Actors Who Blamed Themselves For Flops

For every "Avengers: Endgame" and "Avatar: The Way of Water" — huge box office successes that bring in billions of dollars at the box office — there's a flop that fails to attract cinemagoers enough to turn a profit. After all, it is simply impossible for every single film to be a success — especially when the market is so crowded and big blockbuster films frequently dominate the world of cinema.

But why do movies flop in the first place? There can be a variety of reasons why audiences and critics dislike a film. Sometimes this is due to the quality of the movie, or the studios not giving them the marketing required to make them a success. Of course, there's also the possibility that the actors themselves may be to blame because even Hollywood's best actors sometimes drop the ball.

For all of these flops — even though there may have been other factors involved — one of the actors involved has put their hand up and taken accountability for their part in the movie's failure.

Few people would argue about the talents of English actor Tim Roth. He has appeared in a wide array of critically acclaimed films, including Quentin Tarantino's "Reservoir Dogs" and "Pulp Fiction," and has been the recipient of an Academy Award nomination for his performance in "Rob Roy." Roth has also appeared in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, starting with his role in "The Incredible Hulk" in 2008. One role that is unlikely to be fondly remembered, though, is his performance in "United Passions."

This FIFA-funded movie tells the story of the origin of the organization from its formation and struggles to become relevant. It flopped massively, earning a tiny amount at the box office, and faced scathing criticism in reviews. After its release, Roth largely refused to talk about the film. But he did speak out to say that he was partly to blame for what was seen by many as a propaganda film for FIFA.

According to The Hollywood Reporter, the actor confirmed that he only took the role of Sepp Blatter because of its high pay but he regretted this decision. Roth also explained that he should have spoken out more to ensure it was more critical of the governing body. "Yeah, I apologize I didn't question the director, I didn't question the script," he said. "This is a role that will have my father turning in his grave."

Movies based on video games have not always had a great history. While the likes of 2023's "The Super Mario Bros. Movie" are starting to change that, there is a rich history of terrible adaptations that have left fans with their heads in their hands. One of the worst offenders is "Doom," a 2005 film that stars Dwayne Johnson, Karl Urban, and Rosamund Pike. Like the games, the film takes place on Mars where a group of marines is sent to rescue a group of researchers — but instead, they encounter an army of demons from Hell.

A commercial and critical failure, "Doom" was lambasted by almost everyone who saw it for the way it failed to capture the atmosphere and story of the gaming franchise. Pike has since talked about how she wasn't aware of the importance of "Doom" to gamers and failed to prepare as well as she should have for the project. She said: "I feel embarrassed, really. I feel embarrassed that I was sort of ignorant of what it meant and I didn't know how to go about finding out because the internet wasn't the place it is now for the fans to speak up" (per Collider).

After three stellar films during the '80s, the "Indiana Jones" franchise returned in 2008 with the release of "Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull." This fourth entry in the series saw Harrison Ford return as the titular protagonist alongside newcomers such as Cate Blanchett, Ray Winstone, and Jim Broadbent, with "Transformers" star Shia LaBeouf also joining the cast as the hero's estranged son. Even with its mostly positive reviews and decent box office performance, the film was largely seen as a failure and it is currently considered the worst in the franchise.

LaBeouf — who has had something of a controversial career since the movie was released — has never shied away from his performance in "Kingdom of the Crystal Skull." Speaking to the Los Angeles Times in 2010, the actor explained how he had respect for everyone involved in the project and apologized to fans, saying that he feels like he "dropped the ball on the legacy that people loved and cherished." He also took responsibility for failing to "make it come alive and make it work" by admitting that this was his own fault.

Even highly acclaimed and award-winning actors such as Jamie Lee Curtis sometimes appear in stinkers. However, few appear in movies that are received quite as poorly as "Virus." The 1999 film was not just panned but also failed to make back even half of its $75 million budget at the box office, making it a huge financial loss for the studio. Also starring William Baldwin and Donald Sutherland, the movie is based on a Chuck Pfarrer comic series and sees the characters discover an alien threat that has taken over a Russian ship.

While it would be difficult to blame Curtis entirely for what was a terrible movie, the actor has revealed that she was well aware of how awful "Virus" was during filming, saying: "It was maybe the only time I've known something was just bad and there was nothing I could do about it" (via Express). She obviously takes some blame for being aware that the movie was so terrible and failing to let people know.

Often ranked among the very worst "Star Trek" films, "Star Trek V: The Final Frontier" was a flop both in terms of its box office takings and the reception it received from fans and critics. The movie follows the USS Enterprise crew as they are forced to search for a God-like being by Spock's half-brother Sybok.

Shatner did not just reprise his role as Captain James T. Kirk but he also had a hand in the story and took on directing duties. This gave him even more influence over the movie and is perhaps why he feels so responsible for its failure. The movie went through a number of story changes that drastically altered the ideas that Shatner had originally envisioned and he now realizes he should have walked away from the project.

"I had a choice," he writes in his memoir (via Trek Movie). "I could accept the compromise or refuse to direct the movie. I made a mistake; I accepted the compromise, which doomed the picture from the beginning." The actor has also apologized for not allocating the funds for the movie in an efficient way, leading to shots being reused and a lack of special effects (via Entertainment Weekly).

"Miami Vice" was one of the most popular shows of the 1980s, so it was always likely that it would be revamped at some point and brought back for modern audiences. Unfortunately, that happened in 2006 with a film that received mixed reviews and grossed just over $160 million. Much of the criticism centered on the lack of charm that Colin Farrel and Jamie Foxx's characters had compared to the original series — although the film has developed a small cult following in the years since it first came to cinema screens.

The actor admitted that he takes a portion of the blame for how the movie turned out, revealing it could have been a lot better. "I didn't like it so much — I thought it was style over substance and I accept a good bit of the responsibility," said Farrell to Total Film (via The Metro). "It was never going to be 'Lethal Weapon,' but I think we missed an opportunity to have a friendship that also had some elements of fun."

"Batman & Robin" was the fourth film in the initial live-action "Batman" franchise, arriving in 1997 after the success of Tim Burton's "Batman" and "Batman Returns." While those two movies featured Michael Keaton as the Caped Crusader, 1995's "Batman Forever" saw Val Kilmer take up the role before he was replaced in "Batman & Robin" by George Clooney. With the highest budget of the series — at an estimated $160 million – the film was the only flop of the four installments, making around $238 million at the box office and attracting criticism for its cynical attempt to sell toys rather than be a good movie.

Clooney hasn't shied away from his own shortcomings in the film, explaining in an interview with GQ that he put in a terrible performance. "The only way you can honestly talk about things is to include yourself and your shortcomings in those things," he said. "Like, when I say 'Batman & Robin' is a terrible film, I always go, 'I was terrible in it.'" The actor has also admitted that he feels so embarrassed by the movie that he won't let his wife or kids watch it at home (via Variety).