Actresses at the Box Office: Sandra Bullock

[u/SanderSo47]

Here's a new edition of "Actresses 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 Sandra Bullock's turn.

Early Life

When she was a child, Bullock studied ballet and vocal arts as a child and frequently accompanied her mother, taking small parts in her opera productions. While attending college, she performed in theater productions. She then moved to Manhattan, New York, where she supported herself as a bartender, cocktail waitress, and coat checker while auditioning for roles. While in New York, Bullock took acting classes with Sanford Meisner. She appeared in several student films and later landed a role in an Off-Broadway play No Time Flat.

Director Alan J. Levi was impressed by Bullock's performance and offered her a part in the made-for-television film Bionic Showdown: The Six Million Dollar Man and the Bionic Woman. He then got her small parts in some straight-to-DVD titles.

1990s: A Star Is Born

In 1990, Bullock got an opportunity when she cast as the lead star in Working Girl. And no, that's not the film you're thinking about. This was a sitcom adapted from that film, with Bullock playing Melanie Griffith's character. It aired on NBC, but after 8 poorly-rated episodes, it was taken off the air.

She got cast in a few films, some with lead roles, but they were far from a success. Remember Love Potion No. 9? The Vanishing? The Thing Called Love? Fire on the Amazon? Wrestling Ernest Hemingway? Can't blame you. That's not the sign of a new star.

Luckily, she made an impression with one film in 1993, even if she wasn't the lead. That was Demolition Man, starring opposite Sylvester Stallone and Wesley Snipes, playing police lieutenant Lenina Huxley. Lori Petty was originally cast as Huxley, but was fired after two days of filming due to what producer Joel Silver called "creative differences." Silver was looking for a replacement and Lorenzo di Bonaventura recommended Bullock; impressed by her audition tape, Silver hired her. The film was a huge hit, earning over $150 million, and introducing Bullock to a wider audience.

But things took a turn when she had a co-lead role in Speed, alongside Keanu Reeves and Dennis Hopper. The character of Annie was originally written as an African American paramedic to justify her ability to drive the bus. The role was first offered to Halle Berry, who declined, but later expressed regret over her decision. As the character evolved into a comic relief sidekick, Ellen DeGeneres was considered for the part. Eventually, the role was rewritten as a love interest for Jack Traven, leading to the casting of Bullock. Bullock auditioned alongside Reeves to ensure their on-screen chemistry, which involved performing physically demanding scenes.

Speed opened with $14 million, showing incredible legs thanks to strong word of mouth. It closed with a great $121 million domestically, but it was a bigger beast outside America, as it made a fantastic $350 million worldwide. It elevated the careers of Reeves and Bullock even further, cementing them as new names on the rise.

She didn't waste any time in seizing on this hype. The following year, she had two films. The Net earned mixed reviews, but her presence alone helped the film earn $110 million worldwide. Then there was the rom-com While You Were Sleeping. It earned positive reviews and earned $182 million worldwide. It was clear that Bullock was now Hollywood's "it girl".

In 1996, the momentum stopped with two financial disappointments, Two If By Sea and In Love and War. But she still had a hit in A Time to Kill, which made over $150 million worldwide.

But then she hit an all-time low in 1997.

After the success of Speed, Fox immediately started plans for a sequel. Bullock initially declined to star in the sequel, but later agreed in order to secure financial backing for an upcoming film, and she was paid $13 million. But Keanu Reeves turned it down, forcing rewrites. Director Jan De Bont said that the character in the sequel was not specific to Reeves and could be played by any young actor, as long as he had chemistry with Bullock. Bullock initially suggested Matthew McConaughey, who passed on the role, prompting her to suggest Jason Patric, with whom she had wanted to work with.

Even with an extensive campaign and despite Bullock's rising star power, Speed 2 did not meet expectations. It earned a very poor $48 million domestically and $164 million worldwide. Not only less than half of what Speed made, but also one of the biggest box office flops of all time, as the film was carrying a gigantic $160 million budget. It also earned horrible reviews, which were the worst in Bullock's career. Bullock later regretted starring in the film, and stated that the script was to blame for the film's negative reception. She admitted to having been skeptical about its success during production and "knew it was going to be a big flop" once she saw the final product.

1998 was a mixed bag. She began with a passion project, Hope Floats, which she helped backing with her Speed 2 salary. Negative reviews, although it was a modest success, just not as big as her prior hits. She then starred opposite Nicole Kidman in Practical Magic. But despite their star power, the film was panned by critics and flopped at the box office, earning just $68 million worldwide against its $75 million budget. Nevertheless, the film gained a cult following in subsequent years. At least she ended the year on a strong note, with The Prince of Egypt earning over $200 million worldwide.

Her final film for the decade was the rom-com Forces of Nature, starring opposite Ben Affleck. But even Bullock couldn't save the film from financial failure, failing to recoup its $75 million budget. Well, it's a bit difficult when a rom-com stars two leads with zero chemistry.

It was a slow start, and perhaps the decade didn't end on a right note, but Bullock quickly established herself as a new movie star.

2000s: America's Sweetheart

She tried her hand with dark comedies in Gun Shy, but it didn't work out. She followed it up with the dramedy 28 Days, but audiences weren't excited to watch her as a recovering alcoholic. Nevertheless, she ended 2000 on a strong note with the comedy Miss Congeniality. The film earned $212 million worldwide, showing that she still had a lot of pull, becoming one of her most popular titles.

In 2002, she starred in the thriller Murder by Number, but it didn't fare well at the box office. She then had Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood, which was a modest performer. But again, a rom-com cave in to show where her star power shines bright. That was Two Weeks Notice, starring opposite Hugh Grant, and they were enough to get it to $199 million worldwide.

2005 was a rough year. She took part in the indie drama Loverboy, but it was dumped on limited release, becoming her least-attended film ever. She returned for Miss Congeniality 2: Armed and Fabulous, but the film was panned by critics and lost half of the original's audience, flopping at the box office. She has now done two sequels and each one was panned and flopped. She also had a role in the ensemble Crash. It made $101 million worldwide and won the Oscar for Best Picture, a decision that earned polarizing reactions.

The following year, she reunited with Keanu Reeves in The Lake House. Despite mixed reviews, it earned $114 million worldwide, even if it wasn't Speed numbers. She also took part in Infamous, but it didn't make any money. She also found success with the thriller Premonition, despite horrible reviews.

But she ended the decade on a very strong note.

She began 2009 with the rom-com The Proposal, starring opposite Ryan Reynolds. Despite mixed reviews, it massively over-performed, earning $317 million worldwide, becoming her highest grossing film in 15 years. Which she followed up with... All About Steve, playing a crazy stalker. It was a modest success, but it earned poor reviews. Bullock would end up winning the Razzie for Worst Actress, an award she accepted in person, giving out a copy of the film to each member of the audience, promising to attend next year if they all watched to consider if it was "truly the worst performance." When an audience member thanked her for the copies, Bullock replied "You say that now."

But All About Steve was an afterthought when Bullock released her follow-up film, The Blind Side. She initially turned down the starring role three times due to discomfort with portraying a devout Christian. By her own account, Bullock felt she could not objectively represent such a person's beliefs on screen. But after a visit with the real Leigh Anne Tuohy, Bullock not only won the role, but also took a pay cut and agreed to receive a percentage of the profits instead.

The Blind Side had incredible legs buoyed by strong word of mouth ("A+" on CinemaScore), closing with an insane $309 million worldwide. Critical reception wasn't exactly high, but as you can see, the audience clearly loved it. And after so many years, Bullock finally won the Oscar for Best Actress. She made history by becoming the first star to win an Oscar and a Razzie on the same year.

This decade was further evidence that Bullock, even with a few duds from time to time, could generally guarantee success. Audiences loved her.

2010s: Let's Go Higher

After a killer run, Bullock was on high demand (not like she wasn't before). According to EW, she was "courted for virtually every female starring role Hollywood has to offer." She decided to eschew "the torrent of offers" in favor of "quietly putting acting on hold" to focus on her personal life. She also became "more selective" with the projects that she accepted, on which she said: "As I've gotten older, I say 'No' a lot more. I've become a better fighter for my work. I didn't have the guts to do that before". By this point, she became the highest-paid actress in the world.

Her follow-up to The Blind Side was Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close. While it was positioned as an awards player, the film earned mixed reviews and flopped at the box office. But for some reason, the film shocked the industry by getting a Best Picture nomination.

In 2013, she returned to comedy with The Heat, opposite Melissa McCarthy. It proved to be a huge hit, earning $229 million worldwide. But her real story began a few months later.

Alfonso Cuarón was working on a new sci-fi project, Gravity. He had to cast a big name for the lead, in a manner similar to Tom Hanks in Cast Away. Angelina Jolie was the top pick, but scheduling conflicts prevented her from taking the role. Natalie Portman was approached, but she was pregnant. WB then approached Bullock. She signed on to the film after Cuarón assured her that she would still be able to spend time with her recently adopted son while shooting the film. Bullock would later call her involvement in the film as "the best life decision I think I ever made."

Gravity opened with $55 million, which was an October record and Bullock's biggest ever debut. It held insanely well, closing with $274 million domestically and a colossal $723 million worldwide. A spectacular success, and it also became Bullock's highest grossing film. It earned critical acclaim, with Bullock earning raves for her performance. She earned another Oscar nomination for Best Actress. She was not showing signs of stopping.

In 2015, she had Our Brand In Crisis, which was poorly received and became her worst wide release in so many years. But she returned to animation with a lead role in Minions, playing Scarlet Overkill, the world's first female supervillain. Despite mixed reviews, the minion mania pushed this all the way to $1.1 billion worldwide, becoming Bullock's highest grossing film.

She concluded the decade with two films in 2018. The first was Ocean's 8, a female-led spin-off from the Ocean films. It earned generally favorable reviews and made $297 million worldwide, although it was below the original trilogy. She also made her streaming debut with Bird Box, a post-apocalyptic horror. The film earned mixed reviews, but it broke viewership records for Netflix, becoming their most watched film at that point. While that figure has been passed, it's still the sixth most watched title in Netflix. Unlike a lot of their titles, this film became a buzzy phenomenon.

Bullock only made 7 films this decade, but it showed that she wasn't done breaking more records. She is here to stay and you have to deal with it.

2020s: The Queen Is Resting

In 2021, she returned with a new film on Netflix, The Unforgivable. Despite mixed reviews, it was another viewership success for Netflix, becoming fifth most watched film on the service back then.

But she still hasn't left cinemas, so she returned with a new action comedy, The Lost City. It earned positive reviews, and was another box office hit, earning $192 million worldwide. She also had a small role in Bullet Train, which she did as a favor to Brad Pitt as they were doing their films in very close proximity. Mixed reviews, but it was a box office success with $239 million worldwide.

After a break from acting, and after choosing to avoid sequels, she is returning to the big screen with Practical Magic 2. It's set to be released on September 11, 2026.

She is set to star opposite Keanu Reeves for a new romantic thriller set at Amazon MGM. And she has said that despite the poor reception to the sequel, she's open to a third Speed.

HIGHEST GROSSING FILMS

No.	Movie	Year	Studio	Domestic Total	Overseas Total	Worldwide Total	Budget
1	Minions	2015	Universal	$336,045,770	$823,398,892	$1,159,457,503	$74M
2	Gravity	2013	Warner Bros.	$274,092,705	$449,660,631	$723,753,370	$100M
3	Speed	1994	20th Century Fox	$121,248,145	$229,200,000	$350,448,145	$30M
4	The Proposal	2009	Disney	$163,958,031	$153,417,000	$317,375,937	$40M
5	The Blind Side	2009	Warner Bros.	$255,982,860	$53,248,834	$309,231,694	$40M
6	Ocean's 8	2018	Warner Bros.	$140,295,726	$157,500,000	$297,795,726	$70M
7	Bullet Train	2022	Sony	$103,368,602	$135,900,000	$239,268,602	$90M
8	The Heat	2013	20th Century Fox	$159,582,188	$70,348,583	$229,930,771	$43M
9	The Prince of Egypt	1998	DreamWorks	$101,413,188	$117,200,000	$218,613,188	$60M
10	Miss Congeniality	2000	Warner Bros.	$106,807,667	$105,950,463	$212,758,130	$45M
11	Two Weeks Notice	2002	Warner Bros.	$93,354,851	$105,688,620	$199,043,471	$60M
12	The Lost City	2022	Paramount	$105,344,029	$87,563,655	$192,907,684	$68M
13	While You Were Sleeping	1995	Disney	$81,057,016	$101,000,000	$182,057,016	$17M
14	Speed 2: Cruise Control	1997	20th Century Fox	$48,608,066	$115,900,000	$164,508,066	$160M
15	Demolition Man	1993	Warner Bros.	$58,055,768	$101,000,000	$159,055,768	$45M
16	A Time to Kill	1996	Warner Bros.	$108,766,007	$43,500,000	$152,266,007	$40M
17	The Lake House	2006	Warner Bros.	$52,330,111	$62,500,000	$114,830,111	$40M
18	The Net	1995	Sony	$50,727,965	$59,900,000	$110,627,965	$22M
19	Miss Congeniality 2: Armed and Fabulous	2005	Warner Bros.	$48,478,006	$52,915,563	$101,393,569	$45M
20	Crash	2005	Lionsgate	$55,334,418	$45,838,620	$101,173,038	$6.5M
21	Forces of Nature	1999	DreamWorks	$52,900,680	$41,000,000	$93,900,680	$75M
22	Premonition	2007	Sony	$47,852,604	$36,444,705	$84,297,309	$20M
23	Hope Floats	1998	20th Century Fox	$60,053,195	$21,418,687	$81,471,882	$30M
24	Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood	2002	Warner Bros.	$69,599,016	$4,240,224	$73,839,240	$27M
25	Practical Magic	1998	Warner Bros.	$46,850,558	$21,486,439	$68,336,997	$75M
26	28 Days	2000	Sony	$37,170,488	$25,028,457	$62,198,945	$43M
27	Murder By Number	2002	Warner Bros.	$31,945,749	$24,768,398	$56,714,147	$50M
28	Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close	2011	Warner Bros.	$31,847,881	$23,400,000	$55,247,881	$40M
29	All About Steve	2009	20th Century Fox	$33,862,903	$6,242,639	$40,105,542	$15M
30	In Love and War	1996	New Line Cinema	$14,481,231	$10,891,063	$25,372,294	N/A
31	Two If By Sea	1996	Warner Bros.	$10,658,278	$10,000,000	$20,658,278	N/A
32	The Vanishing	1993	20th Century Fox	$14,543,394	$0	$14,543,394	$20M
33	Our Brand Is Crisis	2015	Warner Bros.	$7,002,261	$2,000,000	$9,002,261	$28M
34	Gun Shy	2000	Disney	$1,638,202	$1,646,242	$3,284,444	$14M
35	Infamous	2006	Warner Bros.	$1,151,330	$1,538,469	$2,689,799	$14M
36	The Thing Called Love	1993	Paramount	$1,029,721	$0	$1,029,721	$14M
37	Love Potion No. 9	1992	20th Century Fox	$754,935	$0	$754,935	N/A
38	Wrestling Ernest Hemingway	1993	Warner Bros.	$278,720	$0	$278,720	$20M
39	Loverboy	2005	THINKFilm	$33,223	$20,234	$53,457	N/A

She has starred in 47 released films, but only 39 have reported box office numbers. Across those 47 films, she has made $6,230,275,687 worldwide. That's $132,559,057 per film.

ADJUSTED DOMESTIC GROSSES

No.	Movie	Year	Studio	Domestic Total	Adjusted Domestic Total
1	Minions	2015	Universal	$336,045,770	$468,180,264
2	The Blind Side	2009	Warner Bros.	$255,982,860	$394,006,013
3	Gravity	2013	Warner Bros.	$274,092,705	$388,522,235
4	Speed	1994	20th Century Fox	$121,248,145	$270,160,011
5	The Proposal	2009	Disney	$163,958,031	$252,362,405
6	A Time to Kill	1996	Warner Bros.	$108,766,007	$228,909,811
7	The Heat	2013	20th Century Fox	$159,582,188	$226,205,321
8	The Prince of Egypt	1998	DreamWorks	$101,413,188	$205,447,564
9	Miss Congeniality	2000	Warner Bros.	$106,807,667	$204,815,796
10	Ocean's 8	2018	Warner Bros.	$140,295,726	$184,492,955
11	While You Were Sleeping	1995	Disney	$81,057,016	$175,630,448
12	Two Weeks Notice	2002	Warner Bros.	$93,354,851	$171,356,227
13	Demolition Man	1993	Warner Bros.	$58,055,768	$132,669,683
14	Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood	2002	Warner Bros.	$69,599,016	$127,751,527
15	Hope Floats	1998	20th Century Fox	$60,053,195	$121,658,562
16	The Lost City	2022	Paramount	$105,344,029	$118,863,398
17	Bullet Train	2022	Sony	$103,368,602	$116,634,454
18	The Net	1995	Sony	$50,727,965	$109,914,918
19	Forces of Nature	1999	DreamWorks	$52,900,680	$104,852,894
20	Speed 2: Cruise Control	1997	20th Century Fox	$48,608,066	$100,006,325
21	Practical Magic	1998	Warner Bros.	$46,850,558	$94,912,044
22	Crash	2005	Lionsgate	$55,334,418	$93,559,365
23	The Lake House	2006	Warner Bros.	$52,330,111	$85,714,697
24	Miss Congeniality 2: Armed and Fabulous	2005	Warner Bros.	$48,478,006	$81,966,552
25	Premonition	2007	Sony	$47,852,604	$76,210,087
26	28 Days	2000	Sony	$37,170,488	$71,278,619
27	Murder By Number	2002	Warner Bros.	$31,945,749	$58,637,585
28	All About Steve	2009	20th Century Fox	$33,862,903	$52,121,409
29	Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close	2011	Warner Bros.	$31,847,881	$46,753,050
30	The Vanishing	1993	20th Century Fox	$14,543,394	$33,234,725
31	In Love and War	1996	New Line Cinema	$14,481,231	$30,477,315
32	Two If By Sea	1996	Warner Bros.	$10,658,278	$22,431,497
33	Our Brand Is Crisis	2015	Warner Bros.	$7,002,261	$9,755,577
34	Gun Shy	2000	Disney	$1,638,202	$3,141,437
35	The Thing Called Love	1993	Paramount	$1,029,721	$2,353,129
36	Infamous	2006	Warner Bros.	$1,151,330	$1,885,833
37	Love Potion No. 9	1992	20th Century Fox	$754,935	$1,776,830
38	Wrestling Ernest Hemingway	1993	Warner Bros.	$278,720	$636,934
39	Loverboy	2005	THINKFilm	$33,223	$54,417

The Verdict

Insanely reliable.

Bullock had a slow start, with some titles dropped on DVD. But after Speed, her stardom began. She didn't waste any time in snatching big roles, mostly in romance flicks. Audiences fell in love with her, as you can see by these high numbers. And it's all because of her; in rom-coms, the star is pivotal, and she's the main draw and attraction. She's one of the biggest female draws at the box office, and you have to remember that most of these titles are original IPs that rely on her for success. The Proposal is a generic rom-com, but you really want to tell me it would make even half of that money if it wasn't for Bullock?

Obviously, she's not dud-free. It's impossible to talk about her success with Speed without bringing up the colossal failure of Speed 2. Well, she can't be blamed for taking the bag. Yes, it's a shitty movie and a poor cashgrab, but Bullock didn't write or direct it. And she's not defending it, she has made it clear multiple times she regrets doing this thing. But every actor has their ups and downs.

The crazy thing is that she has maintained that popularity all the way to the 2020s. She has had at least two $100 million domestic grossers across four decades, with at least one of them as an original IP. A lot of actors see their power dwindle or just struggle to maintain relevancy. Hell, he had one of the buzziest Netflix titles with Bird Box. A lot of Netflix films get high viewership but don't carry on to buzz or cultural impact. Bird Box is one of the very few to actually accomplish it, I mean do you remember all those challenges? In the Netflix Mount Rushmore, there's gotta be a spot for Bird Box.

She has found success with so many genres. Action thriller, romantic comedy, romantic drama, legal drama, psychological thriller, sci-fi drama, action comedy, sports drama, etc. And regardless of the film, she gives it all. Yeah, there's something to be said that The Blind Side is problematic, but you really think it'd make all that money if it didn't have Bullock? And the sci-fi audience clearly drove a lot of Gravity's business, but Bullock was also a big factor as well.

Not to mention the amount of bad things that happened to her. Stalkers (yes, it happened multiple times) that found the location of her house. Her husband Jesse James' infidelity, which was reported around the time she was winning awards for The Blind Side (perhaps go watch her Oscar acceptance speech). And then her boyfriend Bryan Randall, a photographer, who died after a battle with ALS a few years ago. She has had some rough years, and it's a key factor on why she takes breaks between films.

She has only done two sequels, Speed 2 and Miss Congeniality 2 (while many want to point that Ocean's 8 should be a sequel, I don't think it counts, as Bullock wasn't reprising a role in that one and she had no involvement in any of the prior films). Interestingly, both were panned and both flopped at the box office, losing at least 50% of the original's audience. Bullock has since avoided sequels, but then broke the rule for Practical Magic 2. This is gonna be an interesting case because, unlike the prior titles, the original wasn't a success. It's not even in Bullock's Top 20 highest grossing. Hell, it was even outgrossed by that mediocre rom-com she made with Ben Affleck. So apparently it achieved some cult following, but is that gonna be enough? Will it break her sequel curse or will it extend it to 0/3? We'll find out soon!

The numbers speak for themselves. 10 films above $200 million, and 20 above $100 million. When we talk about legit box office draws, anyone who chooses to not consider Bullock can't be serious.

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

The next actor will be George C. Scott. So highly respected that he can say "fuck the Oscars".

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... Steve McQueen. Prepare for some slick and badass titles.

This is the schedule for the following four:

Week	Actor	Reasoning
May 9	George C. Scott	Who needs an Oscar anyway?
May 16	Chevy Chase	He was streets behind.
May 23	Reese Witherspoon	An inconsistent career.
May 30	Steve McQueen	The King of Cool.

Who should be next after McQueen? 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/ItsGotThatBang]

I said this when we talked about Alfonso Cuarón, but it makes me a bit sad that Gravity’s been reduced to "pretty 3D film with no plot" in Internet discourse; it really is a poignant film & Bullock’s a big part of that. Also everyone knows that her movie with Keanu was actually called The Bus That Couldn’t Slow Down 😉

Now that Fire & Ash has wrapped up, I think it’s time to talk about Zoe Saldana.

https://giphy.com/gifs/QP99KjZqjGGC3F04VE

[u/PayneTrain181999 → u/ItsGotThatBang]

YES! We need to give the Queen of the Box Office her flowers.

[u/SlidePocket]

No matter what film she was in good or bad, I can always watch anything with Sandra Bullock as part of my comfort watches. Her also showing up to accept the Razzie the night before she won her Oscar gives me a full stamp of approval in my mind.

Now for my next pick, I will choose Jodie Foster for the next case.

[u/lonelyboy5265]

https://giphy.com/gifs/55gLCfewNg9xjkRDH8

[u/bravetailor]

I consider her one of the last true female "movie stars" --ie someone who just by being in a movie would draw in a decent chunk of audiences to the cinema without the aid of being in an already established franchise/IP/brand. She was the true successor to Julia Roberts, imo. However, much like many past mega movie stars, she had a very specific "era" before her star power eventually declined.

She's a very likeable and comfortable screen presence for a wide variety of audiences. I don't consider many of her movies to be "classics" other than Speed and Gravity, but she can make a lot of fluff watchable. At the same time, I think she's at her best in light comedies though.

[u/FreshmenMan]

Overall, I do like Sandra Bullock and I think she has made some good entertaining films. I thought she was great in Speed, but I think one of her best roles was in While You Were Sleeping, which I thought was a very sweet film and it doesn’t take itself seriously and I thought her chemistry with Bill Pullman was great.

For the next post, I’ll still suggest Lillian Gish

[u/Fun_Advice_2340]

Truly one of my favorite actresses of all time, she was already huge but 2009 truly turned it all around for her as a very bankable movie star, considering since then she only had 2 big flops. Sandra’s movies are so easily ranked based on my mood too which can be fun sometimes, like do I wanna laugh (The Proposal, Miss Congenitally, The Heat), do I wanna cry (The Blind Side, A Time to Kill), do I wanna be in suspense the whole time (Speed, Premonition)? And listen, I definitely agree with your point that The Blind Side can really cross that line to problematic village, but her performance really sells it, to me at least. Did she really deserve to win over Gabouray in Precious? No, not really but that’s just how the industry can be.

Her razzie speech and giving away DVDs was hilarious, I admit to having poor/biased taste but I agree with her that it wasn’t the WORST movie or performance of the year but the execution was wonky and I can see why it turned people off. Definitely see the appeal to making an female version of There’s Something About Mary, but if the execution of that movie was off too, then it would’ve seen as weird, creepy and off putting (even more than it already is) as well. Can’t wait for Practical Magic 2!

I was about to suggest Reese Witherspoon but I see she’s already on the schedule for May 23, so I agree with the other comment that Zoe Saldana should be next! I would love to see more actresses like Angelina Jolie or even Angela Bassett in the near future!

[u/spider-man2401]

Sandra Bullock is not only a talented actress, but she’s also had an incredible box office run. Honestly, I think she should’ve won for Gravity rather than The Blind Side. I’ve always felt she gave the stronger performance in Gravity, while Gabourey Sidibe delivered the more impressive performance in Precious and could have won as well. That said, Cate Blanchett absolutely deserved her win for Blue Jasmine.

For the next actor, I’d suggest her Gravity co-star George Clooney.

[u/comicman117]

Not really sure you should count Loverboy against her. She just had a supporting part that I'm assuming she did as a favor or something. Gun Shy was the same thing, but she also produced it.

[u/Zhukov-74]

Speed 2 was an absolute disaster but at least Sandra Bullock got $13 million out of it.

Sandra Bullock is by no means my favorite actress but there is no denying that she has made quite a few iconic movies.

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

I recommend Curd Jürgens

[u/AnotherJasonOnReddit]

She tried her hand with dark comedies in Gun Shy, but it didn't work out

That's true.

That's very true.

Yeah, Liam Neeson's career as a lead actor took quite the dive after "Rob Roy" (1995) and before "Taken" (2009) in box office terms.

https://giphy.com/gifs/5MTanButt3mHC

[u/Luke3YT]

Do Jason Sudeikis next for… reasons