Casting can make or break a movie. The cachet brought to a
movie by a big Hollywood star can help the box office receipts soar. A movie
that could have been a dud becomes a money-making success based solely on the
fact that it features someone that people want to see. This is how movie stars
become the big Hollywood commodity, hand-in-hand with name brands and
franchises.
The idea of a singular movie star can be expanded by having two
or more actors frequently work with each other. Certain groups of actors appear
in multiple projects together and the success of the projects comes from the
popularity of that group of performers. In some specific cases, the characters
that the actors are known for become the selling point, popping up in a movie
here and a movie there. Most times, though, it will be the actors themselves.
Audiences like to see the same people working together time and time again.
Part of this appreciation of acting duos, trios, or groups
can be pinpointed to the nostalgia that audiences hold for the initial time
they came together. Other times, it stems from the chemistry that certain
actors have with one another. And yet other instances come down to major stars
coming together because they’re friends and that friendship comes through in
the material. Whenever there are multiple actors working together on multiple
projects, people will want to see it.
The 1990s were all about this package deal sort of casting.
Certain actors would frequently be seen together in film after film. And, for
the most part, audiences enjoyed seeing the actors on screen together. The idea
didn’t originate in the 1990s, of course. It originated back in the days of the
star system, where studios would frequently pair their contracted stars in
their big movies. But the 1990s really brought that concept to the forefront.
There were cinematic pairs from years prior, coming together on the screen
again. There were newer actors who found their groove by working together.
There were pairs and groups that would last long after the decade ended. It was
a big time for package deal casting.
It was easy to see the previous decades having an impact on
the package casting that would happen in the 1990s. Walter Matthau and Jack
Lemmon came into the decade having worked together five times between 1966 and
1981 before taking a break from starring together. When the 1990s hit, they got
together for five more films. Where the first five films in their pairing took
sixteen years to happen, the other five were released within an eight-year
period. The package casting boom of the 1990s had made the pair twice as
frequent a sight. It probably could have continued, had both actors not passed
away in 2000 and 2001.
Where the 1990s saw the end of one package casting team, it
saw the emergence of many more. Jack Lemmon and Walter Matthau were the end of
the package deals of the past. They were a duo put together in the 1960s that
got to relive their glory days on the big screen in the 1990s. That was
especially true of their final film together being The Odd Couple II, in
which they revisited their most popular characters, who had debuted on the big
screen in 1968. They helped to usher in a new wave of package casting by
showing a new audience how effective it could be.
That effective nature became a prominent force in 1990s
filmmaking. Two of the biggest stars to come out of the 1990s were Matt Damon
and Ben Affleck, who were known for their pairing. They were two friends from
Cambridge, Massachusetts who broke into the film business at the same time.
They worked together and pushed each other to do bigger, better things. It
worked. Both actors found huge success that is still with them to this day.
Matt Damon and Ben Affleck would go on to be in eight movies
together between 1992 and 2004, frequently going back and forth on who the star
would be. Their big break into stardom came with their third movie together, Good
Will Hunting, which they co-wrote and both featured prominently in. Damon
was the star, but Affleck played a big part in the film becoming the success it
became. Four of their eight movies together were also for director Kevin Smith,
who became good friends with Ben Affleck. Damon and Affleck continued to
produce together after 2004 but didn’t appear in another movie together until Jay
and Silent Bob Reboot in 2019. They have another movie in production to be
directed by Ridley Scott. Maybe this is the next era of their package deal
casting.
Going off the Kevin Smith link, he is a director who
frequently uses the same actors in his movies. His whole career is based off a
sort of Kevin Smith troupe. Brian O’Halloran, who was in his debut film, Clerks,
went on to be in seven of Smith’s movies. Every appearance was one of three
characters that were all related, but still. Jason Mewes has been in ten or so
of Smith’s movies. Jason Lee was in a handful, as were Matt Damon and Ben
Affleck. Joey Lauren Adams was in a few. Ethan Suplee and Rosario Dawson were
in some. Justin Long was in a few. There are a bunch of actors who keep popping
up in Kevin Smith movies, allowing audiences to feel like they’re spending time
with old friends when they check out any of the movies.
People gravitated to Kevin Smith’s movies for more than the
actors, though. Audiences enjoyed spending time with the characters. Kevin
Smith and Jason Mewes would play Jay and Silent Bob through six movies and an
animated television series between 1994 and 2002. One of those movies wasn’t
directed by Kevin Smith, Scream 3. They would return to those characters
in 2006, 2013, and 2019. It was a pairing that went beyond the two actors. The
characters were what people wanted. They didn’t so much want Jason Mewes and
Kevin Smith. They wanted Jay and Silent Bob. The actors just happened to be
integral to those characters.
Another director who frequently used the same actors and
came to prominence during the 1990s was Christopher Guest. His directorial
debut was in 1989, but he wouldn’t hit the sweet spot of his niche ensemble comedies
until 1996 when he released Waiting for Guffman. It was the first of
five movies that he would direct that featured much of the same cast. Eugene
Levy, Catherine O’Hara, Fred Willard, Parker Posey, Michael Hitchcock,
Christopher Guest, Bob Balaban, and Larry Miller would all return in later
movies. Best in Show, the follow-up that was released in 2000, would add
people like Ed Begley Jr., Jennifer Coolidge, Michael McKean, John Michael
Higgins, and Jane Lynch to the lineup as well as having all of the
aforementioned cast from Waiting for Guffman. A Mighty Wind, For
Your Consideration, and Mascots would follow, with many of the same
actors playing roles in them.
The Christopher Guest ensemble comedies were true results of
package casting. After Waiting for Guffman found a following, people
wanted more from that group of funny people. They found it in Best in Show.
They were sold on the subsequent movies because so much of the cast stuck
around. Audiences enjoyed seeing them having fun together, doing goofy things.
Had they not had that same cast playing around with each other again, people
may not have been as interested. The success and cultural impact of the films
was very much reliant upon the package casting of the comedy ensemble that
Christopher Guest had built.
One other comedy ensemble that originated in the 1990s was
Broken Lizard. Like the Christopher Guest ensemble, they released a movie in
the mid-90s and their package casting technically didn’t come until later.
Broken Lizard was a college comedy group that stuck together after they
graduated. They wrote and starred in Puddle Cruiser, a 1996 independent
comedy. It was the beginning of something special that would play out through
the 2000s. Their 2001 follow-up, Super Troopers, would make them
household names. It built the anticipation that would drive people to check out
Club Dread, Beerfest, and everything those actors were involved
in after.
The most important thing to note about Broken Lizard was
that their package casting was such a big deal that it became a brand. They
weren’t movies featuring the actors of Broken Lizard. Okay, a couple of them were.
The Dukes of Hazzard and Freeloaders featured the Broken Lizard
guys. They weren’t the stars of those, though. When they were the stars of the
film, it was promoted as “From Broken Lizard” or “From the guys who brought
you…” or “Broken Lizard’s…” The movies were sold on the comedy group. And that
all began with an independent comedy that almost nobody saw in the 1990s.
Now it’s time to bring things back to a smaller scale. Wing
Commander was a 1999 science fiction movie based on the video game of the
same name. Lt. Christopher Blair (Freddie Prinze Jr.) was a new pilot sent to a
spacecraft carrier to deliver orders to fight off enemy forces and buy time for
a defense of Earth. With him was another new pilot, Lt. Todd Marshall (Matthew
Lillard), his buddy from the training academy. Under the command of Lt.
Commander Jeanette Deveraux (Saffron Burrows), they put up the fight of their
lives to save humanity.
Freddie Prinze Jr. was the star of Wing Commander. By
his side was an actor who he made five movies with. Matthew Lillard was kind of
a Freddie Prinze Jr. sidekick through the teen movie boom of the late 1990s and
early 2000s. They both rose to prominence in horror franchises before pairing
up in She’s All That. It was a match made in heaven, which would last
through Wing Commander, Summer Catch, and two Scooby-Doo
movies. For a few years, it seemed as though they were inseparable.
There were a few actors who crossed paths multiple times
through that teen boom. Breckin Meyer and Donald Faison appeared in three
movies together. Breckin Meyer was also in three movies during that era with
Seth Green. Freddie Prinze Jr. ended up in a handful of movies with Sarah
Michelle Gellar. But none of them would be as prolific on-screen as the pairing
of Freddie Prinze Jr. and Matthew Lillard. It’s a shame they haven’t made a
movie together since 2004’s Scooby-Doo 2: Monsters Unleashed. There
would likely be some anticipation for a new project that they were both
involved in.
The 1990s were filled with package deal casting. The old,
the new, the pairs, and the groups. Studios could promote their movies based on
one actor and do perfectly fine. That was the whole purpose of having a movie
star. They could sell a movie to audiences. But everyone knows what is better
than a movie star. Multiple movie stars. And it would work even better if those
stars were known to work together before. Their history would be a factor in
the promotion of the movie. The package deal casting made having the actors an
event.
Movie stars are one of the biggest commodities in Hollywood.
The name recognition of a face that people see in movie after movie goes a long
way in ensuring that the box office has a chance of reaching higher heights.
It’s the same sort of brand recognition seen through franchises and
adaptations. Everything these days is about branding. Branding can turn a
middle-of-the-road story into a box office, money making success. Anything is
possible with name recognition.
Now let’s toss some notes in here:
- Wing Commander was the second time that Jürgen Prochnow appeared in the Sunday “Bad” Movies. His first appearance was in House of the Dead (week 59).
- Hugh Quarshie was in Wing Commmander after being a part of Baby: Secret of the Lost Legend (week 74).
- David Suchet was in Iron Eagle (week 90) before Wing Commander.
- Freddie Prinze Jr. returned to the Sunday “Bad” Movies in Wing Commander after doing voice work in Delgo (week 148).
- This was also the second Sunday “Bad” Movies appearance for Matthew Lillard, who was in In the Name of the King: A Dungeon Siege Tale (week 220).
- Finally, Simon MacCorkindale played a part in Wing Commander as well as Jaws 3-D (week 240).
- Have you seen Wing Commander? Did you enjoy it? What do you think about package deal casting? What are some of your favourite package deal actors? Let me know on Twitter or in the comments.
- You can also go to the comments or Twitter to let me know what movies I should be checking out for future Sunday “Bad” Movies installments. I’m open to any suggestions and will likely put them into the schedule fairly quickly.
- Be sure to head on over to Instagram and check out Sunday“Bad” Movies. I try to post something every day. Sometimes I miss a day, but I usually keep up with it. Interact with me there.
- Coming up next is one of those classic bad movies that has become a sort of pinnacle of the bad movie art form. People know it. People dislike it. The movie will be 2008’s The Hottie and the Nottie. I hope you guys come back and see what I have to say because I definitely have some words for that one. I’ll see you then.
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