It may be considered one of the all-time classic films today, but The Shawshank Redemption didn't attract much attention when it was first released. This wasn't due to bad reviews; on the contrary, Shawshank was praised by most contemporary critics. The main issue the film had gaining traction in theaters was due to the competition—it opened in only 33 theaters over its first weekend, and by time it had a wider release in its fourth week, it was pitted in a losing battle against more popular releases like Pulp Fiction, The Specialist, and The River Wild. It ended up only making $28 million in theaters, against its $25 million budget.

Although it was nominated for seven Academy Awards—without any wins—and it became a success in the video rental market, it wouldn't be until 1997 that The Shawshank Redemption really came into its own. That year, Ted Turner acquired Castle Rock Entertainment (and the rights to Shawshank), and subsequently started playing it almost daily on his flagship channel, TNT. Turner's marketing ploy worked, and the movie gained legions of fans. The Shawshank Redemption would eventually go on to earn recognition as an all-time great, consistently topping the IMDb "Top 250" list since 2008. It was added to the U.S. Library of Congress' National Film Registry in 2015.