Wes Anderson is one of cinema’s greatest living auteurs, as his movies are shot in a way that makes them look like cartoons come to life, and it’s an aesthetic with which cinephiles have fallen in love over the years.
However, it’s interesting to find that Anderson has had so few financially successful movies. Though many of his movies have recuperated their losses from DVD sales in the 2000s and later with streaming services, upon theatrical release, many of them were a studio’s nightmare come to life even with the positive response most of them received.
Bottle Rocket - $560,069
Anderson created Bottle Rocket with a minuscule budget of $5 million, but it still wasn’t low enough for the movie to see a net profit. In fact, it was a box office failure, barely even recuperating 10% of its budget back and that doesn’t even take into the amount of money that was spent on marketing.
However, it was beloved by critics and it started Owen Wilson’s career. Martin Scorsese even named it one of the 10 best movies of the '90s.
Rushmore - $17,195,500
Featuring one of the worst first dates in a movie, Rushmore follows a child genius who fights for the love of his life against his teacher/father figure, played brilliantly by Bill Murray.
Though the movie wasn’t massively successful, it did at least reach the millions. Wes Anderson’s sophomore effort was again a movie that was praised by critics, but for some reason or another didn’t find an audience, or at least it didn't until later years.
The Life Aquatic With Steve Zissou - $34,808,403
In what is one of the strangest concepts in a Wes Anderson movie, The Life Aquatic follows a bunch of oceanographers who exact revenge on a shark.
Though Steve Zissou is one of Wes Anderson’s funniest characters, it wasn’t enough to get butts in seats, and this time it wasn’t even enough to win the hearts of the critics, as it currently sits at 58% on Rotten Tomatoes. Because of this, the movie stands at a loss, making less than $35 million off a budget of more than $50 million.
The Darjeeling Limited - $35,307,949
Being the follow up to The Life Aquatic, 2007’s The Darjeeling Limited is a tale about three estranged brothers who learn to bond after the ing of their father. It’s a sweet film that reunites a bunch of old collaborators, which helped the movie make more money than it otherwise would have.
Though it was still just cinephiles and overly enthusiastic fans of Anderson who saw it, being made with a budget of $17.5 million, the movie was somewhat profitable.
Fantastic Mr. Fox - $46,472,606
Fantastic Mr. Fox marks a lot of firsts for the director, as it’s the first adaptation Anderson has directed, and it’s not only the first animated movie of his but the first stop-motion movie too.
Though Fantastic Mr. Fox is one of the best stop motion movies of all time, it still wasn’t enough for general audiences to purchase tickets, possibly coming off too quirky, as Anderson doesn’t adapt his dry humor to fit the mold of a children’s movie. The studio again lost money with the movie’s theatrical release.
Moonrise Kingdom - $68,263,166
As Moonrise Kingdom was the first live-action Anderson movie in five years, the wait may have left audiences’ mouths watering for perfectly symmetrical shots, dry humor, and creatively put together ensemble casts, which would explain the movie’s success.
The 2012 film is the first on the list to actually be successful, as it had a low budget of $16 million. Viewers fell in love with the coming of age drama, and it has some hilarious quotes.
Isle of Dogs - $64,241,499
Getting into stop motion was one of the times Anderson was so on brand, so it’s hardly surprising that he returned to the art form.
Though many directors who work in stop motion vow to never work with it again due to its difficulty, Anderson’s second attempt with Isle of Dogs was much more successful than Fantastic Mr. Fox, as it was well-received by critics and featured an all-star voice cast led by Bryan Cranston.
The Royal Tenenbaums - $71,441,250
The Royal Tenenbaums, which is about the most dysfunctional movie family conceivable, was a magnificent feat for Anderson and it showed that audiences really were interested in oddball, quirky but heartfelt comedy-dramas.
With its British Invasion rock soundtrack and its ensemble cast (and being the last great movie Gene Hackman starred in), one of the director’s earliest works remains one of the most financially successful.
The Grand Budapest Hotel - $172,940,180
Being one of the best Wes Anderson movies The Grand Budapest Hotel is Anderson’s magnum opus and it has all of his tropes turned up to 11.
It’s amazing how much of a difference there is in box office gross between the top spot and second place, but it’s likely down to the fact that it has the biggest ensemble cast in a Wes Anderson movie to date, that it was nominated for nine academy awards, and that it’s often looked at as one of the greatest films of the 21st century.
