wildyams

Here we are on the doorstep of what promises to be yet another huge flop starring Angelina Jolie (the much-maligned Alexander is the movie I'm referencing), and to commemorate the occasion I wanted to ponder which actors out there have huge names and recognizability (meaning they're A-list stars) even though their movies continue to flop. I wanted to throw out a couple actors to see what people think:

Harrison Ford
His last four movies and their domestic grosses were:
Hollywood Homicide - $30,940,691
K-19: The Widowmaker - $35,168,966
What Lies Beneath - $155,464,351
Random Hearts - $31,502,583

Now What Lies Beneath was clearly a hit, but keep in mind that was almost 5 years ago. He's got to be a little worried about his draw these days, although I would guess if he just gets the right script he'll probably be able to churn out another hit. I don't know if I can say that about the rest of these actors.

Angelina Jolie
Here is a list of all of her movies since Tomb Raider:
Sky Captain - $37,517,057
Taking Lives - $32,682,342
Beyond Borders - $4,430,101
Tomb Raider 2 - $65,660,196
Life or Something Like It - $14,448,589
Original Sin - $16,534,221

Clearly she's not exactly "popular" at the box office these days. I sure hope she's not asking for much money for these roles, otherwise you have to wonder why she keeps getting work.

Ben Affleck
Once the supposed "king" of the box office, look at how far he's fallen with his last few films:
Surviving Christmas - $11,217,186
Jersey Girl - $25,268,157
Paycheck - $53,790,451
Gigli - $6,087,542

I guess this just goes to show you that Matt Damon, who did not sell out for a slew of shitty roles once he became an A-List star (unlike Mr. Affleck), made the right choice in the long run, considering Damon now has two solid franchises with the Bourne and Ocean movies.

Vin Diesel
After XXX (which was a disappointing showing for Sony, even though it made $140 million), Mr. Diesel has strung together quite a few bombs:
The Chronicles of Riddick - $57,712,751
A Man Apart - $26,736,098
Knockaround Guys - $11,715,637

He's now returning to the Fast & Furious franchise after saying he was through with those movies, which is not a good sign for him, and he was replaced as the lead in the sequel to XXX by Ice Cube, who is not exactly a huge draw himself, having never been in a movie to gross more than $80 million.

John Travolta
He's been here before (see the Look Who's Talking era of his career), and his last movie was a moderate success, so maybe he's not totally dead yet, but he's certainly been in a lot of trouble lately:
Ladder 49 - $72,734,485
The Punisher - $33,781,011
Basic - $26,793,311
Domestic Disturbance - $45,246,095
Swordfish - $69,772,969
Lucky Numbers - $10,042,516
Battlefield Earth - $21,471,685

Sean Connery
The rules of the game are, if you can't bring in the crowds, you get more credit than you deserve:
The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen - $66,465,204
Finding Forrester - $51,804,714
Entrapment - $87,704,396
Playing by Heart - $3,970,078
The Avengers - $23,384,939

Connery's not quite as bad as some of the rest on this list, but I think that the poor showing this summer of LXG probably is going to signal the "over-the-hill" phase of his career. Either people are gonna think he's too old to carry a movie, or they're going to suddenly become aware that he's playing a mentor to some apprentice in every movie he's in, to whom he has to explain "the rules of the game" (i.e. Highlander, Finding Forrester, Entrapment, Rising Sun, The Rock, The Untouchables, LXG, etc...).

Other people who maybe could have been on this list but weren't:
Sylvester Stallone & Sharon Stone - The co-stars of The Specialist & Antz used to be A-list stars, but haven't had a hit in so long that I don't think anyone really considers them A-listers anymore.

Jennifer Lopez - She's a big celebrity, but it's mainly on account of the tabloid's fascination with her. She's never been in a movie that's made $100 million before, so it's debatable whether she was ever really considered an A-list actor.

Madonna - Like J-Lo, she's famous for reasons other than her movie career (although she's also somewhat famous for seeming to only star in movies that flop). She's never been a box-office draw, so the fact that she isn't anymore of one now doesn't show a change in things for her.

People like Burt Reynolds who were A-list stars 20+ years ago don't count, cause they are not really in their heyday anymore. Very few actors can legitimately be considered A-list stars when they are in their 60s or beyond, and in my opinion, only "the Jones boys" are guys that age who's status should be questioned.

Also I'd like to mention that John Woo is probably the best example of this type of drop-off in success as far as directors go. After having back to back hits with Face Off and MI:2, he's had consecutive bombs with Windtalkers and Paycheck; and I for one am glad to see that he's finally been brought back down to earth in terms of his credibility since he's awful :grin