Box office flop

Although 'The Shawshank Redemption' is now considered to be one of the best movies at all time, it flopped at the box office.

On a budget of $25 million, the film earned just $18 million after its theatrical run came to a close.

Morgan Freeman later theorised that the title was to blame for its disappointing box office performance.

He said: "Nobody could say, 'Shawshank Redemption'. What sells anything is word of mouth. Now, your friends say, 'Ah, man, I saw this movie, The . . . what was it? Shank, Sham, Shim? Something like that. Anyways, terrific.' Well, that doesn’t sell you."

Despite being a box office flop, the picture found an audience on home release and was praised by critics.

It was nominated for seven Academy Awards: Best Picture, Best Actor for Freeman, Best Adapted Screenplay for Darabont, Best Cinematography, Best Film Editing, Best Sound and Best Original Score. However, it did not win one Oscar.