Snapshot: November 26-28, 1993
By Joel West
January 16, 2009
Costner, surprisingly, has never again starred in a genuine blockbuster. Hell, even moderate hits were hard to come by. The following year's Wyatt Earp ($25 million) and The War ($17 million) were outright flops, while 1995's legendarily expensive Waterworld ($88 million) surprisingly remains his highest grossing film since The Bodyguard (in all fairness, Waterworld did make $264 million worldwide to recoup and surpass its $175 price tag). His small-scale hits (1996's Tin Cup, 1999's Message in a Bottle, 2003's Open Range, and 2006's The Guardian) never even made more than $60 million domestically. While Costner displayed his flair for self-indulgence from time to time (see The Postman, Dragonfly), there were some gems that should have rebounded his career. Furthermore, if audiences had grown weary of movie star ego, then the late ‘90s never happened; what with actors pulling down $20 million a film.
For whatever reason, Costner just could never catch a break. Fans of his continue to wait patiently for his well deserved Pulp Fiction (John Travolta's comeback) or The Nutty Professor (Murphy's return to relevance). Instead, they continue to get 3000 Miles to Graceland ($15 million) and Swing Vote ($16 million) with the occasional The Upside of Anger ($18 million) and Mr. Brooks ($28 million) thrown in to appease his die-hards (oh yeah, we exist).
The Verdict: 1993's A Perfect World marked the specific point in Costner's career where he lost moviegoers, while Eastwood had no trouble shrugging off the film's uninspiring performance (have you seen this guy's resume recently?!). However, Costner's perseverance has been undaunted, as he, year in year out, churns out clunkers and under performers waiting for that one film to elevate him back to the A-list.
If Nic Cage and Travolta can have $100 million successes with crap like Ghost Rider and Wild Hogs, why not Costner?!
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