It Ain't Hemingway

Very few film stars reach that exalted place in which they can choose any project, pick up a pay cheque the size of the Sahara and watch the grosses flood in. Even fewer manage to retain that status throughout a career. Harrison Ford was one of the biggest players in Tinseltown until K-19: the Widowmaker lost more than $60m in 2002. Since then it’s been a steady decline: this week Ford stars in Extraordinary Measures, which has made $12m in the US out of an estimated $31m budget. Of his fellow big-hitters, Tom Cruise clings on to the top table with one hand, the other clutching a copy of L. Ron Hubbard’s collected works. Tom Hanks, too, although his forays into Dan Brown hokum have sacrificed credibility at the altar of box-office receipts. But the truth is that most of those who reach the peaks of cinematic dominance will one day have to relinquish them for the foothills of mediocrity, or worse, the valleys of obscurity. Sometimes they regain their former clout (see Katharine Hepburn, below). Sometimes, they regain it, only to lose it again — the John Travolta “double dip” effect. One thing’s for sure — if you end up in an Orange ad, there’s no going back. Don’t do it, Harrison.

1 Al Pacino What happened? He was the byword for cool and quality until about the time of Donnie Brasco (1997). Then came stinkers such as 88 Minutes and Righteous Kill, with Pacino starting to resemble Anne Robinson. Return to form? A version of King Lear — at least the script will be good.

2 Meg Ryan When Harry Met Sally made kooky Ryan the 1990s rom-com queen. Then came Proof of Life, an alleged fling with co-star Russell Crowe, and a box-office nosedive. Return to form?The explicit In the Cut was hyped… “We’ve got a headache,” said both critics and punters.

3 Burt Reynolds In the 1970s the biggest box-office star in the world. Nixed a career revival with the lauded Boogie Nights (1997) by firing his agent for getting him involved in the film. Also seen in Specsavers ads. Return to form? Nothing on the horizon. That’s not the name of a film.

4 Douglas Fairbanks Sr The original example of the fickleness of Hollywood. Zorro, the Thief of Baghdad, Musketeer, he could do no wrong in the silent era and became one of the best- loved people in the world. Return to form? Talkies came along. That was that.

5 Nicole Kidman Being Mrs Tom Cruise helped the Australian redhead’s steady rise from second-tier to leading lady, her status going off the top of the scale after their breakup with the likes ofMoulin Rouge! and The Hours a hit with audiences and Oscar voters alike. But consider this: setting aside Australia, her last nine films have failed to recoup at the US box office what they cost to make. Return to form? Australia’s scenic romantic sweep finally brought in the punters for her. A fine actress — a killer role is surely a matter of time.

6 Sylvester Stallone The Rocky movies made over a billion worldwide. But his remake of Get Carter didn’t do too well, and by 2001 his face wasn’t even on the US poster for Driven. Return to form? August’s The Expendables, an action hero flick to end them all.

7 Katharine Hepburn An Oscar-winner at 25, the trouser wearing square peg was branded “box-office poison” after a series of flops, and passed over for Gone with the Wind. Return to form? You betcha! Roared back with The Philadelphia Story and went on to win three more Oscars.

8 Eddie Murphy By the 1990s the likes of Vampire in Brooklynsaw the former king of blockbuster comedy’s name dip in value.Return to form? The Nutty Professor and Norbit now fill his coffers nicely. Beverly Hills Cop IV and The Incredible Shrinking Man remake unlikely to restore his kudos.

9 Bruce Willis Die Hard, Pulp Fiction, The Sixth Sense: he could do crowd-pleasers of every hue, but spent the past decade mired in low-key cameos and below-par thrillers. Surrogates sucked and flopped. Return to form? Cop Out looks like, er, a cop out.

10 John Travolta Salvaged from the death throes of the Look Who’s Talking franchise by Pulp Fiction, he foundered again, behind vile beard-plaits, in Battlefield Earth. Return to form?Signs of recovery in Pelham 1 2 3. From Paris with Love bodes better than Wild Hogs 2.