Fred Durst has been somewhat of a meme-worthy joke for quite a while now. Loathed by critics, the Limp Bizkit frontman attempted to break away from his nu-metal bro image by embarking on a filmmaking career. Much like his heavily critiqued music, Durst's foray into directing was not met kindly by cinema aficionados. In fact, his various directorial flops have merely contributed to his unintentionally comical image.

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Unlike many other musical stars of the 2000s, Fred Durst never achieved mainstream acclaim, though he did sell millions of records. Sadly, the same cannot be said for his venture as a film director: all his movies have failed epically in addition to being commercially panned. Here's how the Limp Bizkit frontman's directing career crashed and burned.

10 It All Started With This Box Office Flop

In 2007, Fred Durst dipped his toes into the world of filmmaking for the first time with his directorial debut, The Education of Charlie Banks. A pre-The Social Network Jesse Eisenberg plays the titular protagonist, a college student who must face his fears when local thug Mick (Jason Ritter) re-enters his life. It must be said, Ritter isn't exactly convincing as a brutish bully.

Impressively, Durst managed to gather a budget of $5 million for his first movie. Less impressive, it grossed a paltry $15,078, making it a colossal box office failure.

9 The Critics Were Savage

With a critic score of 48% on Rotten Tomatoes, Durst's directorial debut is by no means the worst movie ever made. But that didn't stop a number of reviewers from savagely admonishing the erstwhile rocker's passion project.

I.E. Weekly wrote, "The film's potential cynicism is suffocated with a TV movie flatness, occasionally -- and egregiously -- spackled with sentimental music that makes it sag when it should slice."

8 A Year Later, He Made This Sports Dramedy

Perhaps part of Durst's failure as a film director is his lack of a consistent oeuvre. For instance, his second movie as director, The Longshots, couldn't be more disparate from The Education of Charlie Banks. 

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This sports comedy drama, which is based on the true story of Jasmine Plummer, sees Durst cast a fellow musician who has entered the world of cinema: Ice Cube. The rapper was once famed for his roles in universally lauded movies such as Boyz n the Hood. Now, he has largely been reduced to comedic roles. In The Longshots, he plays a former football prodigy who helps his young niece train for star quarterback of the local team.

7 Things Looked To Be Getting Better For Durst The Director

Unlike its predecessor, The Longshots actually grossed a sum in the millions, albeit one less than half the movie's budget. The flick made $11.8 million against a budget of $23 million.

Likewise, there were some favorable reviews among the vicious critiques, with many praising the gender politics of the movie. "It's rare to see a well-made movie that empowers young girls the way this one does," argued The Cinema Source. "So who am I to complain about the plot being formulaic?"

6 TV Commercials Proved To Be A More Successful Venture

TV commercials have long been a means for both aspiring actors and directors to kickstart their careers. Numerous actors got their big break in commercials, while veteran directors such as Ridley Scott have directed iconic ads, namely the 1984 Apple commercial.

Though not quite of the calibre of the aforementioned commercial, Fred Durst did direct some comical ads for dating site eHarmony in 2014. To the shock of many critics, the commercials were sweet and wholesome, a far cry from Durst's Limp Bizkit frat boy persona. Spin praised the "Caroline and Friend" promo, calling it "surprisingly sincere and sentimental".

5 In Comes John Travolta: A Downfall In 2 Parts

Perhaps Fred Durst should have stuck to his gentle eHarmony promos, because his next foray into film directing was a disaster of epic proportions. What do you get when you cross a nu-metal-bro-turned-filmmaker with washed up actor John Travolta? A recipe for disaster.

Travolta has starred in some absolute stinkers in his acting career spanning over 45 years, but nothing was ever quite as bad as 2019 horror movie The Fanatic, which was deemed the actor's rock bottom. In a performance that is surely tantamount to a hate crime, Durst's third movie as director sees Travolta play an autistic man dangerously obsessed with an actor. Shockingly, the movie grossed just over $3,000 at the box office.

4 He Was Nominated For A Razzie, But Couldn't Even Win That

The Fanatic was an all time low for Fred Durst, and spurred the beginning of the end of his directing career. The movie was nominated for 3 Golden Raspberry Awards: Worst Picture, Worst Director, and Worst Actor. Alas, Durst lost out to Tom Hooper for his colossal failure Cats, but Travolta was lucky enough to take home the Worst Actor award.

3 But He's Still John Travolta's Favorite Director

It says a lot about John Travolta's career decline that his favorite director is Fred Durst. The actor has worked with the likes of Quentin Tarantino and Terrence Malick, yet it's the Limp Bizkit star who truly inspired him.

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"It was maybe my favorite experience I've ever had," Travolta told TMZ, adding that Durst is "such an artist".

2 Even Macaulay Culkin Won't Work With Him

You know things are bad when an actor who hasn't had a major role in years begs a director to stop contacting them. In a birthday tribute to actor Devon Sawa, who starred in The Fanatic but is best known for playing Stan in the eponymous Eminem music video, Macaulay Culkin requested that his friend "tell Fred Durst to quit DMing me." Ouch.

1 Is It The End For Durst The Director?

Despite a somewhat promising start, Fred Durst's directing career has undoubtedly crashed and burned. The truth is, it is incredibly difficult for critics to take the man behind songs such as "Nookie" and "Rollin'" seriously.

With a net worth of $20 million according to Celebrity Net Worth, Durst is a wealthy man, but he certainly doesn't have the means to self-finance his movies, particularly if he continues to cast big name stars. Following his series of flops, it seems increasingly unlikely that he will secure financing for future projects. But stranger things have happened, so only time will tell if we're yet to see another cinematic masterpiece from the Limp Bizkit frontman.

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