Top 10 Movies That BOMBED Due to Bad Casting

“Alexander” (2004)
Something has to go very, very wrong for a title character to be this spectacularly miscast. Colin Farrell is a good actor, but he turned in a performance here that makes you wonder if he thought he was in a different movie. Even with nearly three hours of screen time, Farrell’s horrid line reads don’t evoke any emotion other than utter boredom. With a budget well into nine figures, the meager box office return won’t be justifying a sequel any time soon. Although, given Farrell’s misguided performance, that’s probably for the best.

“After Earth” (2013)
Most family nights include going to the movies, not making one. And this is a prime example as to why. The stunt-casting of Will and Jaden Smith as in-universe father and son ended up more distracting than anything else. Even setting aside the obvious nepotism, the Smith son clearly lacked the training or experience needed to shoulder such a hefty role. As a result, this familial excursion crash-landed due to horrendous reviews, with a meager box office tally to match. It’s a real shame since, on another Earth, a different actor for Kitai may have saved both the movie’s reputation and its bottom line from complete embarrassment.

“Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets” (2017)
Luc Besson’s adaptation of the French comic book series “Valérian and Laureline” didn’t want for a visual showcase. But when you’re trying to sell moviegoers on an IP most of them haven’t heard of before, you’re gonna need recognizable stars at the forefront. Dane DeHaan and Cara Delevingne are by no means bad actors, but they tend to exude characteristics more suited to villains, which make their hero roles here not quite as fitting. They alone couldn’t sell “Valerian” to American audiences, who only contributed about $40 million to its $226 worldwide haul. With a production budget only about $3 million less than that, and you know this one lost money.

“Battlefield Earth” (2000)
Villains are supposed to be menacing. Or, at the very least, somewhat interesting. But we’d take anything halfway-believable compared to what John Travolta is doing in this movie. He lobbied for, produced, and starred in this sci-fi dud. In fact, he may have worn too many hats that his performance suffered for it. His hilariously overblown performance steers the entire movie towards farce, to the point people were only coming out to laugh at it. In the end, “Battlefield Earth” couldn’t even recoup half of its production budget back at the box office. Those kinds of numbers speak for themselves.

“The Great Wall” (2016)
A-listers leading big-budget blockbusters is nothing new. However, not all of them feature a white American headlining a movie about ancient China. From its very first trailer, the film’s marketing was marred by accusations of the harmful “white savior” trope. Critical reviews weren’t quite as harsh, but by then, it was too little, too late. For all of Damon’s supposed stardom, he failed to mobilize many English-speaking audiences to go out to theaters. So, while “The Great Wall” was a modest success overseas, its failure stateside led to it losing as much as $75 million. It’s safe to say Damon’s starpower wasn’t worth all the fuss.

“Dragonball Evolution” (2009)
Casting a white guy as one of Japan’s most iconic fictional characters was never going to sit well with fans. Unfortunately, Chatwin’s performance failed to convince anyone otherwise. He comes across fairly bland in every scene, no matter if he’s burying his grandfather or defending the planet. In fact, Chatwin’s lack of charisma doesn’t just make for a bad Goku, it’s just a bad performance, period. The only justice in this horrid anime adaptation is that fans spoke with their wallets; they completely rejected Chatwin’s portrayal, and as a result, “Dragonball Evolution” couldn’t even crack double digits at the domestic box office. Somehow, that still feels like too much.

“Aloha” (2015)
For all intents and purposes, a rom-com starring Bradley Cooper, Rachel McAdams, and Emma Stone should’ve been a slam dunk. But, the only thing this movie said “Aloha” to was a mountain of controversy. Many took issue that Stone, a white actor, had been cast as a character who’s a quarter-Hawaiian and a quarter-Chinese. Both Stone and the film’s director have since regretted the decision, but it came too late to save “Aloha” from infamy. Apparently, Hollywood didn’t learn their lesson, since 2017’s “Ghost in the Shell” made a similar gaffe with Scarlett Johansson’s casting as Major Mira Killian. They say there’s no such thing as bad press, but these box office receipts beg to differ.

“The Truth About Charlie” (2002)
Living up to one of Cary Grant’s best roles is a fool’s errand. So, it’s almost admirable that this 2002 remake didn’t even try. Instead, they seemingly let Mark Wahlberg brood on set for a few months and turned in a lackluster finished cut. Any attempts at intrigue are lost in his attempts at charm. In a lesser role, it could be forgiven, but as a leading man in a high-stakes thriller, it’s tough to overlook. The film rightfully bombed in theaters, making just $7 million against a production budget nearly nine times that. No question about it, the truth here is that Mark Wahlberg was miscast.

“Lady in the Water” (2006)
The worst part about this blunder is that Shyamalan has no one to blame but himself. After all, directors are often instrumental in casting the right actors, but that clearly wasn’t the case here. Except, it’s not just Shyamalan’s acting that ruined the movie; it was that he cast himself as a grandiose, avant-garde writer whose story will supposedly change the world. We aren’t kidding. As expected, the self-indulgence appealed to few people. So, “Lady in the Water” was both a critical and commercial disappointment. But, at least Shyamalan had the honor of taking home the Golden Raspberry for Worst Director and Worst Supporting Actor for the same movie.

“Psycho” (1998)
We all go a little mad sometimes, but it takes some serious insanity to justify this bizarre casting. Sure, remakes are always going to field comparisons to the original. But this shot-for-shot modernization only reinforced how miscast Vince Vaughn is as Norman Bates. Instead of unsettling, his line delivery comes across as hokey. If this was the best Norman Bates they could get, it begs the question why they bothered remaking “Psycho” at all. Audiences were as displeased as critics, and they ensured the movie crashed and burned with ticket sales. Nowadays, Vaughn has found his calling in rom-coms and raunchy comedies. For everyone’s sake, fingers crossed he stays there.