Kurt Russell Had 5 Of His Career's Biggest Box Office Flops In Just 5 Years

Kurt Russell has told a story about how he landed over double his usual fee to headline "Stargate." Concerned that the role of Colonel Jack O'Neil wasn't particularly endearing on paper, MGM ran a global poll to find out which actor the viewing public felt had the least "unlikability." Russell came back tops with "zero unlikability," so the execs offered the actor a bumper payday to star in the movie. That's the thing with Russell: With his classic matinee idol looks, magnificent head of hair, infectious laugh, and easy-going demeanor, you'd be hard pressed to find many people out there who don't like him. Yet, a decade before "Stargate" hit theaters, cinemagoers just weren't paying money to watch Russell's movies, resulting in a string of flops that almost tanked his career before it had really taken off.

Russell got his start in acting playing a youngster kicking Elvis Presley in the shins in "It Happened at the World Fair," before he got his big break in a run of Disney movies including "The Computer Wore Tennis Shoes" and "The Barefoot Executive." Those films were no great shakes, but Russell was clearly a talented young future star, and he shared a rare connection with the legendary mogul Walt Disney. (There is an apocryphal story that "Kurt Russell" were Uncle Walt's last words.) Nevertheless, Russell still harbored ambitions of becoming a baseball player instead of an actor, a dream that was ended when an injury curtailed his playing days.

By a quirk of fate, Elvis Presley once again gave Russell a boost in his acting career. Two years after The King passed away, John Carpenter cast the actor in "Elvis," a well-received TV film for which Russell received a Primetime Emmy Award nomination. It was the start of a successful working relationship with the director and opened the door to Hollywood. After Russell starred in Robert Zemeckis's "Used Cars," Carpenter cast the actor in his first iconic role: Nihilistic former Special Forces man turned bank robber Snake Plissken in "Escape from New York." Following "Halloween" and "The Fog," the sci-fi action thriller was another hit for Carpenter and Russell nailed the role with his customary charisma, giving us an antihero worth rooting for. It was a positive start for Russell and Carpenter decided to cast him again in his next movie, which was where the trouble started. Because that next movie was "The Thing."

Kurt Russell wasn't John Carpenter's first pick to play R.J. MacReady, the nominal hero of his remake of Howard Hawks' classic "The Thing From Another World." Nevertheless, the actor made the reluctant helicopter pilot another solid addition to his filmography when he joined an excellent ensemble cast for a gloopy and suspenseful sci-fi horror flick that returned to the shape-shifting paranoia of its source material, John W. Campbell's novella "Who Goes There?" Carpenter was well-equipped with the biggest budget of his career to date ($15 million), one of the hottest young special effects wizards in Hollywood (Rob Bottin), and Ennio Morricone providing a very menacing Carpenter-esque score. 

Yet, "The Thing" had the misfortune of opening a few weeks after "E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial" in June 1982. Perhaps understandably at that time of year, viewers much preferred the company of a more cuddly visitor from outer space than watching a bunch of guys getting ripped to shreds in the snow and ice. Critics hated the film, and Carpenter was labeled a "pornographer of violence." The movie barely made a profit, staggering to an underwhelming worldwide total of just under $21 million.

Russell had a brief reprieve with "Silkwood," for which he received a Golden Globe nomination — still only the second awards nod of his career (after "Elvis"). Then it was downhill from there. "Swing Shift" teamed him with his future long-term partner Goldie Hawn (they started dating during the shoot), but the movie bombed, taking home just $6.6 million against a $15 million budget. "The Mean Season" also stumbled at the box office, making back less than half of its $10 million price tag. A strong pairing of Russell with Robin Williams couldn't save the sports comedy "The Best of Times" from a similar fate, bringing in just $7.8 million on a $12 million budget.

Then came "Big Trouble in Little China," Russell's fourth collaboration with Carpenter. By that time, the director had paid his Hollywood penance with "Christine" and "Starman" and was entrusted with another sizable budget. Yet, despite a winning performance from Russell as buffoonish truck driver Jack Burton, audiences simply didn't know what to make of the bizarre blend of Western, action, horror, kung-fu, and buddy movie genres. Reviews were mixed, and the film only earned $11 million against a $25 million budget.

Despite a disastrous run of flops, nobody really laid any blame at Kurt Russell's door and it is perhaps a testament to people's good-will towards him that he wasn't regarded as box office poison at that stage. It would take another pairing with Goldie Hawn in "Overboard" to finally break the losing streak. The rom-com only made a small profit, but at least it ended up in the plus figures. Subsequently, Russell's next two big movies enabled him to build on the star potential he had shown at the start of the '80s. First up was "Tequila Sunrise" alongside Mel Gibson and Michelle Pfeiffer, followed by "Tango & Cash" with Sylvester Stallone, surely the zaniest big-budget action movie to come out of the decade. In between, "Winter People" vanished without a trace, but otherwise Russell was now starring in substantial box office hits. He and Hawn became one of Hollywood's best-loved couples, teasing a marriage proposal as they presented the Oscar for Best Director at the 1989 Academy Awards.

The wedding never materialized, but Russell had plenty more reasons to be cheerful in the 1990s, starring in a string of commercially successfully movies that included "Backdraft," "Unlawful Entry," "Tombstone," "Stargate," "Executive Decision," and "Breakdown." There were still a few duds along the way ("Captain Ron," "Escape from L.A."), but by now, Russell had become one of Hollywood's most dependably bankable actors.

The 21st Century has been a mixed bag for Russell, although the high points arguably outweigh the negatives. He appeared on course for another major wobble as he interspersed solid performances in films like "Vanilla Sky" and "Miracle" with another batch of flops ("3000 Miles to Graceland, "Interstate 60") and mediocre dramas ("Dreamer"). Quentin Tarantino tapped into Russell's ineffable cool by casting him as Stuntman Mike in "Death Proof," but it would take another seven years for him to really hit his stride again. In 2015, he turned in two terrific performances in "The Hateful Eight" and "Bone Tomahawk" before becoming a fixture of the "Fast & Furious" franchise, appearing in "Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2," and giving us arguably the greatest on-screen Santa Claus in the "Christmas Chronicles" films. You never know what is around the corner but, now in his 70s, it seems like the man with zero unlikability is back for good.