The films starring Meg Ryan grossed $1.64 billion. But the actress has no longer been popular since the turn of the millennium. As she prepares to return to the billboard in the romantic comedy opposite David Duchovny What happens laterWe wonder if her romance with Russell Crowe in 2000 is solely responsible for the precipitous decline in her popularity.
When Harry Met Sally (1989)
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Meg Ryan and Billy Crystal in Harry and Sally.
Directed by Rob Reiner and co-written with Nora Ephron, the romantic comedy “Harry and Sally,” starring Meg Ryan and Billy Crystal as friends-turned-lovers, was an instant hit and propelled the actress to the top of Hollywood’s most prominent stars . The restaurant scene in which Sally fakes an orgasm became iconic (Katz’s restaurant remains a tourist attraction to this day) and the film earned Meg Ryan her first of three Golden Globe nominations (disclosure note: she won’t win a statuette).
Joe vs. the Volcano (1990)
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Meg Ryan and Tom Hanks in “Joe Against the Volcano.”
A few months later, “Harry Met Sally,” the very first film in which Meg Ryan, 28, and Tom Hanks, 34, come together, was released. The script of this romantic comedy, co-produced by Steven Spielberg, was widely criticized. Hanks plays a man who suffers from a terminal illness and agrees to throw himself into a volcano… but then falls in love with a woman, played by Meg Ryan. Financial success failed to materialize (grossing $39.4 million on a budget of $25 million), but that didn’t stop the producers from realizing that the two leads made a dream couple. At the same time, Meg Ryan tried to build a dramatic career and accepted the role of Jim Morrison’s (Val Kilmer) partner in Oliver Stone’s “The Doors”, a film that was widely criticized for its freedom from reality.
The Magic of Destiny (1993)
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Meg Ryan, Ross Malinger and Tom Hanks in The Magic of Destiny.
TriStar Pictures, a subsidiary of Sony Studios, finds the perfect recipe. Nora Ephron not only directed but also co-wrote the screenplay for this 1957 romantic comedy inspired by “Her and Him.” Tom Hanks plays a widower who cannot get over the death of his wife and falls in love with Meg Ryan in love. With box office earnings of $227.8 million, “The Magic of Destiny” established itself as one of the highest-grossing films of 1993. It is still considered one of the highest-grossing romantic comedies in the history of cinema, enabling the The two main actors consolidate their position as stars in the Hollywood firmament. Meg Ryan therefore continues the romances and is the answer to Tim Robbins (Love in Equation 1994), Kevin Kline (Bons Kisses from France 1995) and Nicolas Cage (The City of Angels 1998, new version of the feature film). by Wim Wenders) and reunites with Tom Hanks and Nora Ephron in 1998’s You Have Message. And every time his salary increases. Because if Meg Ryan gets $5 million for “Love in Equation,” she gets double that for “You’ve Got Message.”
The Exchange (2000)
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Meg Ryan and Russell Crowe in The Exchange.
Adapted from an article in Vanity Fair magazine, “The Exchange” mixes suspense and action. Meg Ryan plays a woman whose husband is kidnapped in a South American country and who calls on a former member of British intelligence – Russell Crowe – to negotiate his release. On paper, everything is going so well that the actress receives a salary of $15 million. In reality it is a disaster. On set, Meg Ryan and Russell Crowe fall in love, begin an affair… and don’t hide it even though they are both in a relationship: Ryan with her husband Dennis Quaid and Crowe with Danielle Spencer (disclosure: they would marry three years later ). The scandal is huge in the USA and Meg Ryan, whose career has been based on her image as a particularly sweet and kind woman, is being dragged into the mud. Her association with Quaid did not survive (Russell Crowe won the Oscar that year for “Gladiator”) and the film was a complete flop, with revenues not exceeding the production budget.
Ithaca (2015)
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Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan in “Ithaca.”
After the catastrophe of The Exchange, Meg Ryan tries to carry on as if nothing had happened. She was paid $15 million to fall in love with Hugh Jackman in 2001’s “Kate and Leopold.” But when the actor received a Golden Globe nomination and the film’s song was nominated for an Oscar, the actress was left empty-handed. His subsequent feature films were shunned by audiences. She held out until A Loving Love hit theaters in December 2009 and grossed just $138,696. She therefore retreated from the spotlight until 2015, when she directed and starred in Ithaca, for which she enlisted Tom Hanks, his son Jack Quaid and her new partner John Mellencamp to score. But that’s not all, the feature film is released to general indifference. It remains to be seen whether she will have better luck with What Happens Later… Response on November 3rd.