Superhero movies have an incredible way of taking someone’s career to another level when they are successful, and it makes the limited availability of these projects so valuable. The MCU and DC are the heavy hitters, and they made their leads even bigger names than before. Prior to these franchises, the X-Men franchise took Hugh Jackman from unknown to superstar.

Jackman has since put together an amazing career, and he has made some great choices in film projects. He has also passed on some notable projects, including one that went down in flames at the box office and lost millions.

Let’s take a closer look at Jackman and the flop he passed on.

Hugh Jackman Is A Superhero Movie Legend

When it comes to the world of superhero movies, there are few people in history who have been as successful in the genre as Hugh Jackman has been. Jackman broke out after playing the character of Wolverine for nearly 20 years, and he was one of the biggest reasons why the superhero craze of the 2000s truly got off the ground.

Despite being a relatively unknown commodity at the time, Hugh Jackman landed the role of Wolverine in 2000’s X-Men, which was a massive success that kicked off one of the biggest franchises in film history. Jackman’s portrayal of Wolverine was incredible, and it didn’t take long for him to become a hot commodity his Hollywood.

When factoring in cameos and smaller appearances, Hugh Jackman played the role of Wolverine at least 10 times since 2000. This is something that virtually no actor has pulled off on such a grand scale, and it is a testament to what Jackman brought to the iconic superhero on the big screen.

Playing Wolverine in countless X-Men movies was a huge feather in the cap for Hugh Jackman, but he has shown a penchant for thriving in other genres, as well. In fact, the work that he has done in musicals is quite fantastic.

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He’s Done Plenty Of Musicals

The superhero movie genre and the musical genre could not be any more different from one another, but despite their differences, Hugh Jackman has been able to thrive in both genres on the big screen. While people may always know him best for the work that he turned in as Wolverine, there is simply no way of talking about Jackman‘s body of work without highlighting his work in musicals.

Back in the 2000s, Hugh Jackman lent his voice to Happy Feet, which was an animated musical that generated massive numbers at the box office. It was a nice win for Jackman, who was still primarily known for his work as Wolverine. It showed that he was capable of doing more than just saving the day.

2012’s Les Miserables is another smash-hit musical for Jackman, who starred in the film alongside performers like Russell Crowe, Anne Hathaway, and Eddie Redmayne. The film took in over $400 million at the box office, and it earned an exceptional amount of critical acclaim. Jackman even took home a Golden Globe for his performance.

In 2017, The Greatest Showman was released, and it was yet another hit musical for Jackman. It made over $400 million, and while it did not receive the same type of critical praise as Les Miserables, the film was still a huge success.

Jackman is great in musicals, but he is even better at picking them. Thankfully, he wound up passing on a musical that bombed.

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He Passed On ‘Cats’

In 2019, the box office disaster known as Cats rolled into theaters looking to find the same type of success that other musicals had found in years past. Instead of finding success or any type of love from fans, this film was absolutely crushed by fans and critics alike, and it lost up to $70 million.

When talking about being asked to appear in the film, Jackman said, “Umm…yep. You know, Tom rang me early on because we did Les Mis together, and there were a couple of options there based on availability and time, and I…just wasn’t available at the time.”

Even if Jackman had appeared in Cats, there was simply no way that he alone could have saved the movie from its fate at the box office. At this point, the film has lived on in infamy, and maybe one day in the distant future, a studio will work up the nerve to try their hand at this story once more.

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Jackman passing on Cats was a brilliant move, considering how badly the film flamed out.

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