The Mummy (2017) – Tom Cruise
Tom Cruise was brought in by Universal to star in 2017’s The Mummy, the first of a planned ‘Dark Universe’ of monster movies. These would be reboots of classic Universal movies starring the Universal Monsters. But with The Mummy getting a dismal 15% Rotten Tomatoes score and losing the studio as much as $100 million after box office returns, the Dark Universe plans were immediately shelved.
Battlefield Earth (2000) – John Travolta
Noted Scientologist John Travolta was signed on to play the lead in 2000’s Battlefield Earth, an adaptation of L Ron Hubbard’s novel of the same name. A pet project of Travolta’s, he’d been trying to get the film made since the mid-90s. Battlefield Earth went on to bomb at the box office, returning only $29 million of its reported $73 million production budget, while its Rotten Tomatoes score sits at 3%.
Inchon (1981) – Laurence Olivier
Set during the Battle of Inchon and starring legendary actor Laurence Olivier in the lead role, Inchon’s original concept initially showed some promise. This was quickly dispelled after release, however, as the movie went onto barely gross $5 million, with The Washington Post describing Inchon as “one of the biggest commercial disasters in film history”. Its Rotten Tomatoes score: 0%.
Going Overboard (1989) – Adam Sandler
Not all movie megastars have a hit their first time out, and this was certainly the case for Adam Sandler in 1989’s Going Overboard. The movie is so widely disliked (11% on Rotten Tomatoes) that even Sandler himself refuses to acknowledge it in interviews, instead citing 1995’s Billy Madison as his first real movie.
The Stepford Wives (2004) – Nicole Kidman
A remake of the 1975 cult classic of the same name, 2004’s The Stepford Wives, starring Nicole Kidman, would receive none of the same praise. On-set tensions between cast and crew made production difficult and, after poor feedback from early screen tests, the ending was entirely re-shot. The $100 million movie would make a box office loss and earn a measly 26% Rotten Tomatoes score.
Gigli (2003) – Ben Affleck
Earning barely 10% of its $75 million budget (and getting just 6% approval from Rotten Tomatoes critics), 2003’s Gigli is a project Ben Affleck should have stayed far away from. Awarded a total of seven Golden Raspberry Awards, the industry spoof Oscars, Gigli performed so badly that all UK theatres pulled the movie from their screens in its first week of release.
The Chronicles of Riddick (2004) – Vin Diesel
Released in 2004, The Chronicles of Riddick marked the second chapter in Vin Diesel’s Riddick series. Although it surpassed the earnings of its 2000 forerunner – Pitch Black, which more than doubled its $23 million budget at the box office – the $120 million Chronicles of Riddick fell way short. Critics weren’t kind either, lumping it with a 29% Rotten Tomatoes score.
The Adventures of Pluto Nash (2002) – Eddie Murphy
Eddie Murphy has had a mixed career of successful movies with the odd dud thrown in, but maybe none rank lower than 2002’s The Adventures of Pluto Nash. Listed by the Los Angeles Times in 2004 as one of the most expensive box office flops of all time, this $100 million dollar production bombed with $7 million in returns. Critics, meanwhile, saddled it with an appalling 5% Rotten Tomatoes score.
The Green Lantern (2011) – Ryan Reynolds
Panned by critics and audiences alike upon its release, 2011’s The Green Lantern saw star Ryan Reynolds suffer the biggest bomb of his then rising career. The movie was supposed to kick off a series of DC superhero movies, but due to its poor performance, Warner Bros decided to officially restart the series with 2013’s Man of Steel, essentially ignoring the early contributions of Reynolds.
Around the World in 80 days (2004) – Jackie Chan
When Jules Verne’s timeless adventure novel Around the World in 80 Days was first brought to the screen in 1956, it proved a triumph, the film securing five Academy Awards including Best Picture. However, the 2004 endeavour to portray Verne’s narrative, featuring Jackie Chan alongside Steve Coogan, utterly tanked, netting around $80 million in losses and a 32% Rotten Tomatoes score.
Heart Condition (1990) – Denzel Washington
Denzel Washington is one of the most celebrated Black actors of all time, making it all the more astonishing that he starred in 1990’s Heart Condition, a movie which regularly appears on lists of the most racist movies ever made. The film follows a racist police officer (Bob Hoskins) who gets haunted by the ghost of an ambulance chaser (Washington) after he receives his heart in a transplant.
Jaws: The Revenge (1987) – Michael Caine
The fact that the sequels to Jaws are absolutely dreadful isn’t exactly unsurprising; what’s more surprising is that the franchise’s fourth instalment – 1978’s Jaws: The Revenge – managed to tempt Michael Caine into starring. Given how bad the previous two sequels were, Caine can’t have expected the movie to be anything other than terrible.
The Circle (2017) – Tom Hanks
Tom Hanks has stated that he’s aware he doesn’t “instill fear in people.” While this would normally be a good thing, it’s a bit of a problem when you’re playing the baddie in a movie. Even aside from Hanks’ lackluster villainy, however, 2017’s The Circle comes off like a bloated attempt to recreate Black Mirror’s trademark deconstructions of timely themes, with the movie scraping 16 percent on Rotten Tomatoes.
The Island of Dr. Moreau (1996) – Marlon Brando
An adaptation of an H.G. Wells novel, The Island of Dr. Moreau was doomed from the start, with Marlon Brando – at the time reeling from personal tragedy – refusing to learn the script and insisting his lines be fed to him via earpierce. Unsurprisingly, this arrangement resulted in completely stilted, unnatural acting, which was further compounded by meandering, unfocussed storytelling.
The Host (2013) – Saoirse Ronan
Roles that involve playing different personalities in the same film often allow actors to showcase the depths of their talent (see: James McAvoy in Split). Saoirse Ronan presumably thought she’d have this opportunity in 2013’s The Host, which saw her star as a woman with an alien parasite that periodically takes control of her body. Unfortunately, Ronan’s efforts were completely overshadowed by lackluster writing, pacing and direction.
The Beach (2000) – Leonardo DiCaprio
What do you get when you combine the stewardship of one of Hollywood’s most celebrated directors with the talents of one of the greatest actors in a generation? Comically bad garbage, apparently. 2000’s The Beach marks a low point in the careers of both Leonardo DiCaprio and Danny Boyle, both of whom would likely rather forget about its existence.
Killers Anonymous (2019) – Gary Oldman
2019 was not a good year for Gary Oldman, with the actor starring in three separate films that were torn to shred by critics. The worst of the bunch was Killers Anonymous, a bizarre thriller revolving around a support group for assassins which cruised straight to a big fat zero on the Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer.
Johnny Be Good (1988) – Robert Downey Jr
2020’s Dolittle holds a measly 14 percent rating on Rotten Tomatoes, but – believe it not – it’s far from the worst movie in Robert Downey Jr’s filmography. That dubious distinction belongs to Johnny Be Good, a high-school comedy so infantile that Roger Ebert plainly stated: “The people who made this movie should be ashamed of themselves.”
The Perfect Score (2004) – Scarlett Johansson
Before Scarlett Johansson and Chris Evans co-starred in the MCU, they found themselves working together in 2004’s The Perfect Score, marking a low point in both of their careers. The movie – directed by Brian Robbins – follows a group of teens who pull off a heist to steal the answers for their upcoming SATs exam, a fun premise that somehow led to an excruciatingly boring film.
Cats (2019) – Judi Dench
Cats will forever remain a stain on the careers of everyone who appeared in it, but particular sympathy should be reserved for Dame Judi Dench, who has – for the most part – kept the quality of her filmography high. With terrible pacing and writing, and CGI so bad it makes for a great example of the uncanny valley, Cats barely deserves its 19 percent rating on Rotten Tomatoes.
The Avengers (1998) – Ralph Fiennes
Based on the British TV show of the same name (not the Marvel franchise), 1998’s The Avengers stars Ralph Fiennes and Uma Thurman as a secret agent and meteorologist, respectively. Fans of the original series hated the movie for butchering its source material, while viewers who’d never seen the TV show hated it because it was objectively terrible.
Aeon Flux (2005) – Charlize Theron
Charlize Theron signed on for Aeon Flux because of her faith in Karyn Kusama, who was at the time seen as one of Hollywood’s most exciting new talents. Theron quickly realized, however, that Kusama was out of her depth. By this point it was too late to bail, and Theron was forced to carry on working on what would prove to be the worst rated film of her career.
Kite (2014) – Samuel L Jackson
When you’ve been in as many films as Samuel L Jackson, it’s safe to assume that not all of them will hit the mark. While many of Jackson’s more questionable outings – such as Deep Blue Sea and Snakes on a Plane – aren’t without their redeeming features, the same cannot be said for 2014’s Kite, a movie that somehow manages to make extraordinary levels of violence boring.
The Wicker Man (2006) – Nicolas Cage
Nicolas Cage has starred in his fair share of flops, but none of them rival 2006’s The Wicker Man in terms of sheer, unintentional hilarity. While the film – a remake of the classic British film of the same name – was supposed to be a slow-burn exercise in mounting dread, the end result quickly spirals into farce, epitomized by the iconic scene in which Cage punches a woman in the face while bearing a bear suit.
Sir Billi (2012) – Sean Connery
When Sean Connery retired after making the widely-loathed The League of Extraordinary Gentleman, it was generally considered to be a tragedy that the great actor’s career would end with such a dreadful film. Then Connery came out of retirement, only to star in 2012’s Sir Billi, an incomprehensible and aggressively unfunny animated mess that holds a zero percent rating on Rotten Tomatoes.
Aloha (2015) – Emma Stone
Aloha faced an immediate backlash upon its release in 2015, due to the fact that Emma Stone was cast as a character with the obviously-Asian surname Ng. Even without the blatant whitewashing, however, Aloha is just a bad film, with a convoluted, meandering plot and a glaring lack of chemistry between its stars. Stone quickly managed to put the film behind her, winning an Oscar a year later.
Batman & Robin (1997) – George Clooney
Widely regarded as the worst superhero movie ever made, 1997’s Batman & Robin was such a disaster that it would be almost ten years before Warner Bros dared reboot the franchise. Most of the criticism (and there was a lot of it) was rightly leveled at director Joel Schumacher, but that doesn’t mean the movie isn’t an indelible blemish on the record of George Clooney.
Exodus: Gods and Kings (2014) – Christian Bale
Christian Bale is widely regarded as one of the most talented actors in Hollywood, but even titans stumble from time to time. Exactly what caused Bale’s underwhelming performing in 2014’s Exodus: Gods and Kings is up for debate, but the whitewashing furore that ensued as soon as his casting as Moses was revealed might have had something to do with it.
The Love Guru (2008) – Ben Kingsley
It’s difficult to imagine how Ben Kingsley – who at this point had already turned in an acclaimed performance as Gandhi – was persuaded to appear as Guru Tugginmypudha in 2008’s The Love Guru. On top of being wildly culturally insensitive, the movie’s over-reliance on puerile humor (Kingsley’s character is cross-eyed from masturbating too much) gets old within minutes, and the film’s 13 percent rating on Rotten Tomatoes frankly feels generous.
Catwoman (2004) – Halle Berry
It’s become something of a running joke that Halle Berry – one of the most celebrated actresses of all time and the first Black woman to win a Best Actress Oscar – consistently manages to star in terrible films. While The Flintstones was bad enough, the low-point of Berry’s career is undeniably 2004’s Catwoman, which was mauled by critics and currently holds an 8 percent rating on the Tomatometer.
Bad Company (2002) – Anthony Hopkins
Not content with nearly killing the Batman franchise, Joel Schumacher returned in 2002 to commit the equally egregious sin of wasting the immense talents of Anthony Hopkins. While Hopkins was able to win an Oscar for The Silence of the Lambs with just 16 minutes of screen time, the mediocrity of Bad Company’s script is simply too great for the actor to overcome.
Perfect Strangers (2007) – Bruce Willis
Halle’s Berry’s curse strikes again, and this time Bruce Willis is collateral damage. While 2007’s Perfect Strangers has all the makings of a taut neo-noir thriller, its overly convoluted plots ends up tying itself into knots, and the infuriatingly awful twist at the end is the final nail in the coffin. At 10% on Rotten Tomatoes, it’s one of Bruce’s worst-reviewed theatrical films.
After Earth (2013) – Will Smith
Having already starred together in 2006’s The Pursuit of Happyness, Will and Jaden Smith decided to collaborate once again on 2013’s After Earth. While the movie’s premise is interesting, the execution was woeful, and the film ended up being so bad it even damaged Smith’s relationship with his son.
Man of the House (2005) – Tommy Lee Jones
Tommy Lee Jones is known for playing gruff, stern characters. While this has allowed the actor to shine in films like Natural Born Killers and No Country for Old Men, it doesn’t translate quite so well to the rom-com genre, as 2005’s Man of the House proves. To be fair to Jones, his unlikable performance is far from the movie’s only problem, but it certainly doesn’t help.
The Lazarus Effect (2015) – Donald Glover
Donald Glover might be one of the most talented human beings to have ever existed, but even he couldn’t save 2015’s The Lazarus Effect. The film was panned for its poor pacing, derivative premise and lack of character development, and it currently holds a dismal 15 percent rating on Rotten Tomatoes.
When a Stranger Calls (2006) – Tessa Thompson
A remake of a 1979 movie of the same name, When a Stranger Calls follows a teen babysitter who is stalked by an unhinged anonymous caller. Given this inherently scary premise, it’s actually kind of impressive that the film manages to be almost entirely devoid of tension, with viewers less in danger of jumping out of their seats than falling asleep in them.
Halloween: The Curse of Michael Myers (1995) – Paul Rudd
As is often the way with horror franchises, the first Halloween movie was a seminal work of cinema, while the followups have been progressively less scary and original. That didn’t stop Paul Rudd from starring in the franchise’s sixth installment, but it really should have. Halloween: The Curse of Michael Myers holds a dismal 8 percent on Rotten Tomatoes, making it Rudd’s worst movie to date.
Prom Night (2008) – Idris Elba
Another misguided remake, 2008’s Prom Night stars Idris Elba as a detective up against a serial killer preying on a group of teens. The film’s efforts to keep audiences guessing are invariably sabotaged by its predictable plot and inability to refrain from indulging in tired clichés, leading to a woeful eight percent rating on Rotten Tomatoes.
Get a Job (2016) – Bryan Cranston
Although it was shot in 2012, Get a Job would languish in post-production for a full four years before finally seeing the light of day. It wasn’t worth the wait. The film bombed straight to a nine percent Rotten Tomatoes rating, making it Bryan Cranston’s lowest rated film this century.
Dirty Grandpa (2016) – Robert De Niro
Although he’s predominantly known for his dramatic roles, films like Midnight Run and Meet the Parents prove that Robert De Niro is no slouch when it comes to comedy. Unfortunately, even De Niro’s considerable talents can’t save Dirty Grandpa. Without much in the way of actual jokes, the film tries to hold viewers’ attentions with a relentless barrage of infantile gags that elicit more cringes than laughs.
