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if there's one star everyone desperately
wants to see return to the spotlight its
Brendan Fraser although he never
completely faded from the public
consciousness
he's been the subject of memes and gifts
that Golden Globes clap anyone but if
we're not making him into a meme we're
asking whatever happened to that guy
anyway
welcome to watchmojo.com all from The
Mummy series two of which were released
in 1999 and 2001 but he also starred in
the likes of George of the jungle
bedazzled Looney Tunes back in action
and crash in one of his finest dramatic
roles all right if we can't duck this
thing we're gonna have to neutralize it
what we need is a picture of me in a
medal on black man those movies alone
combined to gross over 1.2 billion
dollars making Brendan Fraser one of the
most profitable leading men of his day
but somewhere along the way everything
changed and certainly not for the better
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the first and perhaps most recognizable
thing to plague Frazier's career was his
poor choice in movies and resulting
box-office bombs the first two mummy
movies grossed over 400 million dollars
each and while everyone remembers the
mummy no one remembers his other 1999
release a movie called Dudley do-right
which saw Frazier as a Canadian Mountie
that movie grossed just ten million
dollars on a seventy million dollar
budget making it an enormous box-office
bomb however one bomb does not a career
ruin and Frasier was lucky enough to
recover but then they kept coming in
2001 he starred an even bigger disaster
called monkey bone which grossed just
7.6 million dollars on a 75 million
dollar budget two years later was the
aforementioned two Looney Tunes back in
action nowadays it's a beloved film but
when it was released it grossed just shy
of 70 million dollars on an 80 million
dollar budget certainly not as
devastating but a bomb nonetheless it's
clear that people loved Brendan Fraser
in the mummy movies but that didn't mean
they would love Brendan Fraser in just
anything Hollywood executives looked at
the box-office performance of these
three not outrageously budgeted movies
and began to question Frazier's
capability as a leading man and box
office draw but then came an incident
that was far more destructive to
Frazier's career and his mental health
in an exclusive sit-down with GQ Zack
Barron in 2018 Frazier recounted a
groping incident that took place in the
summer of 2003 just a few short months
before Looney Tunes was released during
a lunch held by the Hollywood Foreign
Press Association ex-president Phillip
Burke allegedly grabbed Frazier's butt
and fondled him with his finger Burke
interned admits that he pinched
Frazier's butt in a friendly manner but
calls Frazier's story a total
fabrication regardless this particular
incident caused Frazier to spiral into
depression Frazier recounts that he
entered a daze and retreated both into
himself and away from the public eye in
Frasier's words it ruined quote who I
was and what I was doing work withered
on the vine for me in my mind at least
something had been taken away from me he
asked for an apology from Berk and from
the HF PA but refused to take the
allegation public saying quote I didn't
want to contend with how that made me
feel or at becoming part of my narrative
Fraser also assumes that his allegation
and personal push back against Berk
caused him to be blacklisted by the
Hollywood Foreign Press he states that
he curried disfavor with the group and
was rarely invited back to the Golden
Globes which are hosted by the HF PA the
HF PA in turn denies any involvement in
Frazier's lack of work putting the onus
of blame on Fraser and Fraser alone this
self-imposed retreat depression and
possible blacklisting by the hf PA are
mirrored in Frazier's filmography he
didn't work much between 2003 and 2008
appearing in just four movies sure one
of those movies was crash but the other
three are very small and low budgeted
films that you've probably never heard
of in comparison Fraser released ten
movies between 1999 and 2003 in turn
Frazier's lack of substantial work
started to make him feel like a failure
he tells GQ that he was considered for
the role of Superman in the early 2000s
the movie became 2006's Superman Returns
and if you recall Superman was not
played by Brendan Fraser but by newcomer
Brandon Ralph this was a major blow to
Frazier's confidence and he
unfortunately considered himself a
failure things got even worse for
Frazier in 2007 as he and Afton Smith
his wife of nine years decided to
divorce however the following year saw
Brendan briefly returning to profitable
leading man status 2008 saw the release
of both The Mummy Tomb of the Dragon
Emperor and Journey to the Center of the
Earth
which combined to gross over 640 million
dollars at the box office that's one
point for me right
who's keeping track unfortunately this
return to stardom was severely ill timed
as Frazier's health was falling apart
he tells GQ quote by the time I did the
third mummy picture I was put together
with tape and ice years of stunt work
and intense physical acting had taken
its toll and Fraser required multiple
surgeries these included a laminectomy
knee replacement vocal cord repair and
the bolting of compressed spinal pads if
that sounds like a total nightmare
that's because it was Fraser spent the
next seven years in and out of various
hospitals he was forced to take roles in
movies that he wasn't proud of and which
paid considerably less than he was used
to which of course only added to his
depression and sense of failure if he
wasn't in the surgery room recovering
from a surgery or preparing for an
upcoming surgery he was in and out of
family court by 2013 Fraser could no
longer afford his annual child support
payment of $900,000 which if our math
checks out is $75,000 a month in early
2013 he petitioned the court for a
reduced payment claiming that he was
unable to procure the necessary funds
due to a significant lack of work when
all is said and done there wasn't one
thing that ruined Frazier's career the
man was struck by an unfortunate amount
of bad luck and everything seemed to
coalesce into a perfect storm of career
and personal degradation
before we continue be sure to subscribe
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notifications let's recap in the early
2000s he started a handful of
devastating bombs which may have
impacted his status as a profitable
leading man in 2003 while in the midst
of said bombs he was allegedly groped by
the axe president of the Hollywood
Foreign Press and potentially
blacklisted for speaking out which led
to a substantial lack of work this lack
of work made him feel like a failure and
further worsened his depression his
marriage subsequently fell apart and he
divorced from his wife of nine
his body then fell apart and he was in
and out of hospitals for seven years
while he was restructured and repaired
and in the middle of all of that Fraser
was facing significant financial
troubles and could no longer afford his
massive child support payments of
$75,000 a month may we remind you so
that's what happened to Brendan Fraser
it's certainly not an easy answer but
these things seldom are luckily
Frazier's career seems to be on the
upswing again and he's made a name for
himself on television since 2015 he
starred in shows like Texas rising trust
and Condor he currently portrays Cliff
Steel also known as robot men on DC
universes Doom Patrol maybe it's not
leading man material but it's something
and at this point we're happy to see him
in anything he deserves it sometimes
George fall in a treehouse but not feel
stupid something good always happened
after George is just lucky I guess
brendan fraiser deserves a comeback more
than anyone in Hollywood in our opinion
but what do you guys think let us know
in the comments or tweet me at Phoebe
underscore WM and check out this video
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