7 Bad Movies That Killed An Actor’s Hot Streak

Not many actors are lucky enough to have multiple critically or commercially successful movies in a row, much less multiple movies that are a combination of the two. But just as such actors are indeed out there, those actors are inevitably subject to a failure that greatly derails such a phenomenal winning streak. Those are the films that follow, movies that turned audiences off and made them wonder if one of their favorite performers best days were behind them. We went for movies where the star was either the lead or one of the leads. Furthermore, if an actor has only really found success in a single major franchise (e.g. how some Marvel Cinematic Universe stars have struggled to break out outside of the MCU), they didn’t quite count for the purposes of this list.

We’re not saying the following movies are entirely without merit (though plenty of film fans would agree that several of them qualify for such an unwanted title). What we are saying is they did some damage to at least one actor’s career, at least for a while.

7) The Bonfire of the Vanities

When The Bonfire of the Vanities came out in 1990, Bruce Willis had a run of wins in Die Hard, In Country (which did well enough with critics), Look Who’s Talking (which was a huge financial hit), Die Hard 2, and Look Who’s Talking Too. Worse yet, after the forgettable but not awful thriller Mortal Thoughts, he followed up the genuinely awful Bonfire with the similarly awful Hudson Hawk.

To varying degrees, it was also the end of winning streaks for Melanie Griffith, Tom Hanks, and director Brian De Palma. Griffith was nominated for an Oscar for Working Girl (one of the best movies of the late ’80s) and found financial success in Pacific Heights while De Palma’s previous two movies were The Untouchables and Casualties of War. As for Hanks, his biggest successes were yet to come, but Dragnet, Punchline, The ‘Burbs, Turner & Hooch, Joe Versus the Volcano and, of course, Big, all found varying levels of success.

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6) The 13th Warrior

The biggest box office bomb of 1999 and, to this day, one of cinema’s largest financial failures, John McTiernan’s The 13th Warrior could have very well been the end of Antonio Banderas’ days as a leading man. Prior to this there were several wins, but with a few minor money losers dispersed in there as well. But overall, the ’90s were good to Banderas, with Philadelphia, Interview with the Vampire, and Desperado all proving to be successful.

As for what was released just before The 13th Warrior, though, it came after Evita (1996) and The Mask of Zorro (1998). Both of those were received well at the box office and, as far as critics were concerned, Evita was a mixed success, and Zorro was an outright success. Hence, that duo was Banderas’ winning streak. Banderas’ filmography has continued to be mixed since 13th Warrior, too. When it comes to the early aughts, Spy Kids was a crossover hit in 2001 but 2002 was the year of both the atrocious Ballistic: Ecks vs. Sever and the winners Frida and Spy Kids 2: The Island of Lost Dreams.

5) Staying Alive

It may have made a lot of money but Staying Alive, the Saturday Night Fever sequel directed by Sylvester Stallone, was the movie that killed John Travolta’s career until his Pulp Fiction comeback (Which was then killed again with Battlefield Earth). And rightly so, as it’s a disgrace to its wonderful predecessor.

Before Staying Alive, Travolta had the run of Carrie, the aforementioned Saturday Night Fever, Grease, the negligible Moment by Moment, Urban Cowboy, and Brian De Palma’s masterful Blow Out. Of those six movies, five are classics. After Staying Alive he had Two of a Kind, Perfect, The Experts, and the two Look Who’s Talking movies. The latter duo of talking baby movies may have been financially viable, but few would have called them solid films. His real career recovery didn’t come until Tarantino’s masterpiece in 1994.

Stream Staying Alive on Hoopla.

4) Baywatch

Dwayne Johnson had about three solid years of films that either made money, received above average or outright good reviews, or a combination of commercial and critical viability. 2014 had Hercules, 2015 had Furious 7 and San Andreas, and 2016 had Central Intelligence and Moana

And, to be fair to him, 2017 was far from a total wash. Both The Fate of the Furious and Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle made a ton of money (and the latter was excellent, quality-wise). Baywatch, however, was an overbudgeted comedy without many laughs. And, considering it was sandwiched between Fate and Jumanji, it made for a short-lived end to a successful run.

Stream Baywatch (2017) on Philo.

3) Ghost in the Shell

Scarlett Johansson had five straight years of films that were considered wins either in terms of critical reception, box office performance, or a combination of the two. It was a massively impressive run. 2012 had The Avengers and Hitchcock, 2013 had Don Jon, Under the Skin, and Her, 2014 had Chef, Lucy, and Captain America: The Winter Soldier, 2015 had Avengers: Age of Ultron, and 2016 had Captain America: Civil War, Hail, Caesar!, The Jungle Book, and Sing.

If there has been one performer who has been able to consistently thrive in the MCU and outside of it in both art house films and non-Marvel blockbusters, it’s Johansson. But Ghost in the Shell wasn’t it. It’s not the worst movie in the world (though Johansson’s casting was in and of itself a problem), but it definitely was the type of critical and commercial miss that was capable of ending a hot streak, and that’s just what it did. That said, after Rough Night, her next film, she rebounded quickly with Isle of Dogs, Avengers: Infinity War, Avengers: Endgame, Marriage Story, and Jojo Rabbit.

2) Last Action Hero

Last Action Hero, a cluttered bomb which admittedly some Arnold Schwarzenegger fans hold a soft spot for, came after Predator, The Running Man, Red Heat (which did fine in theaters then did well on video), Twins, Total Recall, Kindergarten Cop, and Terminator 2: Judgment Day. It was also a blow to director John McTiernan’s career (as was The 13th Warrior). At this point, McTiernan was coming off of Predator, Die Hard, The Hunt for Red October, and Medicine Man, with only Medicine Man failing to make much of a dent critically or commercially.

As for Schwarzenegger, he quickly rebounded with True Lies in 1994. But in that same year Junior proved he and Danny DeVito couldn’t capture that Twins lightning in a bottle twice. Schwarzenegger continued to have a few minor wins with Eraser and Jingle All the Way before starring as Mr. Freeze in Batman & Robin, which did even more damage to his career trajectory than Last Action Hero.

1) Wild Wild West

Wild Wild West followed the massive winning streak that was Bad Boys, Independence Day, Men in Black, and Enemy of the State. Those films established Will Smith as one of the most bankable stars of the ’90s, if not at the very top of that list, and with one uncomfortable tonal mishmash that goodwill was greatly diminished.

The film also didn’t do director Barry Sonnenfeld any favors, as he was coming off of The Addams Family, Addams Family Values, Get Shorty, and his previous, far more successful action-comedy collaboration with Will Smith, the aforementioned Men in Black. After this, the only success Sonnenfeld found was returning to that franchise in Men in Black II and Men in Black 3.

Stream Wild Wild West on TNT.

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