The 5 Worst Movie Casting Decisions Of The Past 10 Years
Published on July 7, 2014.Movie casting directors are kind of like defensive players in pro sports — nobody notices them when they’re doing their job well, but when they make a mistake, everybody knows it. A bad casting decision can completely ruin what would otherwise have been a good movie, and studios sometimes take inexplicable gambles when it comes to their actors and actresses. Considering the amount of money at stake, casting blunders defy logic. Here are 10 recent examples of movies with bad casting decisions that had a detrimental effect on the finished product.
5. Shia LaBoeuf in Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull (2008)
Fans of this franchise found lots to hate about the unfortunate 2008 chapter. Shia LaBoeuf’s appearance in the film in the character of Indy’s son was one of them.
Though LaBoeuf was relegated to a relatively minor role in the movie, there had been a lot of speculation that he was going to inherit the reins of the franchise from the aging Harrison Ford and become the next-generation Indiana Jones. While co-producer George Lucas eventually denied those rumors, the story induced panic among Indiana Jones devotees while it made its rounds.
Helga Esteb / Shutterstock.com4. Ryan Reynolds in The Green Lantern (2011)
For years, people have been predicting that one of the seemingly endless stream of big-budget superhero movies would end in an expensive and embarrassing flop, forcing studios to rethink the way they do business. That movie turned out to be 2011’s The Green Lantern, starring a miscast Ryan Reynolds in the title role.
It’s not that Reynolds turned in a poor performance as much as it is that he didn’t bring quite enough star power to the role. As a result, the movie earned less than half its budget back at the American box office and was universally panned by critics and audiences alike.
Joe Seer / Shutterstock.com3. Lindsay Lohan in Just My Luck (2006)
The whimsical 2006 comedy Just My Luck tells the story of New York’s luckiest woman, who is a top executive at a successful Manhattan public relations firm. There are two major problems with Lindsay Lohan in that role. First, from her personal life, it’s pretty obvious that she doesn’t know the first thing about public relations. Second, she was barely 20 years of age when the movie was released, making it doubly hard for anyone to believe her in the role of a PR heavyweight. Unsurprisingly, Just My Luck was a box office flop, earning just over $17 million in the U.S.
s_bukley / Shutterstock.com2. Jessica Alba in Fantastic Four (2005)
The original comic book character Sue Storm is a light-skinned blonde, and surely there’s no shortage of talented actresses with those attributes in Hollywood. So why did the producers of Fantastic Four choose the exotic, dark-haired, dark-skinned Jessica Alba? At the time, Alba was at the height of her popularity. Even so, in an effort to look more like Sue Storm, Alba dyed her hair, popped in a pair of blue contacts and had her skin artificially lightened. The overall effect of the makeover made her look more like the lone survivor of a house fire than a superhero.
s_bukley / Shutterstock.com1. Hayden Christensen in Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith (2005)
This final chapter in the Star Wars prequel trilogy took a look back at the rise to power of one of the greatest villains in movie history. Hayden Christensen plays Anakin Skywalker, who grows up to become the evil overlord Darth Vader. Given Darth Vader’s prominence in the annals of movie lore, one would think that George Lucas would have thought twice about handing the role of Anakin over to a skinny, whiny, wimpy-looking kid. Then again, Lucas hasn’t exactly distinguished himself with great moviemaking decisions over the past decade or so…
Helga Esteb / Shutterstock.com