5. Kevin Costner
Goodwill Built On: Dances With WolvesGoodwill Squandered On: The Postman Few directors can boast about a debut as massively successful as Kevin Costner's Dances With Wolves. The 1990 film won the Academy Award for Best Picture, beating both Goodfellas and The Godfather Part III, and also earned Costner a Best Director Oscar. Costner opted to stay in front of the camera and not behind it for seven years (aside from some uncredited work as director on the legendary flop Waterworld) until he brought the world 1997's The Postman. Those who eagerly awaited Costner's directorial follow-up to his classic first feature were flabbergasted at how bad Costner's sophomore effort proved to be. The Postman received an embarrassing 9% on the review aggregator website Rottentomatoes.com and made only $18 million dollars against its $80 million production budget. Clearly, audiences realized that Costner lost his magic touch. His next directorial outing, 2003's Open Range, was a modest success at the box office and Costner has yet to direct a fourth feature.