The epochal turkey of its day, which nearly quadrupled its original production budget, bankrupted United Artists and wrecked director Michael Cimino's reputation. Kristofferson, its rugged leading man, had trouble recovering, too. The country singer's star as a film actor had risen through the 70s, thanks to roles for Martin Scorsese (Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore) and Sam Peckinpah (Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid), and opposite Barbra Streisand in A Star is Born. It also coincided with the worst year of Kristofferson's life: his wife Rita Coolidge left him, his agent died, and he lost his recording contract. After this perfect storm, his screen career hit the doldrums until 1996.
The Postman (1997)
Kevin Costner
Even before this exorbitant sci-fi adventure made him Hollywood's least bankable leading man, Costner had faced some close brushes with disaster. His first directing project, Dances with Wolves, had been dubbed "Kevin's Gate" during the shoot, but survived the negative publicity to become a surprise Oscar-winner; and then Waterworld, widely tipped to bellyflop before release, just about broke even. You'd have thought Costner might have been tempted to steer clear of expensive post-apocalyptic sci-fi after that, but he showed no such caution and even signed on to direct. With its mawkish parable of American pluck, The Postman was a last-chance saloon that blew up in his face. Costner would never be treated like Hollywood royalty again.
Queen Kelly (1929)
Gloria Swanson
Swanson was the Queen of the Silents, and this collaboration with Erich von Stroheim, full of mad sex and melodrama, should have capped her career before the talkies came in. Instead, the two bitterly clashed, the budget ballooned, and production was shut down. Swanson's then lover, producer Joseph P. Kennedy, fired von Stroheim and hired Edmund Goulding to "disinfect" the script, but the film was never satisfactorily finished, even after Swanson shot an alternative ending and released it to dismal returns in 1931. This debacle dealt a severe blow to the star's career, and she would effectively retire in a matter of years.
Killing Me Softly (2002)
Joseph Fiennes and Heather Graham
For his debut as an Anglophone film-maker, Chinese master Chen Kaige reached for that least safe or respectable of genres, the dodgy erotic thriller, and the above-the-title days of the two then-popular stars promptly disappeared in a puff of smoke. It might have been the 50 Shades-type scene when Fiennes trusses up Graham in a silk-scarf before they collapse on to a shagpile, or the insane set piece wherein Fiennes chases a mugger, beats him half to death, and the couple celebrate with a passionate clinch. Whatever moment you choose, the film's point-and-laugh reception made this the last chance you had to watch Fiennes and Graham as romantic leads, opposite each other or indeed anybody.
A Sound of Thunder (2005)
Edward Burns
This would-be epic adaptation of a Ray Bradbury story was meant to have been directed by Renny Harlin, starred Pierce Brosnan, and cost US$80 million. Then Harlin left due to a disagreement with Bradbury, Burns replaced Brosnan, and the production company went broke in mid-production. Remaining backers only had US$30 million to chip in, which is why the time-travel effects look shonky beyond belief. This surreally awful film grossed less than US$2 million in the United States. The only ripple created in the space-time continuum was its effect on the leading-man career of Burns, who has never since been hired to shoulder a major genre movie, but continues to work on lower budgets as a writer-director-star.
Hudson Hawk (1991)
Bruce Willis
Everyone wanted a bit of Bruce after Die Hard, which spawned a sequel and some very unfortunate choices in the early 90s. Hudson Hawk, the most crazily expensive of his star vehicles at that time, was also the one whose failure Willis was least able to squirm out of, since he co-wrote the script. It was a risky melange of slapstick caper movie, conspiracy thriller and musical farce, with Willis and co-star Danny Aiello synchronising their cat burglaries by crooning mid-heist. Critics weren't kind and audiences ran a mile, sending the Willis brand into a tail-spin. It took Quentin Tarantino to revive his credibility with Pulp Fiction, and the smash hit of The Sixth Sense to make him top dog again.
