Hey Hollywood, want a tax write-off?
Get Jude Law to star in your movie.
Last weekend, Law once again demonstrated his scrawny box-office muscles. The English actor has another bomb on his hands, with the long-delayed futuristic thriller "Repo Men" opening to a woeful $6.1 million. Yet despite his spotty track record, Law continues to get regular, high-profile work.
He's not alone. And the company Law keeps is not always who you'd expect.
TheWrap takes a look at some of the busy bees who are racking up starring roles despite failing to make a stir at the box office.
Jude Law
Flops: "My Blueberry Nights," "Sleuth," "Repo Men," "All the King's Men," "Closer," "Breaking and Entering"
"Sherlock Holmes" was a nearly $500 million smash, but credit there goes to co-star Robert Downey Jr. Take out those massive grosses and you're left with a list that boasts "My Blueberry Nights" ($867,000), "Closer" ($34 million), "Sleuth" ($342,000), "All the King's Men" ($7.2 million) and "Breaking and Entering" ($930,000). "Repo Men"s' dreadful debut means it will be another notch in the two-time Oscar nominee's belt.
Michael Cera
Flops: "Year One," "Paper Heart," "Extreme Movie," "Youth in Revolt"
Audiences loved him in "Superbad" and "Juno," and his reported paycheck soared accordingly. But Cera's awkward doofus shtick is wearing thin faster than his movies can hit theaters. Among the duds, "Paper Heart" and "Extreme Movie" barely warranted theatrical releases, stumbling their way to $1.3 million and $54,000 grosses, respectively. "Year One" was an even bigger embarrassment, costing more than $60 million and taking in just $43 million domestically despite the added presence of Jack Black.
George Clooney
Flops: "The Men Who Stare at Goats," "The Fantastic Mr. Fox," "Leatherheads," "The Good German"
The sad fact remains that the debonair star's misses far outflank the hits. For every modest performer like "Up in the Air," ($83 million domestically), Clooney has released out-and-out bombs like "The Fantastic Mr. Fox," which brought in $20.9 million domestically on a $40 million budget, and "Leatherheads," which banked $31.3 million on a $58 million budget. Behind the camera, Clooney doesn't fare much better. "Good Night, and Good Luck" made its tiny budget back with $31 million, but "Confessions of a Dangerous Mind" was D.O.A., banking only $16 million. Audiences, it seems, may be the only ones immune to the "Sexiest Man Alive"s charms.
Nicole Kidman
Flops: "Nine," "Australia," "The Golden Compass," "Fur," "The Invasion," "Margot at the Wedding," "Birth"
It's hard to remember a time when Kidman had a hit. Probably 2001's "The Others," a thriller that brought in $96 million on a $17 million budget. She's been living off the residual goodwill for a long, long time. Moreover, when a Kidman movie misses, it bellyflops. "Australia," "Nine" and "The Golden Compass" weren't just flops, they were epic bombs.
