Which Hollywood heartthrob had his career debut in a direct-to-video "Gremlins" knockoff?
Which "Batman" actor started out in a fantasy film playing a boy named "Jum-Jum?"
Keep watching to learn which iconic stars had their first films bomb at the box office.
In 1999, Amy Adams' feature film debut was supporting character Leslie Miller in "Drop
Dead Gorgeous," a satirical mockumentary about a small-town beauty pageant in Mount Rose,
Minnesota. Critics snubbed the film upon its theatrical release and gave it negative reviews.
Audiences didn't go wild over the film, and it was a financial flop,
earning only $10.5 million gross at the box offices with a $10 million budget.
Adding insult to injury, "Drop Dead Gorgeous" only stayed in theaters for an average of 3.5 weeks.
This film was seriously under-appreciated upon theatrical release, but it has
developed a cult following amongst those who thoroughly enjoyed this darkly comic satire.
As a result, it gained a respectable audience score on Rotten Tomatoes.
The film stars Denise Richards and Kirsten Dunst as the obvious contenders for the crown,
with Kirstie Alley and Ellen Barkin playing their crazy stage mothers.
But the supporting performance by Adams was a standout and suggested this young actress had
a very exciting career ahead, which would include six Oscar nominations. Amy Adams proves that, just
because your first film didn't hit it big, doesn't mean your career path won't lead to the A-list.
Christian Bale has been acting since he was a child, and his feature film debut came in 1987
when he played Jum-Jum in the epic fantasy "Mio in the Land of Faraway." The film is an adaptation of
a novel by Astrid Lindgren, who is best known for her "Pippi Longstocking" book series.
In the film, Mio is whisked away from his miserable existence with his adoptive family
to a magical kingdom where his father is the king. There he meets Jum-Jum,
played by Bale, and together, the two boys travel to fight the evil knight Kato.
This film was a co-production between Swedish, Scandinavian, and Soviet financing, with a large
budget, estimated at 55 million Swedish Krona. The end result is a fantasy film with good production
values and special effects reminiscent of "The NeverEnding Story." Although we can't find any box
office numbers for "Mio in the Land of Faraway," the lack of hard data suggests the film never came
close to earning back its large production budget. Though the acting in this subpar fantasy wasn't
very good, as reflected in the film's weak scores on Rotten Tomatoes, Bale's potential is obvious.
"Return to Horror High" was George Clooney's feature film debut. Clooney plays Oliver, an
actor in a slasher film who leaves production for a television role in the early scenes of the film.
The premise of "Return to Horror High" is an interesting one: it's a horror-comedy about the
production of a low-budget slasher flick being shot on the grounds of the very high school
where a string of murders took place five years before. The murderer was never found, and Crippen
High closed its doors and sat abandoned until the small film crew arrived to shoot its horror flick.
"Return to Horror High" is an early example of meta-horror, and it was completely ahead of its
time. That's not to say the film is good, though. It isn't, as is reflected in the
lamentable audience ratings on Rotten Tomatoes. While the film isn't great, it's certainly fun,
providing an interesting commentary on filmmaking. That is to say, oftentimes, directors want to make
something meaningful and unique, while producers want to make something commercially profitable.
"We are making a movie! All other life ceases to exist."
It's a particularly humorous commentary for a film with a reported budget of $1
million that earned just shy of $1.2 million at the box office.
Despite being a bomb, one thing is abundantly clear in this movie:
the camera loves George Clooney. He also has the privilege of being the first kill we see on screen
in "Return to Horror High," so don't be too disappointed when he bites it!
Probably the only thing "Critters 3" is famous for is being Leonardo DiCaprio's feature film debut.
DiCaprio plays Josh, the stepson of the man who owns a rundown apartment building
infested with little monsters. As the Rolling Stone review said,
"DiCaprio isn't too bad as a pissy kid; indeed,
he seems to be the only cast member who can actually act."
The first two films in the series were commercially successful despite being
a derivative "Gremlins" knock-off, gaining a surprising cult following.
This lucky streak ended with the third film in the franchise. The
first two films were profitable during their theatrical release,
but the third film in the series was a direct-to-video disappointment. Obviously,
his first film being a financial flop didn't dampen DiCaprio's career prospects.
In 1991, he landed a role on the television show "Growing Pains." In 1993, he was cast as Arnie
in "What's Eating Gilbert Grape," and he earned his first Oscar nomination for his performance.
Vin Diesel's feature film acting debut was also his feature-length debut as a writer,
director, and producer in his small-budget indie project, "Strays." In the film, Diesel plays Rick,
a drug dealer who wants more out of life than one-night stands and hanging out with his buddies.
But Rick finds it difficult to leave his group of friends behind as he tries to find fulfillment in
a romantic relationship. The movie premiered at the Sundance Film Festival in January 1997,
but was only released on DVD over a decade later in 2008.
Diesel funded "Strays" himself, raising around $50,000 by working as a telemarketer.
Although the film wasn't financially successful, its ratings on Rotten Tomatoes aren't awful.
According to The National, "Strays" helped Diesel gain the attention of Steven Spielberg,
who wrote a minor role for him in "Saving Private Ryan." After his part in the lauded war film,
Diesel's career gained momentum, leading to him becoming the A-list actor he is today.
Angelina Jolie was in a series of music videos and had a tiny part in one of her
father's films before she landed her first lead role in the 1995 box-office bust "Hackers."
Jolie was cast as the romantic lead Kate, who meets Dade, a teenage hacker who was once known
as Zero Cool but now goes by the handle Crash Override. After being convicted for crashing
1500 computer systems at 11 years old, some even on Wall Street, Dade was banned from
using a computer until his 18th birthday. When Dade's new friend is framed for cyber terrorism,
the team takes on a powerful fossil fuel corporation to try and clear their names.
"Hackers" was expected to make a big splash, but only lasted in theaters for a few weeks
and made under $8 million at the box office. While it's a decent chunk of change, it didn't
make a dent in the estimated $20 million budget. "Hackers" has since developed a cult following,
which is reflected in its solid audience scores on Rotten Tomatoes and Metacritic.
While Jolie's first leading role wasn't in a hit, it did introduce her to Jonny Lee Miller,
whom she started dating while filming and married soon after.
"You're pretty good. You're elite."
From there, it was three years before Jolie captured significant attention after being
nominated for an Emmy for her performance in "Gia," beginning her ascent to the A-list.
Although Will Smith was already a TV star and a successful rapper, his feature film debut
wasn't all that illustrious. He co-starred in an ensemble cast as a homeless teenager named Manny,
who has been confined to a wheelchair ever since his legs were amputated.
The last portion of the independent film, "Where the Day Takes You," is excellent,
filled with famous faces who also took on supporting roles to flesh out the cast.
Unfortunately, "Where the Day Takes You" didn't come anywhere close to recouping its $3 million
budget, making it a box-office bomb. Despite not being profitable, this is actually a quite
wonderful film, reflected in positive scores with both critics and audiences on Rotten Tomatoes.
The film is often sad and difficult to watch, but the actors give themselves to their roles,
delivering solid performances. Taking a role in "Where the Day Takes You" didn't adversely
affect Smith's rising star: if anything, it showed the range he was capable of.
Brad Pitt had a few uncredited parts in movies and a handful of roles on television in his early
days, but his first leading role in a feature film was in "The Dark Side of the Sun." He played Rick,
a young American who has traveled to Yugoslavia with his parents to see a healer,
hoping to cure his rare skin disease. Rick is photosensitive, and light can kill him,
so he lives his life covered in leathers looking like a sadist in a horror movie.
Rick soon decides to cast off his leathers and spend the handful of days he has left
trying to woo a young American actress, Frances, while traveling with a theater troupe.
"Dark Side of the Sun" was filmed in the former Yugoslavia, but went directly to DVD
nearly a decade after being filmed. Although there's a rumor that the film reels were lost
during the civil war only to be recovered after the conflict was over, it remains just that — a
rumor. A straight-to-video release isn't an illustrious beginning for a movie star,
especially considering the film wasn't distributed until after Pitt was well on his way to stardom.
Still, it was undeniably a big part of his journey as an actor. Despite the deceptively
positive audience score on Rotten Tomatoes, you should probably give this throwback a pass.
"But, I tell you what? I thank you for your time."
Before Jennifer Lawrence got an Oscar nod for her performance as Ree in "Winter's Bone," she
had already experienced moderate success. This was for her role in "The Bill Engvall Show"
and a supporting role in an indie film. However, Lawrence's first leading role in a feature-length
film was as Agnes in "The Poker House." The project was actress Lori Petty's debut as a
writer-director and was inspired by her troubled youth. Agnes' mother, Sarah, is a sex worker,
raising her three daughters in a card house where men come to gamble and be entertained by women.
Critics, who praised the performances, expressed a mixed response to the plot and directing.
The theatrical release of the film was so limited there are no box-office numbers
available for the project, other than the production budget of $1 million.
"The Poker House" premiered at the Los Angeles Film Festival in 2009, and Phase 4 Films later
distributed the film on DVD. Although Lawrence's first lead role was in a box-office flop,
it wasn't long before "The Hunger Games" and "X-Men" launched her all the way to the top.
Long before Uma Thurman became Quentin Tarantino's muse in "Pulp Fiction" and the "Kill Bill" films,
her screen debut was in the low-budget thriller "Kiss Daddy Goodnight." Thurman played Laura,
a young model who makes extra cash by meeting men in bars before drugging and robbing them.
After someone Laura knows is murdered, someone begins to stalk her.
"Kiss Daddy Goodnight" was released at the AFI Film festival in 1987,
but the movie is so obscure that we can't find any box-office information.
You can watch a grainy version of the film on YouTube, but we wouldn't recommend it. The sound
quality is terrible, the story is forgettable, and the performances are subpar. Only a handful
of the cast had acting careers, with Steve Buscemi and Thurman being the biggest stars to come out of
this movie. Audiences gave the movie an abysmal score on Rotten Tomatoes, which is unsurprising.
Everyone has to start somewhere, and for Thurman, it was only up from here!
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