13 Awesome Movies That Only Happened Because Of Awful Flops

5. The Wrestler...Because It Made Use Of Mickey Rourke's Own Fading Career

The Awesome Movie: Mickey Rourke earned his solo Oscar nomination to date for his unforgettable performance as Randy "The Ram" Robinson in Darren Aronofsky's searing examination of over-the-hill pro wrestlers. Fascinating whether you've never watched the "sport" or tune into WWE religiously every week, The Wrestler was a deeply affecting character study and one of the best films of the 2000s. How It Got Made: While The Wrestler would've been made with or without Rourke (Nicolas Cage was originally cast in the lead role), the film just wouldn't have been the same. It benefited hugely from the parallel between Randy's downtrodden existence and the actor's own flailing acting career: aside from a great part in 2005's Sin City and occasional smaller bit-parts in OK-ish films, Rourke's career was pretty much in the toilet by the 2000s. The real-life parallel was not lost on critics and audiences, who almost universally praised the film, in large part because of Rourke's performance. While Cage would have been an interesting choice, it's hard to believe that the final product would've had the same visceral impact and been as successful.