10 Seemingly Awful Movie Castings That Ultimately Paid Off

Back in 1988, cinematic action heroes weren't what you'd class as the most relatable of human beings, it must be said.

The likes of Arnold Schwarzenegger and Sylvester Stallone had the box office in a freakishly vascular headlock, and the average Joe was seemingly all too happy to escape to a world that saw hulking titans duke it out with Predators and gun down baddies with apparent ease.

With that in mind, the reveal of TV comedy actor Bruce Willis being trotted out as the new star of incoming action spectacular Die Hard in 1988 was perhaps unsurprisingly booed by many when the flick's first trailers were unleashed into theatres in the lead-up to its release.

Said boos soon turned to cheers by the time fans had finally gone out of their way to take in this next generation of action star, however, with Willis' everyman charm as detective John McClane during his mission to take down some terrorists within a skyscraper quickly immortalising the explosive delight and catapulting the actor himself into superstardom.

All in all, that then-eye-watering $5 million salary paid to the big-screen newbie was evidently money well spent...