The Film Industry these days seems to make the most money out of making sequel films. One’s like the Horror flick “Saw”, now onto it’s latest gross movie Saw – The Final Chapter and remakes like Lego Star Wars 3, which is a total mickey take out of the original Star wars films, but ever so funny.
Saw – The Final Chapter
And of course more recently, the comeback of once famous Stars, such as Mel Gibson and Robert Downey Jr., who had previously had some problems and then subsequently disappeared into the abyss only to resurface once again so many years later.
The tabloids love a good old story of despair, alcohol, drugs and sex, they absolutely milk it. So is it any wonder that once these stars have quashed their demons and start to resemble what they used to be, that Publicists and big Movie Bosses are clambering over each other to sign them and start them out on new projects. Piggy backing all the rumours and publicity surrounding these once great Stars. Basically, they think that the once bad gone good actor and even the negative press can give their new Movie a much needed boost in sales. All because us mere mortals love a good bit of gossip or a sob story about an actor fighting off his demons to become a better person, returning to his much loved career and making a name for himself once again.
So here are some great comeback Kings and Queens…
Mickey Rourke
Mickey Rourke became known for his Sex Symbol Status after the hit film “ 9 ½ Weeks” where he starred alongside Kim Basinger. He then went on to the movie “Angel Heart” with Robert De Niro, but dropped out of the limelight after accusations of Spouse Abuse surfaced surrounding him in 1994. He hit an all time low, staying indoors for months on end, only venturing out to visit his psychiatrist and his priest. He was Arrested again in 1997 on DUI (Driving Under the Influence) charges in Miami Beach which didn’t help his career. But he somehow managed to claw his way back to the top over the last few years, starring in Movies like “Sin City” and “The Wrestler” to more recently starring as the Villain in “Iron Man 2”.
Mickey Rourke in Iron Man 2
Robert Downey Jr.
He was well know for his acting in the 90’s in hit Movies like “Chaplin” and “Natural Born Killers” for which he received huge acclaim. But from the late 90’s to around 2003 he really struggled with his drug abuse which saw him detoxing in clinics and even spending time behind bars after being arrested numerous times on drugs charges. In 2007, after a few years of being clean he was finally given the major role of Tony Stark in “Iron Man” which went on to become a massive hit that really relaunched his career. He has since starred in Guy Richie’s adaption of “Sherlock Holmes” where he plays detective Holmes himself and he successfully played Tony Stark again in 2010 in “Iron Man 2” alongside Gwyneth Paltrow.
Robert Downey Jr. as Iron Man
Bruce Willis
In the 80’s and the 90’s Bruce Willis was massive, starring in movies like “Die Hard”, “Die Hard 2: Die Harder” and of course “Die Hard with a Vengeance”, which were all huge box office hits. In the late 90’s though his career took a bit of a dive, with the release of the critically panned films like “The Jackal” (which I really liked! I wonder most people didn’t like him as the bad guy?) and “Mercury Rising” which didn’t do well either. It however picked up after the release of “Armageddon” which ended up the highest grossing film in 1998 worldwide. He continued on this high after the release of the chilling ,spooky and down right disturbing M.Night Shyamalan’s movie “The Sixth Sense”.
Bruce Willis in The Sixth Sense
Gwyneth Paltrow
She has had roles in films since 1990, but didn’t gain major recognition until her roles in films such as “Se7en”, “Sliding Doors” and “Shakespear in Love “. In the mid 90’s she bummed out with a few poor movie roles such as “The Guardian”. Gwyneth then took time out to be a new mum and concentrate on her family for a few years, but soon returned to the big screen in 2008, when she took on the role of Pepper Potts in “Iron Man”. This movie threw her right back into the spotlight, while she contemplated in which direction to take her career. She starred in the Sequel “Iron Man 2” again as love interest to Tony Stark. She is now appearing in Glee and also recording an album after her singing received so much attention in this hit show.
Gwyneth Paltrow as Pepper Potts
Eddie Murphy
Eddie Murphy’s big screen debut was in “48Hrs” starring with Nick Nolte, he then starred in the classic movie “Trading Places“ with Dan Aykroyd. He had a bit of a career slump where most of his films were far from successful and in 1997 controversy followed him after he was stopped by police, with a transvestite prostitute in his car.
However, he did hit the big time again with the Comedy “The Nutty Professor” and has since gone from strength to strength, with virtually hit after hit of comedy movies which include the Shrek franchise and “Daddy Day Care”. His Career wavered slightly after being named as the father of Scary Spices’ (Mel B) daughter, Angel Iris Murphy Brown (more so because he denied it so much and was proved wrong). His more serious adult films seemingly didn’t make much at the box office either, so maybe he should stick to what he’s good at which is making us laugh! But his hard work and determination finally paid off for him once he got the recognition he craved in a more serious role when he played James “Thunder” Early in the movie “Dreamgirls” alongside Jamie Fox and Beyonce Knowles.
Eddie Murphy in Dreamgirls
Mel Gibson
Mel Gibson was such a heart throb in the early days, not that I am saying he hasn’t aged well but his attitude at the moment would more than likely to put me off. He was fantastic in the likes of “Mad Max”, “Mad Max 2” and in 1985 even earned his first million dollar salary in “Mad Max Beyond the Thunderdome” with Tina Turner. After his biggest grossing movie “Signs” in 2002, he stated that he only wanted to appear in movies with exceptional scripts. So after that he only did a few films such as, “Apocalypto” and the “Passion of the Christ” which were both quite controversial movies in their own right. There was of course the movie “What Women Want” somewhere in there which was a Rom-Com hit!
Since then he has been relatively quiet, until the release of his much anticipated new movie which has been directed and also stars Jodie Foster. Here he plays a man who has hit absolute rock bottom in his life. Much like Mel Gibson in certain stages of his own life. With his years of womanising, messy divorces and lately his many drunken outbursts of racist and homophobic abuse it seemed he had truly lost the plot and would never be able to resurrect his career again after being officially dumped by his talent agency, William Morris Endeavor. However, although it is yet to be released, the film is officially becoming known as the Mel Gibson Comeback Film!
