Movies That Were Supposed to Make Actors a Big Deal...Then Flopped

[BoyScoutKevin]

Bekim Fehmiu
The Bosnian actor whose big break was suppose to The Adventurers (1970.) It did nil for his career. Actually, it probably did nil for the career of anybody who was in it. While i have not seen it, it is suppose to be, not only one of the worst films of 1970, but one of the worst films of all time.

The Devil's Backbone (1971)
which I saw under the title of The Deserter. Again, nil for his career, but this one I have seen, and I liked it. Maybe because he's surrounded by so many talented actors, which include . . .
Richard Crenna -- Chuck Connors -- Ricardo Montalban -- Ian Bannen -- Brandon de Wilde -- Slim Pickens -- Woody Strode -- Albert Salmi -- Patrick Wayne -- and John Huston.

While he'd continue to have a career, it just would not be in the U.S., but in Europe.

[LilCerberus]

Did I already mention Sky Captain And The World Of Tomorrow?

I thought Harley Davidson And The Marlboro Man was okay, even though it was in the dollar cinemas about a week later...

[Gabriel Knight]

Michael Chiklis as John Belushi in WIRED. A box office failure and one of the worst movies I've sever seen.

I've been reading the commments on IMDb about WIRED and it seems that most people share your point of view. According to the trivia, the actor playing Belushi (Michael Chiklis) apologized to Jim Belushi for causing pain to the family. Holy s**t.

Also: "Dan Aykroyd publicly stated his disdain for this movie and claimed that he hired witches to put a curse on it". That guy is so bonkers, I love it.

[Ted C]

Did I already mention Sky Captain And The World Of Tomorrow?

Who was that supposed to be introducing?
Jude Law? Gwyneth Paltrow? Angelina Jolie?

All the leads in that movie were played by well established actors.

And it still sucked.

[zelmo73]

While it made a profit at the box office ($225 million from a $209 million production budget) so it technically didn't flop, Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets was supposed to be the introduction of Hollywood's next big thing, Dane DeHaan. While he has been in some big movies before like Lincoln and played the role of Harry Osborne in Amazing Spider-Man 2, you could tell that Valerian was supposed to be Dane DeHaan's breakout movie. While I enjoyed the film for its amazing visuals, and the 4K Blu-ray has a remarkable Dolby Atmos audio transfer, Dane DeHaan's performance is surprisingly immemorable.

To DeHaan's credit, Luc Besson's movies always have a weird streak attached to them which gives them a slight inaccessibility for America's dumber moviegoers who are spoonfed countless remakes, reboots, and Marvel Cinematic Universe eye candy that passes for cinema nowadays, that is still no excuse since other big Luc Besson movies like Leon the Professional and The Fifth Element helped to start or boost the careers of Natalie Portman and Chris Tucker respectively. In the end, I think that Dane DeHaan was in just a bit over his head with this movie. He gave a decent performance, I guess, it just wasn't one to remember. We needed a more charismatic lead to make us forget the absolutely terrible cameo by Rihanna, which somehow even managed to top Arnold Schwarzenegger's terrible performance in Expendables 2.

[RCMerchant]

FRIDAY (1995), though not a flop movie, was supposed to make Chris Tucker a star.
It didn't. He was with Jackie Chan in a buddy cop movie thing- it sucked.
RUSH HOUR! And all the sequels (?!).

[Trevor]

FRIDAY (1995), though not a flop movie, was supposed to make Chris Tucker a star.
It didn't. He was with Jackie Chan in a buddy cop movie thing- it sucked.
RUSH HOUR! And all the sequels (?!).

The only part I liked in the original Rush Hour was where Chris Tucker and Jackie Chan go to the bar, Jackie greets the bartender (in the manner in which Chris does) and gets his ass kicked. 

[Gabriel Knight]

I'm one of those rare individuals that actually enjoyed RUSH HOUR. I feel so lonely, like when I talk about THE PHANTOM MENACE.

[Alex]

I'm one of those rare individuals that actually enjoyed RUSH HOUR. I feel so lonely, like when I talk about THE PHANTOM MENACE.

Rush Hour I can understand, but Phantom Menace... yuck!

[Gabriel Knight]

I'm one of those rare individuals that actually enjoyed RUSH HOUR. I feel so lonely, like when I talk about THE PHANTOM MENACE.

Rush Hour I can understand, but Phantom Menace... yuck!

Haha, I know, everybody hates that one, yet it's my favorite of the whole saga, next to REVENGE OF THE SITH. 

[Alex]

I liked Revenge of the Sith up until the "NOOOOOOOOOOO!" part.

[zelmo73]

I'm one of those rare individuals that actually enjoyed RUSH HOUR. I feel so lonely, like when I talk about THE PHANTOM MENACE.

The only way for me to properly enjoy The Phantom Menace and the rest of the Prequels is to adopt the popular fan theory that Jar Jar Binks was the creation of Darth Plageuis, whose role in the Sith was explained by Palpatine in Revenge of the Sith as being a Sith so powerful that he could create life. George Lucas himself even hinted once that Jar Jar Binks; "he's the key." The fan theory goes that Darth Plageuis was killed in his sleep by his padawan Darth Sidious. Darth Plageuis, with his ability to cheat death by creating life, created the Gungan life form Jar Jar Binks and placed his life force or soul inside of it, with foreknowledge that Qui Gon Jinn was in search of the Chosen One, who according to ancient Jedi prophecy would bring balance to the Force. Well...

https://www.google.com/amp/s/screenrant.com/star-wars-chosen-one-jedi-mistake-balance/amp/

...but anyway, watching The Phantom Menace with the idea that Jar Jar Binks is the actual Phantom Menace makes the prequels so much more enjoyable. You can watch Jar Jar Binks moving his lips in time with Padme's as he sits in the background during one of her decision-making scenes as the incognito Queen Amidala on Tatooine, as if manipulating her thoughts into action with the sole purpose of steering their actions into eventually bringing the Chosen One into his apprentice Darth Sidious' hands and thus disrupting the balance of the Force. It explains why Jar Jar Binks is mysteriously present with Palpatine during some scenes in Attack of the Clones and Revenge of the Sith as though holding a secret conference with him; perhaps Darth Plageuis plotting in secret with his padawan Darth Sidious? And remember that it is Senator Jar Jar Binks that helps to bring Palpatine to power on the Senate floor in Attack of the Clones. And didn't you find it odd how Jar Jar Binks just "happened" to bump into Qui Gon and Obi-Wan in the middle of the forest during a big Trade Federation invasion on Naboo near the beginning of The Phantom Menace right after the scene where Obi-Wan says "I have a bad feeling about this...It's not about the mission, Master...It's something elsewhere. Elusive ..."

I haven't read any of the spoilers regarding The Rise of Skywalker, but the previews show the return of Palpatine. One can imagine that Darth Sidious learned a thing or two from his master, Darth Jar Jar Plageuis.  

[Gabriel Knight]

I'm one of those rare individuals that actually enjoyed RUSH HOUR. I feel so lonely, like when I talk about THE PHANTOM MENACE.

The only way for me to properly enjoy The Phantom Menace and the rest of the Prequels is to adopt the popular fan theory that Jar Jar Binks was the creation of Darth Plageuis, whose role in the Sith was explained by Palpatine in Revenge of the Sith as being a Sith so powerful that he could create life. George Lucas himself even hinted once that Jar Jar Binks; "he's the key." The fan theory goes that Darth Plageuis was killed in his sleep by his padawan Darth Sidious. Darth Plageuis, with his ability to cheat death by creating life, created the Gungan life form Jar Jar Binks and placed his life force or soul inside of it, with foreknowledge that Qui Gon Jinn was in search of the Chosen One, who according to ancient Jedi prophecy would bring balance to the Force. Well...

https://www.google.com/amp/s/screenrant.com/star-wars-chosen-one-jedi-mistake-balance/amp/

...but anyway, watching The Phantom Menace with the idea that Jar Jar Binks is the actual Phantom Menace makes the prequels so much more enjoyable. You can watch Jar Jar Binks moving his lips in time with Padme's as he sits in the background during one of her decision-making scenes as the incognito Queen Amidala on Tatooine, as if manipulating her thoughts into action with the sole purpose of steering their actions into eventually bringing the Chosen One into his apprentice Darth Sidious' hands and thus disrupting the balance of the Force. It explains why Jar Jar Binks is mysteriously present with Palpatine during some scenes in Attack of the Clones and Revenge of the Sith as though holding a secret conference with him; perhaps Darth Plageuis plotting in secret with his padawan Darth Sidious? And remember that it is Senator Jar Jar Binks that helps to bring Palpatine to power on the Senate floor in Attack of the Clones. And didn't you find it odd how Jar Jar Binks just "happened" to bump into Qui Gon and Obi-Wan in the middle of the forest during a big Trade Federation invasion on Naboo near the beginning of The Phantom Menace right after the scene where Obi-Wan says "I have a bad feeling about this...It's not about the mission, Master...It's something elsewhere. Elusive ..."

I haven't read any of the spoilers regarding The Rise of Skywalker, but the previews show the return of Palpatine. One can imagine that Darth Sidious learned a thing or two from his master, Darth Jar Jar Plageuis.  

While I love these crazy theories like anyone else, I highly doubt Lucas has the power of mind to create something like it. His imagination isn't even that great to begin with because pretty much everything he came up with in the movies is bsaed in something else. A plot like this one would just implode his mind.
It's funny how the creators of movies and books go along with these things and say "well, of course I was planning it all along", and the public just goes "oooohhh, what a genius!". Basically, everybody works for free. 

I enjoy the movies for what they are. Jar Jar is another silly character, not worst than any of the gay robots or the retarded ewoks - hell, I remember actually laughing at one of his acts. I love the music in E1, Duel of the Fates is by far my favorite scene in the whole saga. Both Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan are lovable characters, and so is Anakin, for whom I actually felt bad after knowing his whole story.
I only wish they toned down a little bit with the CGI, but that's a lost battle. Hell, even they changed Yoda from a puppet to a CGI thing in one of those especial editions. 

[Dr. Whom]

While it made a profit at the box office ($225 million from a $209 million production budget) so it technically didn't flop, Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets was supposed to be the introduction of Hollywood's next big thing, Dane DeHaan. While he has been in some big movies before like Lincoln and played the role of Harry Osborne in Amazing Spider-Man 2, you could tell that Valerian was supposed to be Dane DeHaan's breakout movie. While I enjoyed the film for its amazing visuals, and the 4K Blu-ray has a remarkable Dolby Atmos audio transfer, Dane DeHaan's performance is surprisingly immemorable.

As I said elsewhere on this forum, I was profoundly baffled by his take on the character. Valerian seems to have been written as the happy go lucky guy with a boyish charm, the kind of role, say Bruce Willis or Will Smith could do in their sleep. Yet DeHaan brought an almost manic intensity to the role which was completely at odds with the way the character was supposed to function, and which made him a lot less likeable.

As for Rihanna, that kind of thing is known in Bollywood as an 'item number'.

[bob]

Mariah Carey in Glitter