IN this list of Top 10 celebrities Who Completely Disappeared After Their Movies Floped we find out that Picking the right project in Hollywood can either make or break your career. Unfortunately, in hollywood you’re only as good as your last movie. And if your last movie isn’t a hit, you just might be done for, or at least for the next couple of years. While some stars comes out unscathed when their latest project crashes and burns. others disappear altogether when their movie bombs, although they do sometimes return. Unfortunately, their fame is rarely ever the same again. Keep watching to find out some of your favorite actors and actresses from the ’80s, ’90s, and 2000s that have fallen off the face of the Earth along with the movies that pushed them over.
1. Brandon Routh, « Superman Returns »
You might think that playing a famous superhero like Superman would make any actor a star. However, it takes more than just a popular character for someone to succeed.
In 2006, Audiences lined up around the block when Bryan Singer’s Superman Returns hit theaters. It had been nearly two decades since moviegoers had seen the Man of Steel on the big screen, and actor Brandon Routh looked like the perfect candidate to carry on Christopher Reeve’s iconic legacy.
The movie was supposed to be a huge blockbuster, but it didn’t make as much money as producers expected, at least nowhere near enough to justify a sequel.
Even though there’d been one planned, it was canceled, and the actor has pretty much vanished from the big screen ever since.
2. Brendan Fraser, « The Mummy: Tomb Of The Dragon Emperor »
Starting in the early ‘90s, Brendan Fraser found mainstream success in screwball comedies such as Encino Man, Airheads, and George of the Jungle. Things changed in 1999 when Fraser scored the lead in The Mummy, a swashbuckling reboot of the classic Universal monster flick which launched him into superstardom.
The third entry in that franchise, The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor, was the one that ended his career. It only received a 13% approval rating, with critics finding it to be boring and lacking in decent CGI effects.
Although it performed well commercially, it was also the lowest-grossing film in “The Mummy” series. Within a few years, the only movie roles that Fraser was getting were independent films, voice parts, or direct-to-DVD pictures.
In 2022 though, he made a big comback with his role in ‘The Whale‘, which gained him a Critics’ Choice Movie Award and a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Actor.
3. Dana Carvey, « The Master Of Disguise »
Dana Carvey was inarguably the star of Saturday Night Live in the late ’80s and early ’90s. When he eventually moved away from the variety show, Carvey looked to try and establish himself on the big screen, but with the exception of the Wayne’s World movies, none of his projects (Clean Slate, Trapped in Paradise, The Dana Carvey Show) really took off.
“The Master of Disguise” – which Carvey also wrote – proved to be the final nail in the coffin, with its 1% approval rating, it was one of the biggest bombs of 2002.
After the film, Carvey said goodbye to the movie star life. Ever since, his only acting gigs have been cameos and voice-overs.
4.Taylor Lautner, « Tracers »
Taylor Lautner was slowly inching his way up Hollywood’s ladder when he was suddenly cast as Jacob, the teenage werewolf, in the Twilight series.
The movies generated millions at the box office and did great things for Kristen Stewart’s and Robert Pattinson’s careers. They also promised amazing things for Taylor Lautner, too. However, unlike his co-stars, Lautner hasn’t done much with himself recently.
He was given a handful of vehicle projects to star in, but none of them paid off, and the straw that broke the camel’s back was the 2015 bomb Tracers.
Today, the former Twilight star has all but disappeared from the spotlight, aside from appearing in a bit part in the Adam Sandler Netflix comedy, The Ridiculous Six.
5. Chris O’Donnell, « Batman & Robin »
In the 1990s, Chris O’Donnell looked like he had it all. He was landing tons of roles on the big screen, and even scoring a Golden Globe nomination for one of them.
Neither to say he was a solid choice to play Robin in 1995’s Batman Forever, a role that he revived in the sequel “Batman & Robin.” While the former was a bit of a miss, the latter was a complete failure.
Unfortunatly, Joel Schumacher’s Batman & Robin was not just responsible for killing the Batman franchise for the better part of a decade, but also for squashing the careers of its actors. One of those careers belonged to Chris O’Donnell, who was never able to bounce back after the role of Robin.
Today, O’Donnell has all but disappeared from the silver screen, but still manages to pop up once in a while on TV in shows like NCIS: Los Angeles and Grey’s Anatomy.
6. Robert Benigni, « Pinocchio »
Already a huge star in his native Italy, Benigni broke through to the rest of the world with Life is Beautiful, a film he wrote, directed, and starred in, about a father who uses humor and laughter to shield his son from the horrors of life in a World War II concentration camp. It won him an oscar in 1999.
In 2002, he starred in a live-action adaptation of Pinocchio that didn’t make much sense. Benigni, 50 years old at the time, played the puppet boy who wanted to be a real boy.
The film was a major flop and it received a 0% approval rating. Needless to stay, the movie offers stopped coming in thick and fast after that.
7. Mike Myers, « The Love Guru »
Mike Myers was at the height of his powers in the early 2000’s. He had achieved major mainstream success with his raunchy Austin Powers series, as well as the family-friendly Shrek franchise.
Alas, things began to wear down for Myers after a while. His last few film roles weren’t the best, particularly “The Love Guru” in 2008, Which was a a massive commercial bomb.
After it came out, Mike appeared in a few documentaries before moving away from acting semi-permanently.
8. Colleen Haskell, « The animal »
The first season of Survivor was a pop cultural phenomenon in the summer of 2000. More or less launching the entire genre of reality TV in the U S.
Colleen Haskell became famous after appearing on the first season of Survivor. She got the most attention of any of the contestants, probably because of her conventional good looks.
Haskell landed the romantic lead in the 2001 Rob Schneider movie The Animal. That was the last movie Haskell ever made. It did okay at the box office, but apparently, it didn’t do well enough.
9. Matthew Modine, « Cutthroat Island »
Matthew Modine had quite a career over the years and even claimed several major award nominations. However, things took a bit of a dark turn in the mid-’90s, thanks to his work on “Cutthroat Island.”
In 1995, Carolco Pictures decided to put the actor in a pirate movie. The thing is, people weren’t really into pirate movies back then.
The movie reportedly only made $10 million at the box office, despite having a significantly higher budget of $98 million. After that Modine didn’t make another movie for two years.
10. Lori Petty, « Tank Girl »
Tank Girl was the perfect project for Lori Petty. Unfortunately for her, no matter how hard she worked, she was at a loss by being cast in “Tank Girl.” The film simply wasn’t that good, receiving mixed to negative reviews from most critics, and barely earned $4 million at the box office and it cost $25 million to make.
Petty had a hard time recovering after that movie flop, but many years later, she landed a role on the Netflix original series Orange is the New Black.