‘Grease’ star John Travolta’s fall from $20M Hollywood paydays to box office bombs

The Nightly(Australia) ^ | 7/4/25 | Madeline Cove

[Baldwin]

Ahh, The boy in the bubble. Saw his Gotti film. It was awful.

[silent majority rising]

He is in the period of transition. Next role will be an old geezer who is mean as hell (older than the last Rambo).

[silent majority rising]

You mean when he was dragged for hundreds of yard while on fire?

[digger48]

Eastwood still working at 95

[discostu]

Everybody goes up and down. Hilarious that the “article” mentions Pulp Fiction, without bothering to realize his career was considered OVER before that movie. It provided his second wave. And yes now he’s making low budget movies that are largely direct to video. That’s how careers go. And frankly Olivia Newton John had basically no career after the 80s, just nostalgia tours really. Which is fine. That’s life for famous people.

[mdmathis6]

There was a good movie in the late 90’s he was in...Broken Arrow.

[Hildy]

Until Quentin Tarantino tapped him for Pulp Fiction. He was amazing in that movie. One of my favorite movies of all time

[Flatus I. Maximus]

Yes.

After watching Battlefield Earth, I wanted to do that to him myself.

[Joe 6-pack]

Sean Connery

[lee martell]

Travolta’s recent string of “straight to streaming” movies is to be expected at his stage of career.
For many people, John’s first fall from grace would be a somewhat forgotten film he did after a series of huge earners, the movie was “Moment by Moment”, co starring
Lily Tomlin.

It was a May-December Rom Com, with Lily playing the older, wiser woman. I have always liked both actors. I thought the movie was okay. Never meant to be anything profound.
Most critics hated it, and considered those two as Not Credible, Not Believable as a romantic pair.
This was late 70s or early 80s.

[discostu]

Except for the movies where he played second banana to an orangutan. Everybody has slumps.

[silent majority rising]

That’s funny. Payback is a b*tch, ain’t it? FAFO!

[MinorityRepublican]

He’s 70. How often do megastar actors maintain such a high level of movie sales up to that age?

Sean Connery is the only one I can think of.

Harrison Ford is still making movies but he's in it just to make $$$. The last one when he was still in his prime was Air Force One.

[ProtectOurFreedom]

Re $171. It was released in only THREE movie theaters in the UK. No, not three major theater chains, but in only three theaters.

Many distribution deals, especially for streaming platforms or home media, require a film to have a theatrical release, even if minimal, to qualify for certain markets, rights sales, or prestige. For Mob Land, a low-budget action thriller, the three-theater UK release may have been a contractual formality to unlock streaming rights (it’s available on platforms like Hulu and Amazon Prime) or international distribution deals.

This is often seen with smaller films that prioritize Video on Demand (VOD) or streaming over theatrical runs. Without specific box office data beyond the UK’s $171, it’s hard to confirm the full scope of its theatrical strategy, but the limited release strongly suggests a focus on non-theatrical revenue streams.

[SmokingJoe]

Died at 72 from stomach cancer.

[Dr. Sivana]

Up your nose with a rubber hose. So Shakespearean.

Not just Shakespearean, but deeply philosophical!

“What?”
“Where?”
“Who?”
“When?”
“Why?”
“I’m so confused!”

[Dr. Sivana]

John Wayne did.

Yes, but Cary Grant didn't. Neither did Jimmy Stewart.

[Dr. Sivana]

Eastwood still working at 95

Yeah, and he was much older than George Burns was when he picked parts where being really old was the essential element of the character ("Sunshine Boys", "Going in Style", "Oh God", "18 Again").

[Dr. Sivana]

I think Sylvester Stallone qualifies.

[waterhill]

Stuart was in ‘The Shootist’ with Wayne.