10 Terrible Movies That Wasted Amazing Casts

Hot on the critical success of The Untouchables and Casualties of War, Brian De Palma next turned his attention to Tom Wolfe’s bestselling 1987 novel about greed and politics in yuppie era New York City. He also impressively pulled in two of the most box office friendly stars of the moment, Tom Hanks and Bruce Willis, signed on to star, and The Bonfire of the Vanities looked set to be a success.

Well, at least on paper.

Although the roles were a depart from the norm for Hanks and Willis – Hanks playing loathsome Wall Street investor Sherman McCoy after a string of affable, comedic roles and Willis, then best known as Die Hard’s macho protagonist John McClane, playing a down and out news reporter – both actors have since proved they can play against type, and while the film did have great potential it was seemingly doomed since day one.

Plagued by numerous behind the scenes problems – so many in fact that they spawned a book, journalist Julie Salamon’s The Devil’s Candy: The Anatomy of a Hollywood Fiasco – including casting problems, studio demands and deviating from the darker, satirical tones of Wolfe’s original novel, the film ended up being one of the biggest box office bombs of 1990.