Before Jurassic World Rebirth, Scarlett Johansson Starred In This Forgotten Monster Movie

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Scarlett Johansson is one of the biggest names in Hollywood. If there is an A-list, she is unquestionably on it, right alongside the likes of Tom Cruise, Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson, or anyone else one cares to name. Thanks to the recent success of "Jurassic World Rebirth" at the box office, Johansson is now literally the highest-grossing lead actor of all time. That comes from decades of work dating back to the mid-'90s. But long before she was mixing it up with dinosaurs, she once tangled with giant spiders in an oft-forgotten creature feature.

The movie in question is "Eight Legged Freaks" which, as the name suggests, is all about giant spiders. Directed by Ellory Elkayem, the film centers on the residents of a rural mining town. A chemical spill combined with the inhabitants of a local exotic creature shop causes hundreds of little spiders to mutate overnight to the size of cars, wreaking havoc on the community. (The movie featured the tagline, "Do you hate spiders? Do you really hate spiders? Well they don't like you either.")

Johansson played the role of Ashley Parker, the daughter of the town's sheriff, Samantha (Kair Wuhrer). The ensemble was led by David Arquette, who was coming off of the "Scream" trilogy. Prior to this, Johansson had starred in several movies as a kid, including "Home Alone 3." But this was one of the bigger movies she starred in, at least in terms of the size of the production, the size of her role, and the marketing effort, up to that point.

Though it may not have the staying power as something like 1990's scary spider classic "Arachnophobia," this movie does have something of a cult following — enough to get a special edition Blu-ray release from the folks at Scream Factory several years back. At the time of its release, though, it wasn't exactly a hit. Released by Warner Bros., it made just $45 million worldwide against a $30 million budget.

Scarlett Johansson's career took off after Eight Legged Freaks

Still, this was at a time when the DVD market was booming and there were more ways for movies to make money beyond the box office. So its status grew on home video and it helped get Johansson some attention. For my money, it's a delightfully campy monster movie that is worth a watch to this day. The visual effects hold up, and it's fun. It's also an interesting time capsule, particularly as it relates to Johansson.

Her career exploded in the years after this movie's release. The following year, she starred in Sofia Coppola's much-acclaimed hit "Lost in Translation," which won Best Original Screenplay at the Oscars and was nominated for Best Picture. From there, it was onward and upward. Johansson starred in quite a few movies throughout the 2000s, including "The Prestige," "The Island," "Vicky Cristina Barcelona," and "He's Just Not That Into You," among many others.

It was in 2010 that her career reached a fever pitch when she landed the role of Black Widow in "Iron Man 2." That secured her place in the Marvel Cinematic Universe for a decade, culminating in the record-shattering success of "Avengers: Endgame" in 2019. To date, Johansson has more than 80 acting credits to her name, and she's beginning to break out more into producing and directing.

In that way, it's fascinating to look back on something like "Eight Legged Freaks." It's the kind of movie that a studio assumes can be a huge hit, it isn't, and everyone moves on. The younger up-and-coming actors who were in it with hopes that it would propel them to the next level wonder what will come next. With all due respect, many of the actors in this movie did not exactly go on to have long, prosperous careers. Its director hardly worked in Hollywood again after. Yet, Johansson exists as a towering figure in the business, and this movie, in some ways, marked a turning point for her.

Also, not for nothing, it's fun to watch an actress of her caliber duking it out with giant spiders.

You can grab "Eight Legged Freaks" on Blu-ray or DVD from Amazon.

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