10 Filmmakers Who Blamed Actors For Failed Movies

9. Kevin Smith Blamed A Grumpy Bruce Willis - Cop Out

Buddy cop movie Cop Out remains the single movie in Kevin Smith's filmography that he didn't write as well as direct, and it really shows.

This is Smith in disheartening "hack-for-hire" mode, and when the film was widely panned by critics, he misguidedly compared the critical response to "bullying a retarded kid."

But some time later, Smith opened up further about what went wrong with Cop Out, and directed most of his ire towards star Bruce Willis, calling the experience of working with him "soul crushing."

He added, "It was difficult. I’ve never been involved in a situation like that where, one component is not in the box at all...I mean, a lot of people are gonna be like, 'Oh, you’re just trying to blame the movie on him.' No, but I had no f**king help from this dude whatsoever."

If reports are to be believed, Smith also said at the movie's wrap party, "I want to thank everyone who worked on the film, except for Bruce Willis, who is a f**king dick."

Furthermore, Smith complained about Willis refusing to sit for promotional photos and basically doing as little as possible to support the movie during the press rounds.

The only ironic solace was that Cop Out ended up the highest-grossing film of Smith's career, though given that it didn't even manage to double its svelte $30 million budget, that's hardly worth cheering about.

According to Smith himself, he and Willis recently squashed their beef, so that's nice.