![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/the-bonfire-of-the-vanities.jpg\")
image courtesy of warner bros.<\/p>\nNot many actors are lucky enough to have multiple critically or commercially successful movies in a row, much less multiple movies that are a combination of the two. But just as such actors are indeed out there, those actors are inevitably subject to a failure that greatly derails such a phenomenal winning streak. Those are the films that follow, movies that turned audiences off and made them wonder if one of their favorite performers best days were behind them. We went for movies where the star was either the lead or one of the leads. Furthermore, if an actor has only really found success in a single major franchise (e.g. how some Marvel Cinematic Universe stars have struggled to break out outside of the MCU), they didn\u2019t quite count for the purposes of this list.<\/p>\n
We\u2019re not saying the following movies are entirely without merit (though plenty of film fans would agree that several of them qualify for such an unwanted title). What we are saying is they did some damage to at least one actor\u2019s career, at least for a while.<\/p>\n
7) The Bonfire of the Vanities<\/p>\n
image courtesy of warner bros.<\/p>\n
When The Bonfire of the Vanities came out in 1990, Bruce Willis had a run of wins in Die Hard, In Country (which did well enough with critics), Look Who\u2019s Talking (which was a huge financial hit), Die Hard 2, and Look Who\u2019s Talking Too. Worse yet, after the forgettable but not awful thriller Mortal Thoughts, he followed up the genuinely awful Bonfire with the similarly awful Hudson Hawk.<\/p>\n
To varying degrees, it was also the end of winning streaks for Melanie Griffith, Tom Hanks, and director Brian De Palma. Griffith was nominated for an Oscar for Working Girl (one of the best movies of the late \u201980s) and found financial success in Pacific Heights while De Palma\u2019s previous two movies were The Untouchables and Casualties of War. As for Hanks, his biggest successes were yet to come, but Dragnet, Punchline, The \u2018Burbs, Turner & Hooch, Joe Versus the Volcano and, of course, Big, all found varying levels of success.<\/p>\n
Stream The Bonfire of the Vanities for free with ads on Fandango at Home.<\/p>\n
6) The 13th Warrior<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/the-13th-warrior.jpg\")
image courtesy of buena vista pictures distribution<\/p>\n
The biggest box office bomb of 1999<\/a> and, to this day, one of cinema\u2019s largest financial failures, John McTiernan\u2019s The 13th Warrior could have very well been the end of Antonio Banderas\u2019 days as a leading man. Prior to this there were several wins, but with a few minor money losers dispersed in there as well. But overall, the \u201990s were good to Banderas, with Philadelphia, Interview with the Vampire, and Desperado all proving to be successful.<\/p>\n As for what was released just before The 13th Warrior, though, it came after Evita (1996) and The Mask of Zorro (1998). Both of those were received well at the box office and, as far as critics were concerned, Evita was a mixed success, and Zorro was an outright success. Hence, that duo was Banderas\u2019 winning streak. Banderas\u2019 filmography has continued to be mixed since 13th Warrior, too. When it comes to the early aughts, Spy Kids was a crossover hit in 2001 but 2002 was the year of both the atrocious Ballistic: Ecks vs. Sever and the winners Frida and Spy Kids 2: The Island of Lost Dreams.<\/p>\n 5) Staying Alive<\/p>\n It may have made a lot of money but Staying Alive, the Saturday Night Fever sequel directed by Sylvester Stallone, was the movie that killed John Travolta\u2019s career until his Pulp Fiction comeback (Which was then killed again with Battlefield Earth). And rightly so, as it\u2019s a disgrace to its wonderful predecessor.<\/p>\n Before Staying Alive, Travolta had the run of Carrie, the aforementioned Saturday Night Fever, Grease, the negligible Moment by Moment, Urban Cowboy, and Brian De Palma\u2019s masterful Blow Out. Of those six movies, five are classics. After Staying Alive he had Two of a Kind, Perfect, The Experts, and the two Look Who\u2019s Talking movies. The latter duo of talking baby movies may have been financially viable, but few would have called them solid films. His real career recovery didn\u2019t come until Tarantino\u2019s masterpiece in 1994.<\/p>\n Stream Staying Alive on Hoopla.<\/p>\n 4) Baywatch<\/p>\n Dwayne Johnson had about three solid years of films that either made money, received above average or outright good reviews, or a combination of commercial and critical viability. 2014 had Hercules, 2015 had Furious 7 and San Andreas, and 2016 had Central Intelligence and Moana<\/p>\n And, to be fair to him, 2017 was far from a total wash. Both The Fate of the Furious and Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle made a ton of money (and the latter was excellent, quality-wise). Baywatch, however, was an overbudgeted comedy without many laughs. And, considering it was sandwiched between Fate and Jumanji, it made for a short-lived end to a successful run<\/a>.<\/p>\n Stream Baywatch (2017) on Philo.<\/p>\n 3) Ghost in the Shell<\/p>\n Scarlett Johansson had five straight years of films that were considered wins either in terms of critical reception, box office performance, or a combination of the two. It was a massively impressive run. 2012 had The Avengers and Hitchcock, 2013 had Don Jon, Under the Skin, and Her, 2014 had Chef, Lucy, and Captain America: The Winter Soldier, 2015 had Avengers: Age of Ultron, and 2016 had Captain America: Civil War, Hail, Caesar!, The Jungle Book, and Sing. <\/p>\n If there has been one performer who has been able to consistently thrive in the MCU and outside of it in both art house films and non-Marvel blockbusters<\/a>, it\u2019s Johansson. But Ghost in the Shell<\/a> wasn\u2019t it. It\u2019s not the worst movie in the world (though Johansson\u2019s casting was in and of itself a problem<\/a>), but it definitely was the type of critical and commercial miss that was capable of ending a hot streak, and that\u2019s just what it did. That said, after Rough Night, her next film, she rebounded quickly with Isle of Dogs, Avengers: Infinity War, Avengers: Endgame, Marriage Story, and Jojo Rabbit.<\/p>\n 2) Last Action Hero<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/staying-alive.jpg\")
image courtesy of paramount pictures<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/baywatch.jpg\")
image courtesy of paramount pictures<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/ghost-in-the-shell-1.jpg\")
image courtesy of paramount pictures<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/the-last-action-hero.jpg\")
image courtesy of sony pictures entertainment<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/wild-wild-west.jpg\")
image courtesy of warner bros.<\/p>\n