Hollywood contracts can be a real nightmare! Join us as we examine the unfortunate actors who were legally obligated to appear in films they desperately wanted to avoid. From forged signatures to multi-picture deals gone wrong, these stars found themselves trapped in cinematic disasters they couldn't escape. Which contractual catastrophe surprised you the most?
00:00There's nothing you can do, so the balance tips to me.
00:05Welcome to WatchMojo, and today we're taking a look at some of the actors who were pressured into starring into critically panned movies.
00:12And you think you're gonna get somebody? Not tonight, baby!
00:18Emily Blunt, Gulliver's Travels
00:20When do you return home, noble and awesome Gulliver?
00:23Talk about missed opportunities. In hindsight, Emily Blunt has claimed that she's happy that she didn't wind up in the role of Natasha Romanoff, aka Black Widow, given that women in superhero films tend to take the back seat to the male leads. Fair criticism.
00:37But to think that Gulliver's Travels was the reason that she didn't get the part? Well, that's just painful.
00:42It's just that I was talking with a giant and lost track of time.
00:46I trust not this beast.
00:47A Variety reported in 2009, a contract signed with 20th Century Fox, back when Blunt played a role in The Devil Wears Prada, gave them enough leverage to force her participation.
00:58And so, Emily Blunt missed out on the MCU, and instead got to play the pint-sized Princess Mary.
01:04Now you're being cruel, and frankly, melodramatic, and acting like a complete baby.
01:09Keanu Reeves, The Watcher
01:11Shall we dance?
01:12Imagine being told that you were legally obligated to do a film that, as far as you can remember, you never committed to.
01:18Though there were reports during filming that Reeves was dissatisfied, the whole story didn't come out until 12 months after the film's release, when Reeves' contractually obligated silence finally came to an end.
01:29Able to say his piece, he claimed that his signature was forged, but that he couldn't prove it.
01:33Coming immediately on the tale of mega-hit The Matrix, you can understand why being the villain in a film, whose script Keanu allegedly didn't find interesting, didn't work for the actor.
01:44However, seeking to avoid a legal battle, he reluctantly acquiesced.
01:47We're yin and yang.
01:52Black and white.
01:53Channing Tatum, G.I. Joe, The Rise of Cobra
01:55Self-preservation.
01:57I'm taking you in, Rex.
01:58For young, up-and-coming stars, it can be tempting to sign multiple picture deals. Guaranteed work? Why not?
02:04But a few years down the line, and you could find yourself forced to play roles you hate in films that make you cringe.
02:10It's a lesson that Channing Tatum learned the hard way, after signing a three-film deal with Paramount.
02:15I'm going to make you very unhappy.
02:17I'm already unhappy.
02:19G.I. Joe might have helped increase his public profile, but after the fact, he has been vocal about hating it,
02:24and very clear that he only accepted the role of Duke under fear of legal action.
02:28Drive it like you stole it.
02:30Shia LaBeouf.
02:31Transformers Dark of the Moon.
02:33This was all my fault.
02:35I told them whom to trust.
02:38I was so wrong.
02:40It's hard to believe, but Michael Bay actually made one decent Transformers movie.
02:44The first one, released in 2007, has a not-great-but-not-terrible Rotten Tomatoes score of 57%.
02:51It also grossed over $700 million.
02:54While the second one, Revenge of the Fallen, made even more money, it was critically panned, even by its star Shia LaBeouf,
03:01who said,
03:02I wasn't impressed with what we did.
03:04Not wanting to be a part of a declining franchise, at least quality-wise,
03:07LaBeouf made a real effort to get out before the third movie.
03:10But there was the little thing of his signature on a contract for three films, so he was stuck.
03:17He definitely wasn't coming back for number four, though.
03:20Sam, that makes me feel bad.
03:22I hope you feel bad. You should feel bad.
03:24Gina Davis, Cutthroat Island.
03:26Bad dog.
03:30This action-adventure rom-com is widely recognized as one of the biggest box office flops in cinematic history,
03:36and the film that took pirate films off the map until Disney took on the genre years later.
03:41Cutthroat Island would not have involved Gina Davis if she'd had her way.
03:46When co-star Michael Douglas dropped out of the film, Davis saw the winds changing and tried to jump ship as well.
03:52Unfortunately for her, unlike Michael Douglas, her participation had already been made legally binding.
03:58Stop dittling you! Kill the man!
03:59In addition to sinking production company, Carol Coe Pictures, it is also remembered as the film that irreparably damaged Gina Davis' career.
04:07Sweetheart, I promised I'd take care of you.
04:11Marlon Brando.
04:13Desiree.
04:13What exactly do you wish to be?
04:15Unlike so many other films on our list today, this 1954 picture by 20th Century Fox was reasonably well-received by critics,
04:23earning two Academy Award nominations for costume design and art direction.
04:26The film is far from a masterpiece, and as far as Brando's filmography is concerned, it's a little more than a forgettable footnote.
04:33Had Brando gotten his way, though, it wouldn't have had a place on his resume whatsoever.
04:37I must go now. Say goodbye to my family. I'm leaving for Paris in the morning.
04:41However, after signing on to play in The Egyptian from 20th Century Fox, he walked away due to problems with the script.
04:47Fox sued, and Desiree served as the forgettable compromise between the actor and the studio.
04:53French standards in the dirt.
04:54Roy Scheider. Jaws 2.
04:56Wait a minute, are you people telling me I don't know what a shark looks like?
04:59After the first flick birthed the concept of a summer blockbuster, you'd think that every cast member who survived the original Jaws would be desperate to jump back in.
05:07Not star Roy Scheider, who only returned as penance for bailing out on another film.
05:12Let's just say, he made the wrong choice.
05:18Jaws 2 was a nightmare from pre-production through to its completion, with frequent rewrites, production delays, and struggles to find a suitable director.
05:26Roy Scheider was reportedly very unhappy throughout, but it meant his contract with Universal would be complete, and so he stuck it out.
05:33I'm too damn tired.
05:36The Universal movie he had quit?
05:38The critically acclaimed Deer Hunter, and in the starring role, no less.
05:42One shot is what it's all about. Deer has to be taken with one shot.
05:45Jennifer Garner.
05:46Electra.
05:47You know, you can do a lot better in mutual funds. I know a guy who could put you in touch with this.
05:50No thanks.
05:51Or not.
05:52After the critical failure that was Daredevil, Ben Affleck lucked out. No sequel for Matt Murdock.
05:58Jennifer Garner found herself contractually locked into what was, quite frankly, a spin-off movie that nobody wanted.
06:05Electra.
06:05Yeah.
06:08I hated that.
06:09For Ben, it meant a simple cameo, which never even made it into the final cut.
06:13For Garner, it was a starring role in an arguably even worse film than the one that preceded it.
06:19The spin-off earned a paltry $56.7 million at the worldwide box office, and paired with Daredevil, is widely thought to have permanently damaged Garner's marketability as a star, which, at the time, had been on the rise.
06:31Don't worry. That's not that bad.
06:34Whoopi Goldberg.
06:35Theodore Rex.
06:36What are you doing?
06:37Kids these days aren't very familiar with Whoopi Goldberg, but the EGOT winner was once a truly marketable star.
06:44Though she continued to land some solid roles after this farce of a film, it's hard not to draw a correlation between the overall dip in quality roles and her involvement with the one Theodore Rex.
06:54Get.
06:55Me.
06:56Down.
06:57Now!
06:58Goldberg verbally agreed to do the film in 1992, and then tried to back out, only to be hit with a $20 million lawsuit.
07:06In the end, Goldberg, begrudgingly, played the part, but continues to insist that it's one of her biggest regrets.
07:12After terrible test screenings, the film was sent straight to video.
07:16Duh.
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07:32Mike Myers.
07:34The cat in the hat.
07:35Look at your face, it looks like you saw a monster.
07:38A monster?
07:40Where?
07:40For those who grew up loving the cat in the hat and Dr. Seuss's other colourful stories, this movie might have felt like a slap in the face.
07:48And though Mike Myers has made some rather questionable movie choices over the years, it seems that his participation in this particular travesty was not of his own volition.
07:57Why, I'm the cat in the hat!
07:59When a script of bringing his SNL character Dieter to life proved sub-par, Myers reportedly backed out of the film, and Universal sued.
08:08It was ultimately settled out of court, and the details are murky, but the consensus is, the cat in the hat was the compromise.
08:16According to co-star Amy Hill, Myers' disdain was rather palpable on set.
08:21Without my hat, I'm just your garden-variety, six-foot-tall talking cat!
08:24Are you a fan of any of these movies? Let us know in the comments.
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