[stm]

Not to mention that I'd be willing to bet Citizen Kane would be a box office flop today

[Enchante]

"Citizen Kane would be a box office flop today"

As it was in its day..... it got some nominations from the Academy (only one actual award, though) but very few in the public ever saw it in 1941-42...... though we will never know what it might have done at the box office had Wm. Randolph Hearst not carried out a largely successful campaign to kill the film - he was not able to prevent its release, but he did help to make it disappear without too much notice until it enjoyed a revival with universities, critics, and film scholars many years later.

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/kane2/

"Major theater chains refused to carry Citizen Kane. Hearst's campaign to discredit Welles was ruthless, skillful, and much aided by Welles himself, who had never bothered to hide his contempt for Hollywood. When Welles' name and his film were mentioned at the 1942 Academy Awards, they were booed. Nominated for nine awards, Citizen Kane lost in every category except one. (Welles shared the award for best screenplay with Herman Mankiewicz.) After the Academy's repudiation of Citizen Kane, RKO quietly retired the film to its vault."

[skr]

Citizen Kane was a box office flop in 1941. Why should today be any different?