# How Big Must a Flop Be to Ruin a Career? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [June 7, 2012, 5:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-big-must-a-flop-be-to-ruin-a-career/624404 "2012-06-07T17:16:08Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![ScarletNumber](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c0e974/32.png) [@ScarletNumber](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ScarletNumber)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2012, 3:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-big-must-a-flop-be-to-ruin-a-career/624404/41 "2012-07-10T15:16:23Z")
I think Kevin Smith’s studio career is pretty much over after Zach & Miri and Cop Out. ---
**Author:** ![Evil\_Captor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/f17d59/32.png) [@Evil\_Captor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Evil_Captor)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2012, 3:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-big-must-a-flop-be-to-ruin-a-career/624404/42 "2012-07-10T15:44:04Z")
> [@Death\_of\_Rats](#): > > Note the correlation between “Starring Ben Stiller” and “Produced by Ben Stiller” in his recent resume. The studios are willing to let you do a lot more when it is your money. 😉 nvm ---
**Author:** ![Evil\_Captor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/f17d59/32.png) [@Evil\_Captor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Evil_Captor)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2012, 3:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-big-must-a-flop-be-to-ruin-a-career/624404/43 "2012-07-10T15:45:42Z")
> [@garygnu](#): > > Well, good and profitable are not the same things. To a studio, it’s worth risking an Along Came Polly if you could get a Meet the Parents. In the case of the films I mentioned, they were fine, serviceable comedies. Good, even. ---
**Author:** ![astorian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ad7895/32.png) [@astorian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astorian)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2012, 4:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-big-must-a-flop-be-to-ruin-a-career/624404/44 "2012-07-10T16:00:42Z")
> [@GuanoLad](#): > > It will be interesting to see if Andrew Stanton ever directs another live action movie, after _John Carter_. I certainly don’t think he’ll be given such an enormous budget again, anyway. I’m sure he’ll be welcome back to direct Pixar movies, but I don’t think he’s likely t work with flesh and blood actors again. ---
**Author:** ![DMark](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@DMark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DMark)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2012, 4:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-big-must-a-flop-be-to-ruin-a-career/624404/45 "2012-07-10T16:19:55Z")
> [@Le\_Ministre\_de\_l\_au-dela](#): > > I haven’t seen anything of Elizabeth Berkeley since she was blamed for the failure of ‘Showgirls’. Funny side note: I was standing in a hallway at MGM a few months after the Showgirls bomb had hit. Elizabeth Berkeley was being escorted to one of the offices and a few of the MGM bigwigs were walking through the hallway at the same time. The man escorting Elizabeth saw the bigwigs and introduced them: “This is the actress, Elizabeth Berkeley.” Bigwig one: “Nice to meet you!” Bigwig two: “Thanks for stopping by, you were great!” Bigwig three: “Pleasure to meet you - have I seen any films you were in?” Dead silence. Finally, escort says, “Showgirls.” Bigwig three: “Oh. That.” Let’s just say it was more than an awkward moment that I will never forget. ---
**Author:** ![Mister\_Rik](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mister_rik/32/491_2.png) [@Mister\_Rik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mister_Rik)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2012, 7:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-big-must-a-flop-be-to-ruin-a-career/624404/46 "2012-07-10T19:38:28Z")
> [@NDP](#): > > First, I think one of the main reasons Cage has been in a lot of crappy movies over the last decade is that he’s got money problems and needs the quick paychecks. I can’t remember who it was, but I heard an anecdote about some well-known actor who had been in a bunch of stinkers. Some fan or reporter asked him, “Why have you been in so many bad movies?” Flabbergasted, the actor replied, “I’m an _actor_! It’s what I _do_!” (His point being, “This is my job - if I don’t act, I don’t earn a living”.) ---
**Author:** ![phreesh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/9fc29f/32.png) [@phreesh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/phreesh)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2012, 8:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-big-must-a-flop-be-to-ruin-a-career/624404/47 "2012-07-10T20:01:45Z")
Pauly Shore seems to have used up all his goodwill. He made a truckload of money for years, but the crap crept up on him. One wonders when Adam Sandler will stop making money. A) He has enough today to be fabulously wealthy forever B) Probably never. ---
**Author:** ![msmith537](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d9b06d/32.png) [@msmith537](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/msmith537)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2012, 9:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-big-must-a-flop-be-to-ruin-a-career/624404/48 "2012-07-10T21:19:34Z")
> [@phreesh](#): > > One wonders when Adam Sandler will stop making money. A) He has enough today to be fabulously wealthy forever B) Probably never. Sandler’s worth like a $300 M so he probably just likes making films about retarded man-boys dating whatever hot girl he gets to start with him (Brooklyn Decker, Jennifer Anniston, Salma Hayek, Drew Barrymore, whoever.) > [@Mister Rik](#): > > Originally Posted by NDP > First, I think one of the main reasons Cage has been in a lot of crappy movies over the last decade is that he’s got money problems and needs the quick paychecks. > > I can’t remember who it was, but I heard an anecdote about some well-known actor who had been in a bunch of stinkers. Some fan or reporter asked him, “Why have you been in so many bad movies?” > > Flabbergasted, the actor replied, “I’m an actor! It’s what I do!” (His point being, “This is my job - if I don’t act, I don’t earn a living”.) I recall a similar story about an actor saying how some “bomb” payed for his beach house. ---
**Author:** ![D\_Odds](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/d_odds/32/2882_2.png) [@D\_Odds](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/D_Odds)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2012, 10:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-big-must-a-flop-be-to-ruin-a-career/624404/49 "2012-07-10T22:00:54Z")
> [@msmith537](#): > > I recall a similar story about an actor saying how some “bomb” payed for his beach house. That was Oscar winner Sir Michael Caine talking about Jaws 3D (or it could have been Jaws 4). ---
**Author:** ![Leaper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/4bbf92/32.png) [@Leaper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaper)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2012, 10:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-big-must-a-flop-be-to-ruin-a-career/624404/50 "2012-07-10T22:02:44Z")
Perhaps you’re thinking of: > [@Michael Caine](#): > > I have never seen it, but by all accounts it is terrible. However, I have seen the house that it built, and it is terrific. ---
**Author:** ![Ethilrist](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ethilrist/32/4604_2.png) [@Ethilrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ethilrist)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2012, 10:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-big-must-a-flop-be-to-ruin-a-career/624404/51 "2012-07-10T22:11:35Z")
The people responsible for Krull seem to have been getting regular work, so grossing $16 million for a movie that cost $27 million to make doesn’t count as big enough. ---
**Author:** ![etv78](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/d78d45/32.png) [@etv78](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/etv78)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2012, 11:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-big-must-a-flop-be-to-ruin-a-career/624404/52 "2012-07-10T23:48:46Z")
> [@msmith537](#): > > Sandler’s worth like a $300 M so he probably just likes making films about retarded man-boys dating whatever hot girl he gets to start with him (Brooklyn Decker, Jennifer Anniston, Salma Hayek, Drew Barrymore, whoever.) > > I recall a similar story about an actor saying how some “bomb” payed for his beach house. “Money Dear Boy” ---
**Author:** ![JMH125](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ee59a6/32.png) [@JMH125](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JMH125)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2012, 1:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-big-must-a-flop-be-to-ruin-a-career/624404/53 "2012-07-11T13:24:23Z")
I think huge flops are more likely to ruin director’s careers, more so than the actors. Especially if a director has 2 or more flops in a row, many studios wouldn’t finance another project. But this does not explain Uwe Boll’s consistent regurgitation of films for so many years now. ---
**Author:** ![JMH125](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ee59a6/32.png) [@JMH125](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JMH125)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2012, 1:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-big-must-a-flop-be-to-ruin-a-career/624404/54 "2012-07-11T13:51:56Z")
well, this answers my own question about Boll: > [@](#): > > \*\*Films > > Boll’s first two major releases were the horror movie Blackwoods and the drama Heart of America, both of which he directed and co-wrote. > > Boll is best-known for adapting video games into movies, having directed and produced a number of such adaptations, including House of the Dead, Alone in the Dark, Alone in the Dark II, BloodRayne, BloodRayne II: Deliverance,[7] BloodRayne: The Third Reich, In the Name of the King: A Dungeon Siege Tale, Postal and Far Cry. > > In the opening credits to Seed (2007), Boll used footage of animal abuse and torture he acquired from PETA to underscore the film’s nihilism. He has also promised to donate 2.5 percent of his net profits from Seed to PETA.[8] > Financing > > Boll’s movies have often performed poorly at the box office in the United States. House of the Dead, which was budgeted at $12 million, made $5.73 million in its opening weekend,[9] Alone in the Dark, which was budgeted at $20 million, made $5.1 million,[10] and BloodRayne, which was made for $25 million, made $2.42 million.[11] The least profitable commercial performance of his career was In the Name of the King: A Dungeon Siege Tale, which made barely $10 million worldwide at the box office on a $60 million budget. > > Until the law was changed in 2005, Boll was able to acquire funding for his movies thanks to German tax laws that reward investments in film. The law allowed investors in German-owned films to write off 100% of their investment as a tax deduction; it also allowed them to invest borrowed money and write off any fees associated with the loan. The investor was then only required to pay taxes on the profits made by the movie; if the movie loses money, the investor would get a tax writeoff.[citation needed] > > In the DVD commentary of Alone in the Dark, Boll explains how he funds his films: “Maybe you know it but it’s not so easy to finance movies in total. And the reason I am able to do these kind of movies is I have a tax shelter fund in Germany, and if you invest in a movie in Germany you get basically fifty percent back from the government.” > > Boll has received a lot of negative publicity regarding this funding method.[12]\*\* > **[Uwe Boll | Films](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uwe_Boll#Films)** > > Boll's first two major releases were the horror movie Blackwoods and the drama Heart of America, both of which he directed and co-wrote. > He achieved recognition for loosely adapting video games into movies, having directed and produced a number of such adaptations, including House of the Dead, Alone in the Dark, Alone in the Dark II, BloodRayne, BloodRayne 2: Deliverance, BloodRayne: The Third Reich, In the Name of the King, In the Name of the King 2: Two Worlds, In the Name of the King 3: The L... ---
**Author:** ![Evil\_Captor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/f17d59/32.png) [@Evil\_Captor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Evil_Captor)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2012, 2:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-big-must-a-flop-be-to-ruin-a-career/624404/55 "2012-07-11T14:12:56Z")
> [@msmith537](#): > > Sandler’s worth like a $300 M so he probably just likes making films about retarded man-boys dating whatever hot girl he gets to start with him (Brooklyn Decker, Jennifer Anniston, Salma Hayek, Drew Barrymore, whoever.) > > I recall a similar story about an actor saying how some “bomb” payed for his beach house. Micheal Caine, Jaws 3. “I have not seen Jaws 3, I understand that it is a terrible movie. I have seen the house that the money from that movie built, and it is magnificent!” ---
**Author:** ![Labrador\_Deceiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7c8e57/32.png) [@Labrador\_Deceiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Labrador_Deceiver)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2012, 2:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-big-must-a-flop-be-to-ruin-a-career/624404/56 "2012-07-11T14:28:14Z")
> [@garygnu](#): > > Well, good and profitable are not the same things. To a studio, it’s worth risking an Along Came Polly if you could get a Meet the Parents. Along Came Polly grossed $172 million. ---
**Author:** ![JMH125](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ee59a6/32.png) [@JMH125](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JMH125)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2012, 2:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-big-must-a-flop-be-to-ruin-a-career/624404/57 "2012-07-11T14:39:00Z")
> [@Evil\_Captor](#): > > Micheal Caine, Jaws 3. “I have not seen Jaws 3, I understand that it is a terrible movie. I have seen the house that the money from that movie built, and it is magnificent!” I thought that was Jaws 4? J3 was at the water park with Dennis Quaid. ---
**Author:** ![a35362](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3da27b/32.png) [@a35362](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/a35362)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2012, 2:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-big-must-a-flop-be-to-ruin-a-career/624404/58 "2012-07-11T14:39:41Z")
> [@DigitalC](#): > > I don’t think it’s one big flop but several in a row that will do you in. Take Michael Cera, a few years ago he was in new movie every other month because of arrested development, Juno and Superbad. But he followed that with Nick and Nora’s Infinite Playlist, Year One, Youth in Revolt and Scott Pilgrim vs the World and now all the awkward teenager movie roles are going to the Facebook movie guy. In Michael Cera’s case it has to do with his “look,” though, right? I mean, how long can he go on playing the awkward teenager/young adult role? I wonder the same thing about Elijah Wood, actually, but he seems to be doing just fine. ---
**Author:** ![Evil\_Captor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/f17d59/32.png) [@Evil\_Captor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Evil_Captor)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2012, 3:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-big-must-a-flop-be-to-ruin-a-career/624404/59 "2012-07-11T15:05:11Z")
> [@JMH125](#): > > I thought that was Jaws 4? J3 was at the water park with Dennis Quaid. I suppose so. They all kinda blur together. ---
**Author:** ![DragonAsh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/db5fbb/32.png) [@DragonAsh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DragonAsh)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2012, 4:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-big-must-a-flop-be-to-ruin-a-career/624404/60 "2012-07-11T16:59:25Z")
How can this thread exist and not have anyone mention Travolta’s eyeball-gougingly bad Battlefield Earth? It’s one of only two movies I’ve ever stopped watching midway through. I don’t think it completely ruined his career - he can probably live 10 full lives on Pulp Fiction alone - but has he really done anything since? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-big-must-a-flop-be-to-ruin-a-career/624404.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-big-must-a-flop-be-to-ruin-a-career/624404.md?page=4)