8. Dwayne Johnson Denied Transformers His "Franchise Viagra"
Dwayne Johnson, who in 2013 starred in four movies that collectively grossed $1.3 billion, making him the "highest grossing" actor that year, has (correctly) referred to himself in the past as "franchise Viagra". He's the man credited with bringing a special something to the Fast And Furious and G.I. Joe franchises, and injecting more cash into their movies than ever. So, after working with Johnson to dazzling effect on Pain & Gain (seriously, Johnson's great in it, even if the rest of the movie is so-so and rather tacky), Michael Bay sought the former wrestler to kick off his new Transformers trilogy. However, Johnson would say no to Age Of Extinction. With Johnson out - he was too busy filming Hercules at the time - Bay brought Johnson's Pain & Gain co-star Mark Wahlberg in, and the film went on to rake in over a billion dollars worldwide, depressingly making it the highest grossing film of 2014, and the tenth highest grossing film of all time. Hercules made less than a quarter of that. Guess that Viagra's wearing off.