In Hollywood, virtually everyone understands that making movies is a bit of a crapshoot. After all, the powers that be in the film business can do everything in their power to make a good movie that will appeal to the masses but it isn’t up to them if the movie succeeds. Instead, it is the general moviegoer who ultimately decides which films achieve greatness at the box office and which ones fail.

Since it can be really difficult to accurately predict whether or not a film will succeed, the studio heads usually don’t hold a single film flop against a big movie star. However, there have been some brutally expensive flops that cost a studio so much money that they severely tainted the way the films’ stars were perceived in Hollywood.

Usually, when a movie star’s career is destroyed because they starred in an epic flop, several other famous actors barely evaded taking that hit to their careers. After all, the studios usually consider several movie stars as they cast their latest big-budget projects. For example, Heath Ledger nearly starred in a huge film flop that seriously could have hindered his career.

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A Huge Project

Throughout human history, there have been many amazing people who’ve had a huge effect on the world at large. Despite that, most of those people’s identities and deeds have been forgotten to the sands of time. On the other hand, it seems all but certain that the life of Alexander the Great will never be forgotten.

Considering how amazing Alexander the Great’s life was, it always seemed like it was only a matter of time before a fantastic biopic inspired by him went into production. For that reason, there was a lot of excitement when it was announced that Oliver Stone was set to helm a major movie that focused on Alexander’s life.

Produced for a staggering $155 million, Alexander ultimately was headlined by a star-studded cast including Colin Farrell in the titular role. However, Heath Ledger was in consideration for that role during the early stages of Alexander’s production. Ultimately, it proved to be very fortunate for Ledger that he didn’t appear in the film.

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A Colossal Flop

Before Alexander was released, most people in Hollywood seemed to be very confident that it would perform tremendously. After all, the movie was about a world-famous historical figure and the first trailer promoting the film was quite impressive. Sadly for everyone involved in Alexander’s production, however, the movie came out with a thud.

Released in 2004, Alexander grossed $167 million at the worldwide box office. While that would be a very impressive figure for a low-budget film to bring in, Alexander cost Warner Bros. an estimated $155 million to produce. On top of that, the studio spent millions promoting the film which meant that the movie needed to bring in a lot more cash to turn a profit at the box office. Ultimately, it has been estimated that Alexander suffered a net loss of $71 million at the box office which is a figure that is closer to $100 million when adjusted for inflation.

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A Lasting Effect

Prior to the release of Alexander, Colin Farrell was one of the biggest stars on the rise in Hollywood. For example, Farrell starred in movies like Minority Report and Phone Booth before that and it seemed like his career would continue to ascend. Once Alexander was released, however, Farrell’s career trajectory took a big hit which is a real shame. In the years that followed, Farrell no longer seemed to be in the running for the biggest roles in Hollywood. Instead, Farrell has mostly focused on starring in smaller films and taken on supporting roles in larger projects. With that in mind, it is easy to argue that Alexander hugely changed Farrell’s career even though he didn’t completely disappear the way some other actors who starred in flops did.

On top of the way Alexander affected Colin Farrell professionally, he revealed that the film’s failure was pretty devastating for him emotionally during a 2008 Reuters interview. “Alexander hurt, you know -- and again people are going to say ‘Get over it, you were well paid’ and all that. But Alexander hurt. The response that it got was really painful and all of us got a really hard time, and I didn’t come across too well either in the majority of reviews and even with the audiences -- people did not respond to it.” Later in that same interview, Farrell spoke about how it took a long time for him to heal from that experience “I took it to heart. I felt like I had let a lot of people down, I felt like I had disappointed a lot of people ... And it took a while to get over that.”

Since Alexander was released in 2004, it is amazing to think about how severely the film could have hindered Heath Ledger’s career. After all, Ledger is best remembered for starring in Brokeback Mountain and his stunning performance as The Joker in The Dark Knight. If Ledger had starred in Alexander, he may have missed out on both of those roles. Worse yet, if Ledger still landed those roles, his performances may have severely suffered. After all, Colin Farrell made it clear that starring in Alexander was a very painful experience for him. If Ledger had gone through that he may not have had the confidence needed to pull off his performances in his two most memorable films.

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