10 Terrible Blockbusters That Wasted An Awesome Cast

3. King Arthur (2004)

Capitalizing on the resurgence of the historical epic at the turn of the century, Antoine Fuqua signed on to direct this $120m reinterpretation of the King Arthur legend with Clive Owen in the title role. Aiming for a gritty and realistic tone, the movie instead turned out as both painfully generic and interminably dull. Despite filling out the cast with talented character actors as opposed to A-list names, nobody in the impressive ensemble provided anything memorable enough to elevate the project above mediocrity. Owen is painfully miscast in the title role and in aiming for stoic heroism misses the mark completely, instead coming off as one-dimensional and often outright bored. The supporting cast features Keira Knightley, Ioan Gruffudd, Hugh Dancy, Ray Winstone, Mads Mikkelsen, Ray Stevenson, Joel Edgerton and Stellan Skarsgard which is a fantastic roster of talent on paper, yet the weak script offers little in the way of character development. The historical epic genre tends to live or die by the battle scenes and King Arthur's action beats are pedestrian and workmanlike rather than visceral and exciting, which is surprising given that it is a Jerry Bruckheimer production. While the Director's Cut of the movie is slightly better, King Arthur's generic action and paper-thin characterization completely waste the talents of the cast, resulting in one of the most disappointing historical epics that followed in the wake of Gladiator's success.