits and hits, as his films are rarely box-office hits but they slowly win over audiences after their theatrical release.
The director was once known as a horror auteur, then became a jack-of-all-trades by directing genre films, then became a visionary superhero filmmaker. According to Box Office Mojo, Raimi’s filmography is everywhere, as are the film’s box office receipts.
Updated May 8, 2022 by Shawn S. Lealos: Sam Raimi will almost certainly have the highest-grossing movie of his career in 2022. While the Spider-Man movies he produced for Sony were hugely successful, these films were nowhere near the same. What Marvel is currently doing in the Marvel Universe. After “Spider-Man: No Way Home” became the highest-grossing movie of 2021, Raimi hopes to continue playing Doctor Strange in “The Multiverse of Madness.”
Raimi also helped produce a new Evil Dead movie, but all eyes will be on his first film in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. This might also be a good time to revisit old Raimi movies, some of which flopped at the box office but still ended up becoming cult classics.
Crime Wave (1985) – $5,101
Available to rent on Vudu, Microsoft, Apple TV, Prime Video and Google Play.
In 1985, Sam Raimi’s horror movie is still critically acclaimed evil dead. Later, he met brothers Joel and Ethan Coen, two other independent film producers at the time, and became close friends. The result of this friendship was a film written by the Coen brothers and directed by Sam Raimi called ” crime wave.
In 2022, hearing that Sam Raimi is directing a movie written by the Coen brothers might lead one to think that it will be a huge success. However, the comedy-horror film turned out to be the lowest-grossing major film of Raimi’s career. The film was released in only three states and ultimately grossed just over $5,000.
The Evil Dead (1981) – $2.89 million
Now streaming on HBO Max.
The film that made Sam Raimi a star didn’t do well at the box office, but it at least received enough praise from horror fans and critics to immortalize his reputation. When Stephen King praised the film, it was promoted as a cult favorite, but it was too late to save it at the box office.
The film grossed $2.89 million, which may not seem like much today, but it was an impressive result for a 1981 film. The film was particularly good because it cost just $375,000 to make, making it a financial success and leading to Raimi getting more funding to make a sequel six years later.
The Evil Dead II (1987) – $5.9 million
Now streaming on HBO Max.
On the surface, evil dead 2 It’s about a man’s struggle with a tree, a bookshelf, and his own hand as it is chopped down and takes on a life of its own. But it takes the simple premise of the original and doubles down on the comedy and practical creatures. This is one of Keanu Reeves’ favorite movies and there’s no higher praise than that.
Sam Raimi’s movies seem to take long after they hit theaters to catch on.Many of his films are cult classics, but actually didn’t do well at the box office, and evil Dead Series is the first example. evil dead 2 Probably making less than $6 million, it was a bomb at the time, but it must have made tens of millions of dollars since through DVD sales and streaming syndication.
Army of Darkness (1992) – $11.5 million
Now streaming on HBO Max.
Dark Army is the third evil Dead movie and one of many forgotten 90s gems. It was the first film to really change the tone and level of production of the series, as it was set in the Middle Ages and expanded on the lore of the series. Although the film grossed nearly twice as much as its predecessor, it was still not enough to justify its $6 million budget.
Due to its low box office receipts, this is probably why fans never got a real follow-up.like evil dead 2 Ending with the shocking twist of Ash entering the Middle Ages through a portal, the same thing happened in Dark Armyonly for him to land hundreds of years later.
A Simple Plan (1998) – $16.3 million
Now streaming on Max Go and DirecTV.
The mid-to-late 1990s was an important moment in Sam Raimi’s career, as studios gave him the budget he needed to make films in a variety of genres.but a simple planDespite being a suspenseful and gripping thriller, it was the lowest-grossing of all the films.
Due to Raimi’s close relationship with the Coen brothers, a simple plan It feels like a typical Coen brothers movie, telling the story of two brothers who become greedy and deceitful after finding $4 million. While Raimi’s classic campy humor spiced up the Coen brothers’ formula, it wasn’t enough to get people into theaters.
“The Dying Man” (1995) – $18.6 million
Now streaming on Fubo and DirecTV.
It seems that I want to make a movie of various types, whether it is a horror movie, a superhero movie, or even a sad sports movie, The fast and the dead It’s Raimi’s Western. Unfortunately, the film had the largest budget Raimi had ever worked with to date, at $35 million, and failed miserably at the box office.
Westerns were not that popular in the 1990s, and there were only two that were really popular with ordinary audiences. unforgivable and tombstone. Westerns didn’t really have a renaissance until the mid-2000s, but the 1995 movie is still great, it’s just that audiences at the time didn’t want to see it.
Gift (2000) – $44.5 million
Now streaming on Prime Video, Paramount+, Epix, Sling and DirecTV.
It almost feels like the filmmakers thought they had to direct a drama with an ensemble cast and a multi-threaded narrative to be considered a director, and Gift It was Sam Raimi’s attempt. The director ushered in the 2000s with this quietly entertaining suspense film, which was a modest box office success for the director.
The film’s box office success was aided by a massive cast of box office stars at the time, including Cate Blanchett, Keanu Reeves, Hilary Swank and Katie Holmes. Such a large cast was something Raimi had never worked with before, but despite this, it was made on a surprisingly low budget. Gift It cost just $10 million to produce, making it Raimi’s most profitable film to date.
Game of Love (1999) – $46.1 million
Now streaming on Peacock and Starz.
It’s almost like it’s impossible For the love of games It failed because this is a 1990s sports movie, and if there was one genre that was most popular in the 1990s, it was sports. The film also starred Kevin Costner, who was a big box office star at the time but whose character was poorly written.
The film also received some of the worst reviews of Raimi’s career, as he abandoned all of his signature trademarks in favor of a sentimental love story and a tepid baseball movie.Although the film’s box office gross exceeded Giftwhich was a box office disaster because its budget was $50 million, and gift $10 million.
“Dark Ones” (1990) – $48.8 million
Available to rent on Vudu, Microsoft, Apple TV, Prime Video, Redbox and Google Play.
This movie may have been forgotten by many, but Sam Raimi directed a superhero movie long before this one came out. spider man series. Dark One Not based on any source material and is actually Raimi’s original work. This is a unique take on the gritty vigilante, Dark One It also has an extremely accurate description of the future.
However, although Dark One did not accurately arrive at the astronomical box office figures spider man True enough, it’s still a small success.and like spider manwhich also spawned several sequels, although they were not directed by Raimi and were instead direct-to-video.
Drag Me to Hell (2009) – 90.8 million
Available to rent on Vudu, Microsoft, Apple TV, Prime Video, Redbox and Google Play.
Although Sam Raimi is known as a visionary horror director, it’s surprising that he hasn’t directed a horror film in a long time.Although drag me to hell Written in the 1990s, 17 years apart Army of the Undead And there’s this 2009 movie. But despite the hiatus, he hasn’t forgotten any of his genius skills and even has a few more tricks up his sleeve.
drag me to hell sees Raimi once again using supernatural elements, having his character suffer comical violence and be vomited by projectiles.This movie is almost like a pallet cleaner as it’s a fun popcorn movie that follows the trilogy spider man Watch movies back to back. As a result, the film tripled its budget and grossed just over $90 million worldwide, according to Box Office Mojo.
Once Upon a Time (2013) – $493.3 million
Now streaming on Starz and DirecTV.
The great and powerful land of Oz Making nearly $500 million sounds like a huge success and one of Sam Raimi’s highest-grossing films, but it’s actually hard to tell whether the film’s box office receipts were profitable for Disney.
The production budget of the film is US$200 million, and the marketing budget is generally the same as the production budget. After the movie theaters take away the share, there is not much left for Disney.Disney may be hoping for results like 2010 alice in wonderlandis another dark, auteuristic take on Disney’s weird IP. That movie had a similar budget but grossed over $1 billion.
Spider-Man trilogy – $2.5 billion
Available to rent on Vudu, Microsoft, Apple TV, Prime Video, Redbox and Google Play.
None of Sam Raimi’s filmography, regardless of quality, can compare to the huge success achieved by the trio spider man Movies he directed. When it comes to his highest-grossing films, combined they dwarf everything he’s done.
2002 spider man It had the highest-grossing opening weekend ever at the time, even spider man 3The one who is hated by fans still makes more money than any of them.It’s a shame Sony didn’t follow Remy’s lead spider man 4sounds like it could redeem the director for a third film, but there’s no shortage of spider man Movies now.