Wing Commander (1999) and Package Deal Casting

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.