This was originally made in response to me watching The Cobbler and subsequently reading up on it, being disappointed at how much of a flop it was considered in both financial and critical terms. It certainly wasn't the best movie I've ever seen, but in my opinion it by no means deserved to be so downtrodden. The results of this graph really just sadly proved my already-theory that, oftentimes, despite something being reviewed negatively it can very easily still make bucketloads of money. Exhibit A: most of Sandler's movies appear to average around an average rating of between 12 and 40% (i.e., "not great"), yet nonetheless they are semi-consistently making back 200 - 300% of their budget.
Anyways, I had so much fun looking at this data (and still had the formula primed and ready in Excel) that I decided to make a follow-up. The winner of the raffle: Johnny Depp.
Anyways, I had so much fun looking at this data (and still had the formula primed and ready in Excel) that I decided to make a follow-up. The winner of the raffle: Johnny Depp.
I don't think Depp's data revealed as many interesting trends or tidbits, other than the fact that since Sweeney Todd he's been on both a box office and critical downslide. Hint: Into the Woods should really be considered an outlier considering his minimal screentime. Also, what the hell, Platoon? That's relatively unheard of percentage-of-profit success...and I know it's not because you had a small budget - no Vietnam War movie has a small budget, not to mention one featuring a cast with the likes of Charlie Sheen, Tom Berenger, Willem Dafoe, John C. McGinley, & Forest Whitaker.
Addendum (7/7/16): I recently saw a post on reddit talking about a downturn in Robert De Niro's film career. I of course immediately thought this was a perfect opportunity to make another one of these charts. So, Robert De Niro it is:
Addendum (7/7/16): I recently saw a post on reddit talking about a downturn in Robert De Niro's film career. I of course immediately thought this was a perfect opportunity to make another one of these charts. So, Robert De Niro it is:
Similar-ish to Depp's chart, I don't know if there are any massive trends to take away from these results. But those that do stand out to me would be:
(1) He obviously had movies before Mean Streets in 1973. I didn't include these both because they often didn't have very publicized budgets and/or profits and because the movie's reception likely didn't have much to do with him specifically. But once he got recognized as a lead actor, man what a start he had. Back-to-back movies of Mean Streets, The Godfather Part II, and Taxi Driver all earning massive amounts of money (a minimum of 400% of its budget) and receiving amazing reception from both critics and audience members (a minimum of an 8-out-of-10).
(2) In contrast to that original reddit post that was citing 2002 as "the year Robert De Niro stopped caring," this chart shows that since 2010's Machete De Niro has had a much higher frequency of movies that have made more than their budget - specifically even in the 500% range on average. Over his whole career, there's definitely a slight downward trend in his ratings, but even these ratings of the past 5-10 years still have high and low spikes that mostly fit in line with the rest of his career.
(3) Overall, there were a surprisingly high number of movies that made less than their budget. Definitely more than I expected. But on top of that, especially in the span of 1976-2008 (bookended on this chart by The Last Tycoon and What Just Happened?), there seems to be these rhythmic chunks that spike up in box office earnings. The Deer Hunter, The Untouchables, Cape Fear, Jackie Brown, Meet the Parents, and Meet the Fockers all seem to stand out from their surrounding movies and they're all roughly an even 7 movies away from each other.
(1) He obviously had movies before Mean Streets in 1973. I didn't include these both because they often didn't have very publicized budgets and/or profits and because the movie's reception likely didn't have much to do with him specifically. But once he got recognized as a lead actor, man what a start he had. Back-to-back movies of Mean Streets, The Godfather Part II, and Taxi Driver all earning massive amounts of money (a minimum of 400% of its budget) and receiving amazing reception from both critics and audience members (a minimum of an 8-out-of-10).
(2) In contrast to that original reddit post that was citing 2002 as "the year Robert De Niro stopped caring," this chart shows that since 2010's Machete De Niro has had a much higher frequency of movies that have made more than their budget - specifically even in the 500% range on average. Over his whole career, there's definitely a slight downward trend in his ratings, but even these ratings of the past 5-10 years still have high and low spikes that mostly fit in line with the rest of his career.
(3) Overall, there were a surprisingly high number of movies that made less than their budget. Definitely more than I expected. But on top of that, especially in the span of 1976-2008 (bookended on this chart by The Last Tycoon and What Just Happened?), there seems to be these rhythmic chunks that spike up in box office earnings. The Deer Hunter, The Untouchables, Cape Fear, Jackie Brown, Meet the Parents, and Meet the Fockers all seem to stand out from their surrounding movies and they're all roughly an even 7 movies away from each other.