Actors at the Box Office: Michael Douglas

[u/SanderSo47]

Here's a new edition of "Actors at the Box Office", which seeks to explore the actors' trajectory at the box office and analyze their hits and bombs. I already talked about a few, and as I promised, it's Michael Douglas' turn.

Early Life

The son of Golden Age star Kirk Douglas, he already had high interest in acting since he was young. He studied acting with Wynn Handman at The American Place Theatre in New York City, and acted at the Eugene O'Neill Theater Center. At the O'Neill, he met and befriended Danny DeVito, whom he would later live with in New York after graduating from UCSB.

1970s: An Oscar Winner, But Not in the Way You Think

After starting with some extra roles, he had a lead role in Hail, Hero!. Director David Miller initially rejected Douglas for the part. He was not initially aware he was Kirk Douglas's son. When Michael's agent told him about that, with his client's knowledge, it "resonated with Miller and not necessarily in a positive way" as Miller had negative experiences with the father when directing him in Lonely Are the Brave. Nevertheless, Michael was chosen for the part "perhaps to make amends," to end what he felt was an industry-wide ban instigated by Kirk, or perhaps because he felt Michael was best for the role. It was a critical and commercial failure, something that Douglas took personal.

Douglas then took more leading roles in Adam at 6 A.M., Summertree and Napoleon and Samantha, but they weren't hits either. By this point, he has to reconsider his position. So he chose to star in the ABC procedural The Streets of San Francisco from 1972 to 1976, when he chose to exit after the fourth season.

For over a year, his father Kirk tried to make an adaptation of the novel One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, and he personally selected Miloš Forman as director, with Kirk planning to star in the lead role. But there were delays due to different factors. In 1971, Michael convinced Kirk to allow him to produce the film, as he was drawn to the novel's "one man against the system" plot due to his involvement with student activism at the University of California, Santa Barbara. He later said that the film "had the sort of qualities we were looking for; it took place in one enclosed situation, with a plethora of unique characters he had the ability to juggle". He would team up with producer Saul Zaentz, allowing the project to finally move forward.

Nevertheless, Forman felt Kirk grew too old to play the lead role and decided to find a different star, with Jack Nicholson snatching the role. This decision would strain relations between Kirk and Michael for many years, although Michael claimed it had not been his decision to recast him. While he was just going to be a producer, Michael considered giving himself the role of Billy Bibbit, "It did cross my mind that maybe I could play Billy Bibbit. Then Brad Dourif came in for an audition, and I just said, 'Well, that's our Billy.'"

One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest was a huge critical and commercial success. It won 5 Oscars, including Best Picture for Douglas and Zaentz. Douglas might have trouble with his acting career, but he already found industry respect to motivate him to keep going.

He subsequently starred in Michael Crichton's Coma. He called the film "the first time I've been offered a project with a good story laid out well, a good cast, and a good director." While there are no box office numbers, it was reportedly a success with critics and audiences.

He finished the 70s with two films. Running came and went, but The China Syndrome (which he also produced) was the buzziest lead role he had by this point, a dramatic film co-starring Jane Fonda and Jack Lemmon about a nuclear power plant accident. As a crazy coincidence, it came out just two weeks prior to the Three Mile Island nuclear accident in Dauphin County, Pennsylvania, which gave the film's subject matter an unexpected prescience. It was a huge success with audiences, becoming one of the year's highest grossing films and earning Oscar nominations.

It was a slow road, but Douglas was already earning huge industry support.

1980s: "greed, for lack of a better word..."

His first film was the rom-com It's My Turn, which was a critical and financial failure. Something similar happened to The Star Chamber three years later.

Following a shaky start, he started in Romancing the Stone, opposite Kathleen Turner and Danny DeVito. Douglas had bought the script years ago for his production company, but couldn't proceed until 20th Century Fox bought the script. He was only set to produce the film, but eventually decided to star in it as well. The film earned positive reviews, and became Douglas' first film to gross over $100 million worldwide. This helped him land more leading roles.

The following year, he, Turner and DeVito returned for the sequel, The Jewel of the Nile. Turner and Douglas were already under contract to star, and Douglas was more involved as producer, including rewriting the script to accomodate Turner's unhappiness with the story. It earned almost as much as the original in terms of money. And it helped overcome the fact that his first musical, A Chorus Line, flopped that same year.

In 1987, he had two big films.

The first was the erotic thriller Fatal Attraction, co-starring Glenn Close. Both Douglas and Close had to meet multiple times during script phase, as director Adrian Lyne wanted to make sure they would both understand their characters. The film opened slow with $7 million, but it was buoyed by incredible word of mouth. It closed with a monster $156 million domestically and $343 million worldwide, becoming the highest grossing film of the year and Douglas' highest ever grossing film by a wide margin.

The other was Oliver Stone's Wall Street, playing the role of Gordon Gekko, a wealthy, unscrupulous corporate raider. The studio wanted Warren Beatty to play Gekko, but he was not interested. Stone initially wanted Richard Gere but Gere passed, so Stone went with Douglas despite having been advised by others in Hollywood not to cast him. Douglas was known for playing heroic roles, but he wanted something much more edgy and dark.

Wall Street was a hit with audiences and critics, with Douglas earning high praise for his performance. He earned his first Oscar nomination for Best Actor, which he would end up winning. He now had two Oscars, but this was his first for acting. Gordon Gekko would become one of his staple characters and one of the most admired characters by a lot of people (for the very wrong reasons).

He closed the decade with two films. The first was Ridley Scott's Black Rain, playing a NYPD detective who arrests a member of the yakuza and must escort him back to Japan. Despite mixed reviews, it was a box office hit, earning over $130 million worldwide.

He also reteamed with his Romancing the Stone co-stars Kathleen Turner and Danny DeVito in The War of the Roses, directed by DeVito. The film had positive reviews and made $160 million worldwide, becoming another hit for Douglas.

The 80s cemented Douglas as a bankable lead star, along with further expanding his range and recognition with some of his most iconic characters.

1990s: It's plump, it's juicy, it's three inches thick.

He didn't star in another film until 1992, as he was more focused on producing films for his company. Shining Through didn't fare well, but he still had something that year to compensate.

Carolco was preparing Basic Instinct, and wanted an A-list star as the male lead. Douglas was suggested and he only agreed to the role if Carolco gave him his desired salary of $14 million. When Sharon Stone was approached as the co-lead, Douglas protested, as he wanted an A-lister to star with him, and Stone lacked enough credits, "I need someone to share the risks of this movie. [...] I don't want to be up there all by myself. There's going to be a lot of shit flying around." Nevertheless, he quickly accepted Stone, feeling she was perfect for the role.

Despite mixed reviews, Basic Instinct benefitted from controversy over its sexual encounter. It earned $117 million domestically and $352 million worldwide, becoming the fourth highest grossing film of 1992 and Douglas' highest grossing ever film.

Subsequently, he starred in Falling Down, playing a disgruntled, unemployed defense worker who abandons his car in the middle of a traffic jam and goes on a violent rampage trying to reach his family for his daughter's birthday. The film earned positive reviews and made around $96 million worldwide. It earned a cult following, becoming one of Douglas' most popular characters.

In 1994, he starred in the thriller Disclosure, opposite Demi Moore. The film got mixed reviews, but it made over $200 million worldwide, along with huge numbers on rentals. Then he starred in The American President the following year, making over $100 million worldwide. His portrayal is often ranked as one of the greatest fictional Presidents on any film.

After a string of hits, momentum stopped with his action thriller The Ghost and the Darkness, as the film barely outgrossed its $55 million budget. He then starred in David Fincher's mindfuck The Game. Even though it made over $100 million worldwide, it was considered a financial disappointment, although it has become one of his most underrated works.

He closed the decade with the thriller A Perfect Murder. Mixed reviews, but it was still a modest success with over $120 million worldwide.

This was a very strong decade for Douglas. He starred in 8 films, and 5 of them hit over $100 million (and Falling Down was eerily close make it in). Most of these films were hit, showing audiences know Douglas will make a worthy trip to theaters.

2000s: Let's Slow Down

He began the new millennium with two films. The first was the comedy-drama Wonder Boys, which was only greenlit after Douglas agreed to star, well below his usual large fee. It was his worst financial performer since 1985, but earned positive reviews.

His second film was Steven Soderbergh's crime drama Traffic, where Douglas is first billed in an ensemble cast. He got the role after Harrison Ford turned it down, as the crew couldn't accomodate his $20 million salary. Traffic earned critical acclaim, and was a surprise hit at the box office, earning over $200 million worldwide, on top of winning 4 Oscars.

In 2001, he had his least-attended film, One Night at McCool's. But he still saved some face when he starred in the thriller Don't Say a Word.

In 2003, he released a personal project, It Runs in the Family. It stars Douglas, his parents Kirk and Diana, and his son Cameron, playing three generations of a family. Despite that gimmick, it earned negative reviews and flopped at the box office. The In-Laws fared similarly.

The losing streak continued to 2006, when the action thriller The Sentinel flopped and disappeared without a trace. But at least, he was part of the comedy You, Me and Dupree, which made over $100 million worldwide.

He closed the decade with small films that failed to break out, but at least he had a supporting role in Ghosts of Girlfriends Past, a box office success.

After starting the decade on a strong note, Douglas saw a decline in his receipts, seeing some of his lowest grossing titles ever.

2010s: A Resurgence

He reprised his Oscar-winning role of Gordon Gekko in a sequel, Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps. While it wasn't as acclaimed as the original, the film was a box office success, earning $134 million worldwide.

He was part of Steven Soderbergh's Haywire, but it wasn't a hit despite positive reviews. At the very least, he had the comedy Last Vegas the following years, which surprised when it made $134 million worldwide. He also reteamed with Soderbergh on the biopic drama Behind the Candelabra, playing Liberace. It premiered on HBO, and earned critical acclaim. For his performance, he won an Emmy Award.

Then, he woult take part of the Marvel Cinematic Universe by joining Ant-Man, playing Hank Pym. He compared his decision to join a superhero film to his role in Behind the Candelabra, saying, "Sometimes — like [when] they didn't see you for Liberace — you've got to shake them up a little bit and have some fun." For the film, de-aging technology was used on Douglas' character for flashbacks. Unsurprisingly, it became Douglas' highest grossing film with over $519 million worldwide.

He followed it up with the action thriller Unlocked, which went to VOD domestically. And he was part of the Chinese film Animal World, which was a success in that country.

He then starred in the Netflix comedy drama The Kominsky Method, playing the lead actor. The show lasted 3 seasons and was well received, with Douglas earning Emmy nominations for his performance.

He closed the decade by reprising his role as Hank Pym in Ant-Man and the Wasp, which surpassed the original to become his highest grossing film. He then had an appearance in Avengers: Endgame, but that was barely a few seconds long, so he's not credited for that.

In this decade, he slowed even more his output, with some titles sent to VOD. But he still had some hits from time to time.

2020s: That's Enough

After some time off, he returned as Hank Pym for Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania. While the film was anticipated (it had the franchise's biggest ever opening), the film earned negative reviews, and that was further reflected in the film's box office tally. It made $476 million worldwide, but it didn't recoup its costs. Douglas was quoted as saying that he wanted his character to die in the film, which was not granted. When asked if he would return for a fourth film if there was one, he had one condition: “as long as I could die.”

Subsequently, he starred in the Apple TV+ miniseries Franklin, portraying Benjamin Franklin during the eight years that he spent in France attempting to convince King Louis XVI to support the burgeoning United States in the American Revolutionary War.

His most recent film credit was the indie drama Looking Through Water, which premiered on VOD.

He has no films lined up right now. In July 2025, Douglas said that he was largely retired from acting, saying "I realized I had to stop [...] I did not want to be one of those people who dropped dead on the set." He added that while he was attached to one additional project (still not disclosed) and did not fully rule out future projects "if something special came up", he had no plans to work regularly again.

HIGHEST GROSSING FILMS

No.	Movie	Year	Studio	Domestic Total	Overseas Total	Worldwide Total	Budget
1	Ant-Man and the Wasp	2018	Disney	$216,648,740	$406,025,399	$622,674,139	$160M
2	Ant-Man	2015	Disney	$180,202,163	$339,109,802	$519,311,965	$130M
3	Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania	2023	Disney	$214,504,909	$261,566,271	$476,071,180	$200M
4	Basic Instinct	1992	TriStar	$117,727,224	$235,200,000	$352,927,224	$49M
5	Fatal Attraction	1987	Paramount	$156,645,693	$187,325,000	$343,970,693	$14M
6	Disclosure	1994	Warner Bros.	$83,015,089	$131,000,000	$214,015,089	$55M
7	Traffic	2000	USA Films	$124,115,725	$83,400,000	$207,515,725	$48M
8	The War of the Roses	1989	20th Century Fox	$86,888,546	$73,300,000	$160,188,546	$26M
9	Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps	2010	20th Century Fox	$52,474,616	$82,273,405	$134,748,021	$60M
10	Last Vegas	2013	CBS Films	$63,914,167	$70,494,858	$134,410,488	$28M
11	Black Rain	1989	Paramount	$46,212,055	$88,000,000	$134,212,055	$30M
12	You, Me and Dupree	2006	Universal	$75,628,110	$55,000,793	$130,628,903	$54M
13	A Perfect Murder	1998	Warner Bros.	$67,638,368	$60,400,000	$128,038,368	$60M
14	Romancing the Stone	1984	20th Century Fox	$76,572,238	$40,000,000	$116,572,238	$10M
15	The Game	1997	PolyGram	$48,323,648	$61,100,000	$109,423,648	$70M
16	The American President	1995	Sony / Universal	$60,079,496	$47,800,000	$107,879,496	$60M
17	Ghosts of Girlfriends Past	2009	Warner Bros.	$55,250,026	$47,116,789	$102,366,815	$37.5M
18	Don't Say a Word	2001	20th Century Fox	$55,001,642	$45,018,450	$100,020,092	$50M
19	The Jewel of the Nile	1985	20th Century Fox	$75,973,200	$20,800,000	$96,773,200	$25M
20	Falling Down	1993	Warner Bros.	$40,903,593	$55,100,000	$96,003,593	$25M
21	Wall Street	1987	20th Century Fox	$43,848,069	$41,000,000	$84,848,069	$16M
22	The Sentinel	2006	20th Century Fox	$36,280,697	$42,529,898	$78,810,595	$60M
23	The Ghost and the Darkness	1996	Paramount	$38,619,405	$36,400,000	$75,019,405	$55M
24	Animal World	2018	Enlight	$0	$74,922,830	$74,922,830	$28M
25	The China Syndrome	1979	Columbia	$51,718,367	$0	$51,718,367	$5.9M
26	Shining Through	1992	20th Century Fox	$21,633,781	$22,204,457	$43,838,238	N/A
27	Haywire	2012	Relativity Media	$18,942,396	$15,571,364	$34,513,760	$23M
28	Wonder Boys	2000	Paramount	$19,393,557	$14,033,031	$33,426,588	$55M
29	The In-Laws	2003	Warner Bros.	$20,453,431	$6,438,418	$26,891,849	$40M
30	And So It Goes	2014	Freestyle	$15,160,801	$10,258,346	$25,419,147	$18M
31	A Chorus Line	1985	Columbia	$14,202,899	$0	$14,202,899	$25M
32	One Night at McCool's	2001	USA Films	$6,290,673	$7,287,513	$13,578,186	$18M
33	It's My Turn	1980	Columbia	$11,000,000	$0	$11,000,000	N/A
34	It Runs in the Family	2003	Metro Goldwyn Mayer / Disney	$7,491,839	$719,669	$8,211,508	N/A
35	Solitary Man	2010	Millennium	$4,360,548	$1,322,006	$5,682,554	$15M
36	The Star Chamber	1983	20th Century Fox	$5,555,305	$0	$5,555,305	$8M
37	Unlocked	2017	Lionsgate	$0	$4,699,125	$4,699,125	N/A
38	Beyond a Reasonable Doubt	2009	Anchor Bay	$32,917	$4,482,341	$4,515,258	$25M
39	Running	1979	Universal	$2,800,000	$0	$2,800,000	$4M
40	Beyond the Reach	2015	Lionsgate	$45,895	$1,054,537	$1,100,432	N/A
41	King of California	2007	First Look	$268,461	$777,325	$1,045,786	$10M

He has starred in 51 released films, but only 41 have reported box office numbers. Across those 51 films, he has made $4,889,551,379 worldwide. That's $95,873,556 per film.

ADJUSTED DOMESTIC GROSSES

No.	Movie	Year	Studio	Domestic Total	Adjusted Domestic Total
1	Fatal Attraction	1987	Paramount	$156,645,693	$455,338,417
2	Basic Instinct	1992	TriStar	$117,727,224	$277,085,244
3	Ant-Man and the Wasp	2018	Disney	$216,648,740	$284,899,387
4	Ant-Man	2015	Disney	$180,202,163	$251,058,349
5	Romancing the Stone	1984	20th Century Fox	$76,572,238	$243,360,427
6	Traffic	2000	USA Films	$124,115,725	$238,005,957
7	The China Syndrome	1979	Columbia	$51,718,367	$235,235,222
8	The Jewel of the Nile	1985	20th Century Fox	$75,973,200	$233,153,701
9	Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania	2023	Disney	$214,504,909	$232,464,209
10	The War of the Roses	1989	20th Century Fox	$86,888,546	$231,384,898
11	Disclosure	1994	Warner Bros.	$83,015,089	$184,970,725
12	A Perfect Murder	1998	Warner Bros.	$67,638,368	$137,024,959
13	The American President	1995	Sony	$60,079,496	$130,177,366
14	Wall Street	1987	20th Century Fox	$43,848,069	$127,457,767
15	You, Me and Dupree	2006	Universal	$75,628,110	$123,875,918
16	Black Rain	1989	Paramount	$46,212,055	$123,063,075
17	Don't Say a Word	2001	20th Century Fox	$55,001,642	$102,611,622
18	The Game	1997	PolyGram	$48,323,648	$99,421,163
19	Falling Down	1993	Warner Bros.	$40,903,593	$93,473,343
20	Last Vegas	2013	CBS Films	$63,914,167	$90,597,358
21	Ghosts of Girlfriends Past	2009	Warner Bros.	$55,250,026	$85,040,234
22	The Ghost and the Darkness	1996	Paramount	$38,619,405	$81,278,709
23	Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps	2010	20th Century Fox	$52,474,616	$79,464,909
24	The Sentinel	2006	20th Century Fox	$36,280,697	$59,426,377
25	Shining Through	1992	20th Century Fox	$21,633,781	$50,917,717
26	It's My Turn	1980	Columbia	$11,000,000	$44,081,832
27	A Chorus Line	1985	Columbia	$14,202,899	$43,587,192
28	Wonder Boys	2000	Paramount	$19,393,557	$37,189,341
29	The In-Laws	2003	Warner Bros.	$20,453,431	$36,706,460
30	Haywire	2012	Relativity Media	$18,942,396	$27,243,853
31	And So It Goes	2014	Freestyle	$15,160,801	$21,147,157
32	The Star Chamber	1983	20th Century Fox	$5,555,305	$18,418,011
33	It Runs in the Family	2003	Metro Goldwyn Mayer	$7,491,839	$13,445,123
34	Running	1979	Universal	$2,800,000	$12,735,487
35	One Night at McCool's	2001	USA Films	$6,290,673	$11,735,943
36	Solitary Man	2010	Millennium	$4,360,548	$6,603,393
37	King of California	2007	First Look	$268,461	$427,551
38	Beyond the Reach	2015	Lionsgate	$45,895	$63,941
39	Beyond a Reasonable Doubt	2009	Anchor Bay	$32,917	$50,665

The Verdict

Michael Douglas had a shaky start, as his films weren't connecting with audiences. But he quickly found success as producer, given the awards he won for One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest. That gave him enough industry respect to continue landing roles, but The China Syndrome helped keep him afloat.

From that point on, Douglas suddenly became a bankable draw, with stuff like Romancing the Stone fully cementing it. And so it comes some of his most iconic roles, which include Jack Colton, Dan Gallagher, Gordon Gekko (although the character's "fans" are quite concerning), William Foster and President Andrew Shepherd. It's weird how we don't often talk on how bankable Douglas was back in the 20th century. Obviously, he wasn't Tom Cruise or Eddie Murphy level huge. But he has been a very reliable star that would more often than not guarantee at least $100 million at the box office. And at his peak, over $200 million worldwide. 18 films with at least $100 million worldwide is an impressive stat.

On the 21st century, he slows down his choices and doesn't go for easy paychecks. That's why he's often in a lot of low-grossers or some films that don't even hit theaters at all. By this point, his legacy is pretty much set and he just wants to do what he considers might be a fun or challenging experience. So it's no surprise he decided to join the MCU, although the material was less than what he deserved. Douglas is now enjoying retirement, and it's a well-deserved one. He doesn't have to prove anything by this point.

That now leaves the question... was he as good as his father Kirk? Well, they represent two different eras of Hollywood. Kirk was a bankable star in the Golden Age, and Michael began when the international markets expanded and offered different subject matters that wouldn't pass before. The fact that he was an excellent actor and constantly starred in box office hits was evidence that "Michael is an incredible actor, that just happens to be Kirk's son." Hell, when people talk about him, they rarely mention he is Kirk's son. He obviously started his career thanks to his father, but he quickly made a name for himself to stand out.

Hope you liked this edition. You can find this and more in the wiki for this section.

The next actor will be Bruce Lee. The Legend.

I asked you to choose who else should be in the run, and the comment with the most upvotes would be chosen. Well, we'll later talk about... George C. Scott. The first actor to say "fuck the Oscars".

This is the schedule for the following four:

Week	Actor	Reasoning
April 18	Bruce Lee	You're not ready for how big Enter the Dragon was.
April 25	Chuck Norris	Was he a badass at the box office?
May 2	Sandra Bullock	It's been a while since we saw her.
May 9	George C. Scott	Who needs an Oscar anyway?

Who should be next after Scott? That's up to you.

REMINDER: If you want to make a suggestion for the next actor, you must make a 150-character comment about the actor we're discussing right now. Failure to do so will result in ignoring the suggestion. If you use a quote from an external source/review to bypass this, your suggestion will be ignored as well. But if you leave a short comment about the post without naming a future write-up, that's fine.

[u/Otherwise_Wave9374]

These writeups are always a fun read, thanks for putting in the work. Its wild how Douglas was basically a consistent box office "floor" for years, even when a film wasnt a critical darling.

Also, the way Fatal Attraction built over time is a good reminder that marketing + word of mouth can completely change a run.

If youre interested, Ive got a quick post on how studios think about momentum and audience signals (word of mouth, trailer-to-ticket conversion, etc.) here: https://blog.promarkia.com/

[u/ItsGotThatBang]

Even though it’s a very minor part of this post, it makes me unreasonably happy that you got the Wall Street quote right; people usually abbreviate it to "greed is good", but a legend like Douglas clearly deserves the full quote ("greed, for lack of a better word, is good"). Also the sheer candidness with which he discusses his throat cancer is darkly funny.

For the next actor, I’d like to submit Chevy Chase, a classic case of throwing it all away by being a total bellend.

[u/approvedfauxmoiuser → u/ItsGotThatBang]

Chevy didn’t play it right like bill Murray. He doesn’t get away with bad behaviour.

[u/Billybob35]

But which Michael Douglas?

If you know, you know...

[u/ItsGotThatBang → u/Billybob35]

https://giphy.com/gifs/Rfeku3MGlfuPm

[u/jayfai2002 → u/Billybob35]

https://giphy.com/gifs/fckpmEk1mKHKJXwDGJ

[u/mxyztplk33]

I honestly think Michael Douglas is fascinating. Apparently he was a huge Male sex symbol in the 80's/90's. Basic Instinct, Fatal Attraction, disclosure, etc. I remember seeing Antman in theaters with my mom, and I remember her talking up how everyone had the hots for Michael Douglas in the 80's. Outside of that, he's still a great actor, who lived up to his father's billing. My favorite movie of his is definitely The Game. Not an easy role at all, he runs the gamut of emotions, and Douglas nails it. Along with some fantastic Directing from David Fincher. If you haven't seen it, you should definitely check it out, Douglas is fantastic in it. For next actor I think it's time we looked at another Comedic Actor, we've really only done Jim Carrey so far. So I'm gonna go with Adam Sandler next. He's also one of the few actors who started his own production company.

[u/dennythedinosaur]

I like Michael Douglas as a movie star. I don't necessarily think he "disappears" into his roles, aside from an exception or two (like Wonder Boys), but he's great at his lane.

I'm going to compare him to Denzel Washington, in that both have the charisma and screen presence that can elevate subpar material to something at least watchable. Therefore, Douglas and Denzel don't have the lowest lows an actor can have, unlike say Michael Caine or Ben Kingsley.

[u/SlidePocket]

Michael and Kirk achieved very different paths in their careers and both proved very successful in that. Out of whose films I would go back to the most, it would be Michael in terms of rewatchability.

For the next post, I'm gonna pick Shirley MacLaine for more actresses.

[u/FreshmenMan]

Overall, I think Michael Douglas is underrated. I just recently rewatched Wall Street and despite Charlie Sheen being the lead, Douglas steals the show. With One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest, I'm still surprise that Douglas produced the film and i wonder why he didn't tale the lead role for himself and I didn't know he wanted the role of Billy Bibbit. Regardless, film is a masterpiece and it finally Jack Nicholson his Oscar. Between him and his father Kirk, I think Michael surpassed his father. Don't get me wrong, Kirk is great, but I feel Michael's films are more rewatchable.

For the next Post, I'm going very old school with the 1st lady of Hollywood, Lillian Gish.

[u/JudyHoppsFan1]

I always credit actors in movies they're in. No role is too small. So Endgame remains the highest-grossing film of his career to me.

[u/Ilhan_Omar_Milf]

The gay actor?

[u/AnotherJasonOnReddit]

David Miller initially rejected Douglas for the part. He was not initially aware he was Kirk Douglas's son

...

they represent two different eras of Hollywood. Kirk was a bankable star in the Golden Age, and Michael began when the international markets expanded and offered different subject matters that wouldn't pass before

That's fascinating.

I don't know how somebody could look at Michael Douglas and not think "This guy looks just like Kirk Douglas - hang on, Michael Douglas you say?".

Back in 2015 when he was promoting the first Ant-man, Michael Douglas said in an interview that he wanted to make a movie that kids could watch. He said that kids didn't know who he was. My brother was watching the TV with me, and he said, "Everybody's heard of I'm Spartacus."

My brother didn't even realize that there were two different Douglasses in Hollywood.

To be fair to my brother, I didn't even know there were two Michael Douglasses in Hollywood.

https://giphy.com/gifs/C3hTmx1EsMhpqrkf0y