12 Comedy Bombs We Totally Love

These comedy movies were regarded as box office flops when they came out — but maybe that just means the world wasn't ready for them yet. Here are 12 comedy bombs we totally love.

Team America: World Police (2004)

From the creators of South Park, this comedy stars a bunch of puppets with huge eyes. Okay, they're actually voiced by Trey Parker and Matt Stone.

The movie follows North Korean dictator Kim Jong-il, who is trying to pull off a global terrorist plot — but the puppets of Team America are hell bent on stopping him in his tracks.

Unfortunately, it barely broke even on its $32 million budget (all of our box office numbers for this story come from Box Office Mojo). But we still have a soft spot for it.

Evan Almighty (2007)

This follow up to the popular Jim Carrey movie Bruce Almighty stars Steve Carrell, but it unfortunately kind of flopped. That's too bad though, because it's actually really funny!

Carrell plays a successful politician who meets God, played by Morgan Freeman, and is informed that he's the new Noah and he needs to build an arc.

Too bad this one earned about $75 million less at the box office than it cost to make.

"Is it too much to ask for a little precipitation?!"

Top Secret! (1984)

This hilarious 1984 parody comedy movie stars Val Kilmer as an American music star who goes to East Germany to perform in a music festival. There, he meets Hilary Flammond (Lucy Gutteridge), who gets him unexpectedly involved in an underground resistance movement.

As Gutteridge says in Top Secret!, "I know, it all sounds like some bad movie." And sadly, it was a pretty big flop upon its release in 1984.

*Stares into camera, breaks the fourth wall*

The Master of Disguise (2002)

Are you turtley enough for the turtle club?

You are if you can recognize the subtle greatness in this much-maligned 2002 comedy. The Master of Disguise stars Dana Carvey as Pistachio Disguisey, the heir to a family who have the secret ability to transform into anything or anyone they want.

I know what you're thinking: "That's crazy. So crazy it just might work." Click here to see our definitive ranking of all 15 of Carvey's different sketch comedy characters in the movie.

Even though this movie was beloved by me and all my friends when I was 6, The Master of Disguise currently sits at an embarrassing 1% on Rotten Tomatoes. It was so lambasted that it did considerable damage to Dana Carvey's career. But it's okay, 'cause we're so back now.

How Do You Know? (2010)

Reese Witherspoon, Paul Rudd, and Owen Wilson star in this quirky little 2010 comedy. It didn't do too great when it came out, but I personally always liked it.

Witherspoon plays Lisa, a professional softball player who gets cut from the U.S. women's team and begins a fling with an f-boy baseball player (Wilson). But then she goes on a date with goofy and charming George (Rudd) whose father (Jack Nicholson) is trying to frame him for stock fraud. It creates a weird little love triangle that has Lisa considering the meaning of love.

Okay, it's a little cheesy — and it only made back $30 million at the box office on a $120 million budget. But still, it's a good airplane watch.

Osmosis Jones (2001)

Sometimes I lose track of whether this was a real movie or just a fever dream I had in 2001.

It starts out live-action, with Bill Murray playing a careless zoo keeper who unknowingly gets a horrible virus. So, Osmosis Jones, a white blood cell police officer, has to go inside his body and get rid of it with the help of cold medicine pill.

Yeah, it's as odd as it sounds, and it didn't even come close to making back its budget at the box office. But I remember being totally transfixed by it as a kid.

Office Space (1999)

Now, this is a beloved cult-classic comedy. But when it came out in 1999, Office Space barely broke even at the box office on its $10 million budget.

Starring Ron Livingston as an average office worker named Peter Gibbons who is in love with a waitress played by Jennifer Aniston, Office Space is a dark comedy satire homage about office life in middle America.

Obviously, it's withstood the test of time and then some, as many people still talk about it glowingly — and it gained back some financial ground with home video sales. Now, it has a cult following.

This all just goes to show you that box office numbers don't always indicate how good a movie is.

Not Another Teen Movie (2001)

Before he was Captain America, Chris Evans starred in this cheeky comedy drama as a high school football star who makes a bet that he can turn an awkward girl into a prom queen.

It didn't do that bad at the box office, making back a little over double its budget, but it was poorly reviewed at the time. Right now, it sits at 32% from critics on Rotten Tomatoes. But it's also come to be remembered quite fondly as an early 2000s parody genre movie, so that's saying something.

The girls who get it, get it, and the girls who don't, don't.

EuroTrip (2004)

This 2004 comedy follows a recent high school graduate who gets dumped and decides to go on a trip to Europe to find his German penpal, Mieke. He and his friends fall into funny scenarios on their quest, which proves to be more challenging than they thought.

Unfortunately, EuroTrip only made back $17 million of its $25 million budget at the box office, but a lot of people still like it.

Joe Versus the Volcano (1990)

Everybody loved You've Got Mail, but you don't hear much about the other Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan movie from the 1990s.

This one stars Hanks as a guy who gets diagnosed with a terminal illness and decides to live it up — only to be paid handsomely to go out in style by a rich guy who wants him to dive into an active volcano. Meg Ryan is his romantic interest.

Weird premise, I know. Some regard it as a sleeper classic, while others, like the Flophouse Podcast, discuss why they think its a bad movie.

Wet Hot American Summer (2001)

Now, people love this movie, and its even got a follow up called Wet Hot American Summer: 10 Years Later in 2017. But when it came out in 2001, it totally flopped at the box office, earning less than $300,000.

It's so funny though! Come on, Paul Rudd, Amy Poehler, Elizabeth Banks, Michael Showalter, and Bradley Cooper in a movie about camp counselors in 1981? It's so good. The world just wasn't ready for this one.

At least now people see how great it was.

Tenacious D in the Pick of Destiny (2006)

On a quest to find a legendary guitar pick that has magic powers, Tenacious D band mates Jack "JB" Black and Kyle "KG" Gass form an iconic friendship that could just lead to the creation of greatest rock band the world has never known.

Too bad this movie only made back a little over $8 million of its $20 million budget. Now, people are more forgiving of it and it's known for its good qualities, but back in 2006, people just didn't really turn out to the theaters to see it.

Sometimes, great things take time to appreciate.

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