12 Oscar Winners Whose Next Movie Was A Disaster
It goes without saying that the Academy Awards are the dream of every actor. An Oscar winner has certainly won all the attention in the movie world, and that person's name will be sought after for the next billion-dollar film project. To imagine how big an Oscar winner's impact is, we have to mention that an Oscar nomination is even considered a success for an actor. Indeed, being nominated for an Oscar is successful enough to be offered a great movie role.
However, even an Oscar cannot guarantee long-term success for award-winning actors. We all agree that acting is one of the most competitive careers in the world, actors must maintain their form before their position is taken by another actor. In fact, it doesn’t take too long for a successful career to go downhill. Someone might think about several years when so many prominent actors start to conquer the cinema world. But, amazingly, some actors whose performances in the next movie immediately received terrible reviews.
Below are some actors whose next movie after winning an Oscar was awful. Keep scrolling down and check them out!
Unfortunately, his next role was a total left turn into the Wachowski sisters' bad-acid-trip "Jupiter Ascending." The actor portrayed the arrogant bad guy and this movie was praised for its world-building but it was met with extreme indifference and confusion from critics, stalling immediately at the box office upon release. Its singularly WTF-inducing vibe, like "Dune" combined with a teen drama on The CW, might give it iconic status someday, but as an Oscar follow-up for Redmayne, it was a head-scratcher.
His next movie project was a step back in 2016's "Suicide Squad," not to be confused with the subsequent (and much better) "The Suicide Squad" in 2021. DC's first flick about the squad of anti-heroes was drubbed critically despite creating a fair amount of money, and generally, Leto failed to bring the high bar set by his predecessors Jack Nicholson to life, and the late Heath Ledger in playing iconic Batman villain The Joker. It didn't help that "Suicide Squad" was poorly written and choppily edited together after requiring multiple shoots.
However, a horror film that she appeared in the fall of 2010, months before her "Winter's Bone" Oscar nomination would put her on the map, had been postponed by the studio for a bit, and they saw fit to premiere "House at the End of the Street" several years later after Lawrence's Oscar win to maximize the box office potential of what became a roundly awful movie. Critics loathed it, finding it to be primarily devoid of actual scares and its plot mainly understandable.
But the Swank's next role was a disappointment that started a downhill of her entire career in the following years. Brian De Palma invited her to cast as a femme fatale in a high-profile adaptation of James Ellroy's novel "The Black Dahlia," which was doomed to draw unflattering comparisons to the seminal Ellroy adaptation "L.A. Confidential" from the beginning. The audiences despised "The Black Dahlia" to the tune of a cringeworthy "D+" grade from CinemaScore.
His bright and shining new star power wouldn't help his next feature, 2005's "Stealth." A forgettable, critically-panned fume bomb that lazily mashed up "2001: A Space Odyssey" and "Top Gun," "Stealth" starred Foxx alongside Josh Lucas and Jessica Biel as human pilots facing a rogue AI drone. "Stealth" would hardly recoup half of its $135 million budget, and quickly turned into another failed blockbuster on the ash heap of history, where Jamie Foxx prefers it to stay.
However, Waltz decided to portray another villain in the colossal flop "The Green Hornet" in 2011. Although the actor did his best in an underwritten role as a paranoid gangster, he failed to create a bad guy as impressive as Hans Landa soon after winning an Oscar award.
And while "No Strings Attached" wasn't so horrible, receiving reviews that largely betrayed dissatisfaction in the star-power involved, the two romantic comedies with highly similar premises will be recognized as a missed opportunity: why not just have Mila Kunis and Ashton Kutcher star in one flick, and combine forces? Perhaps Natalie Portman would have paired better with "Friends With Benefits" co-star Justin Timberlake.
Soon after, Theron delivered a letdown in the form of the cliché-ridden and critically-loathed "Head in the Clouds" in 2004. In many ways the polar opposite of "Monster," the film was a gauzy historical drama against the backdrop of World War II that followed a very attractive love triangle (or love triad, perhaps) among Theron and the equally glamorous Stuart Townsend and Penelope Cruz. Treacly, flat, and forgettable, "Head in the Clouds" was a forgettable misfire from Charlize Theron that was unfortunately timed just after her crowning Oscar glory.
After portraying one of history's most outstanding figures in Winston Churchill to the Oscar podium, hardly anyone was interested in seeing Oldman play just some general in another dime-a-dozen war film. If they were, they'd have numerous superior choices like "Air Force One" or "Tinker, Tailor, Solider, Spy" from Oldman's filmography to choose from.
However, even an Oscar cannot guarantee long-term success for award-winning actors. We all agree that acting is one of the most competitive careers in the world, actors must maintain their form before their position is taken by another actor. In fact, it doesn’t take too long for a successful career to go downhill. Someone might think about several years when so many prominent actors start to conquer the cinema world. But, amazingly, some actors whose performances in the next movie immediately received terrible reviews.
Below are some actors whose next movie after winning an Oscar was awful. Keep scrolling down and check them out!
#1 Rami Malek
Source: 20th Century Studios/Universal Pictures
#2 Eddie Redmayne
Source: Focus Features/Universal Pictures
Unfortunately, his next role was a total left turn into the Wachowski sisters' bad-acid-trip "Jupiter Ascending." The actor portrayed the arrogant bad guy and this movie was praised for its world-building but it was met with extreme indifference and confusion from critics, stalling immediately at the box office upon release. Its singularly WTF-inducing vibe, like "Dune" combined with a teen drama on The CW, might give it iconic status someday, but as an Oscar follow-up for Redmayne, it was a head-scratcher.
#3 Helen Hunt
Source: Sony Pictures Releasing/Artisan Entertainment
#4 Jared Leto
Source: Focus Features/Warner Bros.
His next movie project was a step back in 2016's "Suicide Squad," not to be confused with the subsequent (and much better) "The Suicide Squad" in 2021. DC's first flick about the squad of anti-heroes was drubbed critically despite creating a fair amount of money, and generally, Leto failed to bring the high bar set by his predecessors Jack Nicholson to life, and the late Heath Ledger in playing iconic Batman villain The Joker. It didn't help that "Suicide Squad" was poorly written and choppily edited together after requiring multiple shoots.
#5 Jennifer Lawrence
Source: The Weinstein Company/Relativity Media
However, a horror film that she appeared in the fall of 2010, months before her "Winter's Bone" Oscar nomination would put her on the map, had been postponed by the studio for a bit, and they saw fit to premiere "House at the End of the Street" several years later after Lawrence's Oscar win to maximize the box office potential of what became a roundly awful movie. Critics loathed it, finding it to be primarily devoid of actual scares and its plot mainly understandable.
#6 Sandra Bullock
Source: Warner Bros.
#7 Hilary Swank
Source: Warner Bros./Universal Pictures
But the Swank's next role was a disappointment that started a downhill of her entire career in the following years. Brian De Palma invited her to cast as a femme fatale in a high-profile adaptation of James Ellroy's novel "The Black Dahlia," which was doomed to draw unflattering comparisons to the seminal Ellroy adaptation "L.A. Confidential" from the beginning. The audiences despised "The Black Dahlia" to the tune of a cringeworthy "D+" grade from CinemaScore.
#8 Jamie Foxx
Source: Universal Pictures/Sony Pictures Releasing
His bright and shining new star power wouldn't help his next feature, 2005's "Stealth." A forgettable, critically-panned fume bomb that lazily mashed up "2001: A Space Odyssey" and "Top Gun," "Stealth" starred Foxx alongside Josh Lucas and Jessica Biel as human pilots facing a rogue AI drone. "Stealth" would hardly recoup half of its $135 million budget, and quickly turned into another failed blockbuster on the ash heap of history, where Jamie Foxx prefers it to stay.
#9 Christoph Waltz
Source: The Weinstein Company/Sony Pictures Releasing
However, Waltz decided to portray another villain in the colossal flop "The Green Hornet" in 2011. Although the actor did his best in an underwritten role as a paranoid gangster, he failed to create a bad guy as impressive as Hans Landa soon after winning an Oscar award.
#10 Natalie Portman
Source: Fox Searchlight Pictures/Paramount Pictures
And while "No Strings Attached" wasn't so horrible, receiving reviews that largely betrayed dissatisfaction in the star-power involved, the two romantic comedies with highly similar premises will be recognized as a missed opportunity: why not just have Mila Kunis and Ashton Kutcher star in one flick, and combine forces? Perhaps Natalie Portman would have paired better with "Friends With Benefits" co-star Justin Timberlake.
#11 Charlize Theron
Source: Newmarket Films/Sony Pictures Classics
Soon after, Theron delivered a letdown in the form of the cliché-ridden and critically-loathed "Head in the Clouds" in 2004. In many ways the polar opposite of "Monster," the film was a gauzy historical drama against the backdrop of World War II that followed a very attractive love triangle (or love triad, perhaps) among Theron and the equally glamorous Stuart Townsend and Penelope Cruz. Treacly, flat, and forgettable, "Head in the Clouds" was a forgettable misfire from Charlize Theron that was unfortunately timed just after her crowning Oscar glory.
#12 Gary Oldman
Source: Focus Features/Lionsgate
After portraying one of history's most outstanding figures in Winston Churchill to the Oscar podium, hardly anyone was interested in seeing Oldman play just some general in another dime-a-dozen war film. If they were, they'd have numerous superior choices like "Air Force One" or "Tinker, Tailor, Solider, Spy" from Oldman's filmography to choose from.
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