Movies That Killed Careers

Discussion in 'Visual Arts' started by JediJones, Apr 14, 2021.

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  1. MrGrumpy

    MrGrumpy Forum Resident

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    Burbank
    Harry Hamlin, highly qualified and telegenic - played a gay guy in 1982's Making Love, a project that many leading men not unwisely passed on. He did well in TV, obviously. But his subsequent filmography is a bunch of movies you've never heard of.
     
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  2. Oatsdad

    Oatsdad Oat, Biscuits, Abbie & Mitzi: Best Dogs Ever

    Location:
    Alexandria VA
    The 2017 "Mummy" wasn't good, but I liked it more than the 2020 "Invisible Man", which I effin' hated!

    Just about the dumbest movie I ever saw:

    The Invisible Man [Blu-Ray] (2020)
     
  3. Oatsdad

    Oatsdad Oat, Biscuits, Abbie & Mitzi: Best Dogs Ever

    Location:
    Alexandria VA
    I guess I'd think that 1982 movie harpooned his movie career if he'd had much of one prior to it.

    Hamlin only appeared in 3 theatrical releases prior to 1982. "Clash of the Titans" was his attempted breakout, but it was only a moderate hit.

    Seemed like it underperformed at the time. Felt like it was gonna be a summer tentpole, but it just did decent business.

    $41 million US = about $120 million now - respectable but not great.

    So I don't think Hamlin had a movie career to kill in 1982, and as you note, he eventually became a star via TV...
     
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  4. MrGrumpy

    MrGrumpy Forum Resident

    Location:
    Burbank
    True, kinda. And I've responded similarly re: some other folks listed in this thread. Clash of the Titans was the 11th biggest film of 1981 (per Wikipedia), which has to count for something. As for your currency conversion - is that accounting for ticket-price inflation? I used to have access to inflation-adjusted box office, but don't now.
     
  5. Oatsdad

    Oatsdad Oat, Biscuits, Abbie & Mitzi: Best Dogs Ever

    Location:
    Alexandria VA
    I just did a straight inflation calculator, so it's possible ticket prices > inflation.

    Anyway, I was 14 in 1981 and recall that the movie came with lots of hype but not a ton of interest.

    Yeah, #11 means it wasn't a flop by any means, but it had the kind of hype that implied it should've been a much bigger hit.

    Also, Hamlin was just along for the ride. That was the kind of movie people saw regardless of the lead actor.

    Hamlin in "Clash" = Sam Worthington in "Avatar". SW might've been in the biggest hit ever but it did little for his career because he wasn't the attraction.

    People went to "Avatar" for the spectacle, and the same would've been true for "Clash". The no-name actor as the lead didn't matter! :)
     
  6. MrGrumpy

    MrGrumpy Forum Resident

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    100% probable (I used to write about box office). But agreed on the rest.
     
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  7. JediJones

    JediJones Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    Pennsylvania
    It's still possible to view the top 1,000 inflation-adjusted movies on Box Office Mojo, at least up to pre-pandemic movies, and up to 2019 dollars:

    Top Lifetime Adjusted Grosses - Box Office Mojo

    Clash of the Titans just made the cut at position 994 with $135,225,174.
     
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  8. Oatsdad

    Oatsdad Oat, Biscuits, Abbie & Mitzi: Best Dogs Ever

    Location:
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    Not much off the $120m I stated.

    If a much-hyped movie like "Clash" made $135m today, it'd be viewed as a disappointment.

    And that's what I thought it was in 1981. Clearly not a bomb, but not the smash many expected it to be...
     
  9. JediJones

    JediJones Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    Pennsylvania
    The remake with Sam Worthington actually made spot 621 on this list with $189,503,151. The sequel Wrath of the Titans doesn't make the top 1,000.

    But, yeah, judging by both Harry and Sam, this franchise is never a good career-booster.
     
  10. I don’t think that Harry was on the way to being a major movie star at any point in his career. He’s a fine leading man and actor but hardly has star quality IMHO. I think “Making Love” was designed to raise that profile but didn’t exactly do that either as it was a mediocre film.
     
  11. Oatsdad

    Oatsdad Oat, Biscuits, Abbie & Mitzi: Best Dogs Ever

    Location:
    Alexandria VA
    Sam was just a really charisma-free actor, and that might be why he ended up in some of these tent-poles: he didn't threaten to distract from the spectacle.

    Still kinda shocking how many big - or potentially big - movies Sam made, and how forgotten he seems to be.

    "Avatar", 2010 "Clash", "Terminator Salvation", etc.

    Like "fetch", Hollywood wanted to make Sam happen, but he didn't!
     
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  12. I wouldn’t disagree about Hamlin’s career but, to be fair, Clash made $70 million world wide which, on a budget of $15 million is a solid ROI. It did under perform to expectations as the studio hoped for something akin to Star Wars
     
  13. Oatsdad

    Oatsdad Oat, Biscuits, Abbie & Mitzi: Best Dogs Ever

    Location:
    Alexandria VA
    Yeah, it made decent change - I've said already it wasn't a bomb.

    But as we agree, it didn't live up to the hype.
     
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  14. Honey Bunches of Sadness

    Honey Bunches of Sadness Forum Resident

    Location:
    SF Bay Area
    Good point. Another victim of the changing media landscape of the last 20+ years. I presume newspapers and magazines still employ film critics, but their reach is declining for obvious reasons. The proliferation of movie review websites has saturated the market, making it difficult for any one critic to stand out from the crowd. The few names I recognize now are old-guard critics from the pre-internet age who are still working.
     
  15. Honey Bunches of Sadness

    Honey Bunches of Sadness Forum Resident

    Location:
    SF Bay Area
    Making Love was Hamlin's second film role. So he hardly had a film career to kill at that point!

    ETA: woops, @Oatsdad beat me to it! Not intending to pile on!...

    I'd add that, IMHO Hamlin was the weak link in the regular cast of the television series L.A. Law. I.e., the role he's most known for. (Tied with Michele Greene.) So I don't know if a gangbusters film career was ever in the cards for him.

    I agree with your point that a handsome leading man (in 1982) taking a role as a hedonistic gay man probably wasn't going to do his career any favors.
     
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  16. Honey Bunches of Sadness

    Honey Bunches of Sadness Forum Resident

    Location:
    SF Bay Area
    Worthington is in the cast for Avatar 2. So there's that.....
     
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  17. Karnak

    Karnak "81, 82, 83, 84..."

    Thanx for the warning.
     
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  18. Honey Bunches of Sadness

    Honey Bunches of Sadness Forum Resident

    Location:
    SF Bay Area
    Interesting - cuz it gets 91% on Rotten Tomatoes:
    The Invisible Man (2020)

    I guess you're one of the 9 percent!.....
     
  19. vince

    vince Stan Ricker's son-in-law

    Every actor's career in the movie version of "Hitch-Hicker's Guide To The Galaxy" survived.....
    EXCEPT Mos Def!....or, perhaps it was that movie with Jack Black, where they tried to recreate movies, maybe?
     
  20. Hexwood

    Hexwood Forum Resident

    Location:
    UK
    After the success and acclaim of The Rose, Bette Midler almost killed her movie career with Jinxed in 1982. It wasn't until four years later that she hit a home run when she teamed up with Disney.
     
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  21. Oatsdad

    Oatsdad Oat, Biscuits, Abbie & Mitzi: Best Dogs Ever

    Location:
    Alexandria VA
    Well, he kinda has to be! :D

    I was just surprised that Worthington appeared in a bunch of "tentpole" movies but it did approximately zilch for his career overall.

    Granted, he did get to be in those movies, but he wasn't able to use the handful of tentpoles to turn himself into a "name" actor...
     
  22. Oatsdad

    Oatsdad Oat, Biscuits, Abbie & Mitzi: Best Dogs Ever

    Location:
    Alexandria VA
    Oh, I know that the 2020 "Invisible Man" got great reviews. I just can't figure out why.

    I understand that horror movies are inherently ridiculous and that you need to suspend some disbelief to enjoy them. For them to function, the characters have to behave in stupid ways, so I can make that leap.

    I just thought "Invisible Man" asked for too much suspension. It never made a lick of sense.

    And I also thought the 1st "Quiet Place" was sub-moronic as well! :D
     
  23. Oatsdad

    Oatsdad Oat, Biscuits, Abbie & Mitzi: Best Dogs Ever

    Location:
    Alexandria VA
    I don't think he had a big enough career for any movie to "kill" it.

    He got some decent work for a while but he was never a movie star. He was always better known for music...
     
  24. carlwm

    carlwm Forum Resident

    Location:
    wales
    You just can't see it. :D
     
  25. Old Fart At Play

    Old Fart At Play He won't eat it, he hates everything

    Location:
    Los Angeles
    Can't believe nobody has mentioned "The Brown Bunny" (I figured that would be the first response, kind of Exhibit A of career killers) or "Freddy Got Fingered."
     
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