It’s often thought that the writing and filming are the hardest parts of creating a film. And it’s certainly true, I don’t really know much about it, but we forget that the promotion of the film plays a very important role. If no one promotes the release of a film, chances are that no one will go see it and that would be a real shame. Unfortunately, it’s happened several times before and unsurprisingly, these films have almost all fallen into oblivion.
1. Jim Carrey for “Kick Ass 2”
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In 2013, the film “Kick Ass 2” was released in cinemas but the promotion did not go as planned. Between the filming of the film and its release, actor Jim Carrey was deeply affected by the Sandy Hook shootings, an elementary school shooting. He explains on twitter that he no longer wants to promote the film because it contains too much gratuitous violence and suggests that guns are fun.
2. Edward Norton for “The Incredible Hulk”
After Eric Bana in the first Hulk movie, it’s Edward Norton who takes the role in the 2008 movie. Unfortunately for the MCU, this second actor is still not the right one since he doesn’t agree with anything nor anyone. Edward Norton has a reputation for not getting along with everyone and it did not fail during the filming of “The Incredible Hulk”. After this unsatisfactory experience, the actor refused to promote the film and it was Mark Ruffalo who recovered the role to play in the Avengers films.
3. Mathieu Kassovitz for “Wild Life”
Mathieu Kassovitz turns in several films in 2014 and according to him, he would not have time to ensure the promotion of all the French cinema. He therefore chooses to speak with love of the film “An Illustrious Unknown” and to abandon “Vie Sauvage” (which doesn’t seem like a big deal, I admit). The director, Cédric Kahn, looked a little pained as he told journalists: “It’s his choice, it’s up to him to explain himself. I imagine he has his reasons; I have my assumptions. “Poor kitten.
4. Daniel Craig and Rachel Weisz for “Dream House”
Dream House is an American horror film considered very average, if not downright bad, by the majority of critics. After seeing the final cut, the main actors Daniel Craig and Rachel Weisz broke up and decided not to promote the film. Do you think the director was furious? No way. In fact, Jim Sheridan also hated the editing that was imposed by the producers and also refused to promote the film. I also heard that the extras and the guy cleaning up on set were fine with it.
5. Leonardo DiCaprio for “Titanic” in 3D
When Titanic hit theaters in 2012 for its 3D version, everyone knew it didn’t really need any promotion. However, Leonardo DiCaprio was approached all the same but he refused, saying that he had no time for that even if he was still so proud to have played in this film.
6. Sandrine Kiberlain for “Black River”
Sandrine Kiberlain is a great French actress and in 2018, she continues the interviews. A journalist asks her questions about the film “La Belle et la Belle” to which she answers with a smile, but her face changes when he goes to the promo for “Fleuve noir”. She simply says that “it’s an experience that I didn’t like so I can’t talk too much about this film” and when the journalist asks her if it’s because of the director, she remains silent. I don’t really want to meet this guy…
7. Katherine Heigl for Knocked Up, A User’s Guide
Judd Apatow is one of the most recognized comedy directors of the 2000s. Today, he is diversifying more and more, notably with the excellent “The King of Staten Island”, but this is not yet the case in 2007 when “En knocked up, instructions for use” was released. The film is rather funny but conveys a lot of sexist clichés and this is what bothers Katherine Heigl after watching the final version. The actress therefore decides not to participate in the promotion of the film, while specifying that the shooting was a very good experience.
8. Robin Williams for “Aladdin”
Everyone loves Robin Williams and that’s normal, this man was a genius. This is probably why he was offered to lend his voice to the Genie in Aladdin, the best role in the cartoon. The actor loved this exercise but decided not to participate in the promotion of the film. Why ? Because he’s way too nice. Indeed, he had shot at the same time in another film, “Toys”, and was afraid that no one would see the film if he put it in competition with a Disney cartoon. In the end, “Toys” was a flop despite everything, while the replicas of Aladdin became cult.
9. Christopher Plummer for “The Sound of Music”
“The Sound of Music” is a musical from the 60s where not much happens. It’s boring, it sings too much and it’s in black and white (too boring what). I’m not the only one to think so since the actor who plays one of the main characters flatly refused to participate in the promo saying that he hadn’t even seen the entire film.
10. Michael Caine for “Jaws 4”
In general, you can guess the quality of a film by the number following the title. After 3, it’s often crap (except for Pixar, Toy Story 4’s lines are really exceptional). Predictably, that’s what happened with Jaws, and actor Michael Caine found the film very bad. Yet he could have guessed, he was on the set anyway…
