Actors Who Knew Their Movies Were Flops While Filming Them

Have you ever watched a film that was so disappointing it left you wondering if even the cast and crew were underwhelmed by the final product? Sure, sometimes a narrative that sounds good on paper just doesn't translate well to the screen. Plenty of actors have probably signed on to projects that seemed promising, only to be surprised by the eventual negative reception. But every once in a while, a film comes along in which the general storyline and dialogue are so laughably bad that it's hard to imagine anyone on set was taking it seriously.

Some actors will confess that they realized their films were going to get panned by critics well before they hit theaters. Knowing that you're about to be treated to a barrage of negative reviews isn't exactly a great feeling, but some films are just destined to be box office bombs, even with star-studded casts. These actors have admitted that they knew their films were flops before they made it to the big screen.

Halle Berry is a successful and undeniably talented actress, but she's also starred in her fair share of flops. Yes, she was the first woman of color to win an Academy Award for Best Actress, but she also scooped up the Razzie Award for Worst Actress for her starring role in the 2004 film Catwoman (and was even good natured enough to accept the dubious honor in person).

Catwoman isn't the only dud that Berry has appeared in. In 1996, Berry played Josie Potenza in the film The Rich Man's Wife, which was dismissed as a generic, cookie-cutter thriller. "I kind of knew it wasn't going to be the greatest cinematic experience for the people," Berry said on an episode of The Late Late Show with James Corden. Berry said that she always goes into any movie "with the best of intentions," but when she got on set to begin shooting The Rich Man's Wife, she began questioning why she agreed to take on the role in the first place.

Whether he's making us swoon in movies like Magic Mike or making us laugh in the Jump Street films, Channing Tatum has come a long way since his career beginnings as a model and backup dancer. Of course, that doesn't mean he hasn't stumbled a few times on the path to success.

In 2009, Tatum starred as Duke in G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra. Unfortunately, the film based on the popular action figure line proved to be a miss rather than a hit, and Tatum himself wasn't too happy with it from the get-go. In fact, he didn't even want to take on the role in the first place. "I was pushed into doing that movie," Tatum revealed on an episode of The Howard Stern Show. "The script wasn't any good... I just didn't know if I wanted to be G.I. Joe." Tatum did appear in the 2013 sequel G.I. Joe: Retaliation, but he reportedly won't be a part of the franchise's third installment, G.I. Joe: Ever Vigilant.

Jamie Lee Curtis has appeared in plenty of horror movies, starting with her feature film debut in the 1978 film Halloween. But despite her achievements within this genre, she's also taken on a few roles she outright regrets, like the 1999 sci-fi horror film Virus. Based on the comic book of the same name by Chuck Pfamer, Virus got no love from audiences or critics. It was lambasted for its lack of originality and poor lighting that obscured the action.

Curtis knew from the outset that the film was doomed to fail. "It was maybe the only time I've known something was bad and there was nothing I could do about it," Curtis told WENN. "There have been bad movies that have been wildly successful, and great movies that have tanked, so you never know." Unfortunately for Curtis, Virus did not enjoy any unexpected success, and it's one of those films she would rather forget about.

Charlize Theron didn't agree to appear in the film Reindeer Games because she was genuinely excited about the script. In fact, she only signed on because she was a huge fan of director John Frankenheimer. Unfortunately, Reindeer Games is typically regarded as one of his worst films, but Theron has no regrets about taking on the role. She didn't want to miss out on the opportunity, even if the film itself wasn't one of his best.

"I got to work with John Frankenheimer," she told Esquire. "I wasn't lying to myself — that's why I did it." She called the 2000 crime thriller a "bad, bad, bad movie." Although the experience wasn't as creatively fulfilling as it could have been, Theron knew exactly what she was getting herself into when she read the script. And the gamble paid off: she got to work with the director she admired, and it's not like the film's chilly reception held back her career.

Deadpool and its sequel have been so successful at the box office that it's easy to forget about Ryan Reynolds' previous foray into the superhero genre... though Reynolds may wish that forgetting it was even easier. In 2011, he starred in Green Lantern, a film that Warner Bros. hoped would be the start of another popular film franchise. It didn't exactly turn out that way — Green Lantern didn't prove to be a hit with critics or audiences.

Was Reynolds aware that Green Lantern was going to fall short of expectations? Yes. In fact, he begged Fox to greenlight Deadpool to spare him from settling for the Green Lantern role at Warner Bros. He didn't get his wish until years later. "With Green Lantern, I don't think anyone ever figured out exactly what it was," Reynolds told Entertainment Weekly. "It also fell victim to the process in Hollywood, which is like poster first, release date second, script last." Basically, Reynolds worried that it was all hype and no substance, and try as he might, he just couldn't salvage the film.

If you ask fans of the popular animated series Avatar: The Last Airbender about the live-action film adaptation, they will probably deny its existence. The Last Airbender is one of those films that was so universally disliked that audiences who were initially excited about the idea now would prefer to pretend it just never happened.

Dav Patel, who appeared in the film as the fire-bending villain Prince Zuko, had a bad feeling about the movie during production. He suspected that people wouldn't be happy with the final result. "It's hard promoting a film you didn't enjoy and don't fully believe in, and I felt bad," Patel told The Guardian. "I felt sorry that I'd let these fans down, because I was a big fan of the cartoons growing up." Thankfully for Patel, critics already respected his talent because of his performance in Slumdog Millionaire, with one reviewer nothing that the "bright young player... deserves better than this."

Since Tobey Maguire first took the role in 2002, we've seen so many movie incarnations of Spider-Man that it can be hard to keep up. And for every new Spider-Man film, there's a new Aunt May. In the Amazing Spider-Man films, Sally Field took on the role, playing the supportive maternal figure to Andrew Garfield's Peter Parker.

Out of all the recent Spider-Man films, The Amazing Spider-Man and its sequel are regarded as some of the weakest. Field herself isn't shy about admitting her own lack of interest in the movies, claiming she only agreed to appear in the films as a favor to producing partner Laura Ziskin, who passed away in 2011. Field knew it would be Ziskin's last film, and she wanted to help out her friend. "It's really hard to find a three-dimensional character in it," Field said on The Howard Stern Show. When Stern asked her how much thought she really put into the role, she responded, "Not a great deal."

Emilia Clarke is riding a career high right now. Although the Game of Thrones series finale has proven to be divisive among passionate fans, there was no doubt that Clarke's portrayal of Daenerys Targaryen's descent into madness was masterful. Clarke can convey a whole range of emotions with a slight shift in her facial expression, and there's no question that she'll have plenty of roles to choose from now that Game of Thrones is over.

Unfortunately, Clarke didn't have such a positive experience when she played Sarah Connor in the film Terminator Genisys, where she worked with regular Thrones director Alan Taylor. "He was not the director I remembered," Clarke told Vanity Fair. "He didn't have a good time. No one had a good time." Some actors would be disappointed if a film they expected to get a sequel didn't earn it, but Clarke said she was relieved that she wouldn't have to reprise her role.

The popular 1980s TV series Miami Vice finally got a film adaption in 2006. Unfortunately, fans didn't feel like it was worth the wait. The film debuted to mixed reviews, and the general verdict was that it didn't live up to the original series. Although many critics were pleased with the aesthetics and cinematography, the story itself fell flat.

Even Colin Farrell, who starred in the film as Detective James "Sonny" Crockett, lamented the fact that they could have done a better job. Overall, he felt that the critics were accurate in their assessment of the film. "I thought it was style over substance, and I accept a good bit of responsibility," Farrell told Total Film. "I think we missed an opportunity to have a friendship that also has some elements of fun."

But it wasn't all bad news for Miami Vice — over a decade after its release, it's gained status as a cult favorite. Perhaps Farrell has a new appreciation for it nowadays.

Movies based on video games rarely debut to glowing reviews, and the 2016 film Assassin's Creed was no exception to this rule. It wasn't popular among audiences or critics, and it performed poorly at the box office.

There's no doubt that Michael Fassbender, who produced and starred in the film, initially had higher expectations, but he's confessed that he views the movie as "a missed opportunity," and he knew there was plenty of room for improvement. "I would make it more interesting, that's really the main note," Fassbender has said. "The feeling of the film, I think it took itself too seriously, and I would get to the action a lot quicker."

There was one bright spot in the midst of all the negativity surrounding Assassin's Creed: it was regarded as one of the better video game movies ever made. Sure, it's not the highest form of praise, but it's better than being written off completely.

Not every romantic comedy is unbearably cheesy — there's no reason to write off the entire genre. But the 2010 film Leap Year definitely fulfilled every rom-com cliche in the book, and the critics weren't shy about saying so. Matthew Goode, who co-starred with Amy Adams as her character's love interest, says that he was fully aware of how poorly the film would be received when he saw the script. So why did he sign on?

Goode lives in England, and at the time, he was dating his now-wife Sophie Dykmore and raising their young daughter. Goode wanted to stay close to home, and Leap Year would be shot in Ireland, which is only a short flight away. Goode accepted the role to take advantage of the relatively quick commute. "That was the main reason I took it — so I could come home on the weekends. It wasn't because of the script, trust me," Goode told The Telegraph. "Do I feel I let myself down? No. Was it a bad job? Yes, it was."  

Garfield: The Movie had few redeeming qualities, and why an actor as talented and funny as Bill Murray had agreed to work on it was a mystery. As it turns out, Murray claims whole thing was a mistake on his part, explaining that didn't realize where he had gone wrong until it was time for him to record his lines. The Garfield script was written by Joel Cohen, but Murray thought it was by Joel Coen, one-half of the renowned auteur duo the Coen brothers.

When Murray began reading his lines, he got confused, wondering why the script was so shoddy. He didn't realize it wasn't actually a Coen brothers project until someone explained it to him while he was watching the final cut. "I worked all day and kept going, 'That's the line? Well, I can't say that,'" Murray told GQ. "And then they explained it to me: it wasn't written by that Joel Coen."