The 2000s Sci-Fi Comedy Blockbuster That Almost Ended A-List Star’s Career

Though his career has somewhat resurged recently, Eddie Murphy fell into oblivion following the release of the infamous The Adventures of Pluto Nash. What many younger cinema lovers might not know is that Eddie Murphy used to be one of the biggest stars in Hollywood during the ’80s and the ’90s, earning up to 20 million dollars per lead role—which is equivalent to receiving $75 million when adjusted for inflation. However, the fame often has an expiration date, and for Murphy, that happened on August 16, 2002, the day Pluto Nash launched.

The Adventures of Pluto Nash follow the eponymous protagonist and his lady friend Dina—portrayed by Ahsoka‘s Rosario Dawson—on their path of revenge against a mysterious entrepreneur and businessman, Rex Crater, who bombed Nash’s club after the latter refused to sell it. Admittedly, the movie is bad, and it should only ever be watched if you absolutely have nothing better to do with your life. In fact, we highly recommend it to film students: take notes on what not to do one day when you’re responsible for making a film.

The majority of The Adventure of Pluto Nash‘s shortcomings, of which there are plenty, can be credited to a rather troublesome development and production. Work on the movie officially began in 1983; however, the movie never entered active production for numerous reasons until the early 90s, when Harrison Ford and Sylvester Stallone became associated with the project, albeit at different times. Unfortunately, both had abandoned the movie, which Eddie Murphy then picked up.

With such star power behind the title, the production quickly secured funds for the tape. Unfortunately, Jennifer Lopez passed on the $15 million offer, and Halle Berry did the same, though she was only offered $5 million. In retrospect, it’s a good thing she passed up on the opportunity—being nominated for Razzies twice in the same decade is nothing to write home about. As a result, the love interest role in The Adventures of Pluto Nash was given to Rosario Dawson, who, at the time, had yet to break out in Hollywood.

Ultimately, Eddie Murphy ran the entire shoot, marring both the movie and his career in the process. The Adventures of Pluto Nash ended up being so bad that the movie barely made it past $7 million in earnings against a $100 million budget. To illustrate the point of how much of a failure it was, Pluto Nash was actually nominated for five Golden Raspberry Awards—it won none.

The Adventures of Pluto Nash now proudly stands as one of the most expensive box office flops of all time. Those interested in wasting 95 minutes of their time for no good reason can catch this movie on AppleTV+, Roku, and Tubi.