WHY HOLLYWOOD WON'T CAST BRENDAN FRASER ANYMORE
There was a time when actor Brendan Fraser was starring in multiple movies regularly.
Those days are long, long gone. Where did it all go wrong for the Indianapolis-born
actor? Let's count the ways Dudley Do-Right started doing so little.
BOMBING AT THE BOX OFFICE
Fraser had a rough 2010, and that year may be why he's become persona non grata in Hollywood.
In the span of two months, Fraser starred in two box office disasters. The medical drama
Extraordinary Measures was universally panned by critics, who said it belonged on television.
Audiences stayed home, and it earned just $12 million off a $31 million budget. Three
months later, Fraser starred in Furry Vengeance. Compared to Extraordinary Measures, Furry
Vengeance performed about the same, grossing $17.6 million off a $35 million budget. Unfortunately
for Fraser, the film was universally crushed by critics.
KILLED HIS OWN COMEBACK
Fraser's kid-friendly action flick, Journey to the Center of the Earth, was a surprise
hit. It become one of the highest-grossing movies of 2008, earning an impressive $101.7
million. New Line Cinema wanted a sequel—fast. But Fraser wanted to hold out for the original's
director, Eric Brevig, who was busy finishing Yogi Bear 3-D. The studio decided to use a
new director and replaced Fraser with Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson. On the one hand, Fraser's
loyalty was admirable; on the other, his timing couldn't have been worse. Johnson replaced
Fraser only months after Furry Vengeance bombed in theaters, a time when Fraser desperately
needed better work.
THE MUMMY FRANCHISE LIMPED ON
The first Mummy movie from 1999, while not a hit with critics, earned a massive $155
million in theaters. The sequel, The Mummy Returns, was an even bigger hit, grossing
a staggering $202 million in 2001, and making it one of the 10 highest-grossing movies that
year. One would think that Universal Pictures would try to rush out a threequel. But because
of various delays, the third Mummy didn't arrive until 2008, with a new director and
an almost entirely new cast on board. By then, audiences had grown tired of the franchise,
especially after the Scorpion King spin-off. That fatigue showed in the film's performance.
It barely crossed $100 million in the U.S., signaling the beginning of the end. The Mummy
had decayed.
LACKLUSTER PROJECTS
Some of Fraser's biggest flops included the live-action adaptation of Dudley Do-Right,
which grossed a paltry $9.9 million off a $70 million budget; the bizarre 2001 comedy
Monkeybone, which earned just $5.4 million off a $75 million budget; and Looney Tunes:
Back in Action, which took in $20.9 million off an $80 million budget. At the time, Fraser
was lucky with The Mummy franchise to counter these flops.
HIS WEIRD GOLDEN GLOBES CLAP
Fraser became the subject of humorous GIFs, memes, and general Internet ridicule after
cameras caught him awkwardly laughing and clapping while Robert De Niro was presenting
the Cecil B. DeMille Award at the 2010 Golden Globes. The three-second-long moment had everyone
laughing the night of the ceremony; video remixes, including one set to Gwen Stefani's
"Hollaback Girl," made it the stuff of Internet legend. Once the affable star of innocuous
Hollywood movies, Fraser looked awkward and somewhat out of place. It's okay Brendan,
we'll still give you an awkward ovation.
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