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

Early Life

After a short stint training to be a court stenographer, Pfeiffer pursued an acting career. She won the Miss Orange County beauty pageant in 1978 and finished sixth in the Miss California contest the same year. After her appearances in these pageants, Pfeiffer acquired an agent and began to audition for television and film roles.

1980s: Yeah, Not Exactly a Great Start

She started her career by guest roles in Fantasy Island, Delta House, CHiPs, Enos and B.A.D. Cats. Her first film credit was a small role in The Hollywood Knights. It was a success, despite negative reviews.

Her first real test was getting the lead role in Grease 2. The film had a complicated production, especially because neither John Travolta, Olivia Newton-John nor the composers would reprise their roles. Pfeiffer was a wild card choice, but according to director Patricia Birch, she won the part because she "has a quirky quality you don't expect." Well, the film was a financial failure, failing to make anything close to the original. It also earned negative reviews, although it would garner a cult following. Pfeiffer commented on the failure, "So the crash was very loud. But it did teach me not to have expectations."

Despite escaping the critical mauling, her agent later admitted that her association with the film meant that "she couldn't get any jobs. Nobody wanted to hire her." That's what led many to consider that her career has died just when it was getting started.

She auditioned to play the role of Elvira Hancock in Scarface. Both Brian De Palma and Al Pacino had watched Grease 2 and made it clear they didn't want her in the film, hoping the original choice Glenn Close would get it instead. But producer Martin Bregman vouched for her, and got them to accept her. She didn't particularly enjoy making the film as she had to effectively starve herself to achieve Elvira's emaciated figure. Despite an initially mixed response, the film was a big success at the box office. It helped her break out, after a string of misfires.

In 1985, she starred in John Landis' Into the Night. But while Landis was a profitable director, this was his first financial failure. She also had Ladyhawke, but it also flopped. A similar fate awaited Sweet Liberty the following year.

Luckily, she found a hit in The Witches of Eastwick, where she stars opposite Cher, Susan Sarandon and Jack Nicholson. It crossed $100 million worldwide, becoming her first film to cross that mark.

1988 was a pretty good year. Married to the Mob was a success, and Tequila Sunrise became her highest grossing film. Jonathan Demme himself recommended her to Stephen Frears, who cast her in Dangerous Liaisons. It was a critical and financial success, but most importantly, it became her first film to get her an Oscar nomination for Best Supporting Actress.

She capped off the decade with The Fabulous Baker Boys, opposite Jeff and Beau Bridges. She underwent intense voice training for the role for four months, and performed all of her character's vocals. The film flopped at the box office, but it earned critical acclaim, with Pfeiffer earning high praise. She won nearly every acting precursor in the film, before landing a Best Actress nomination at the Oscars. She was the frontrunner, yet she surprisingly lost to Jessica Tandy in Driving Miss Daisy.

It was an inconsistent decade, with Pfeiffer struggling to find successes. And her career almost ended just when it was starting with Grease 2. But it's all baby steps.

1990s: Meow

Her first film in the decade was The Russia House, opposite Sean Connery. Despite being an adaptation of a popular novel and positive reviews, it didn't fare well at the box office. At the very least, she had better luck the following year with Frankie and Johnny.

As Tim Burton assembled his Batman sequel, Batman Returns, it was time to find the right actress for Catwoman. Annette Bening was initially cast in the role but had to withdraw due to pregnancy. Other actresses considered included Ellen Barkin, Cher, Bridget Fonda, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Madonna, Julie Newmar, Lena Olin, Susan Sarandon, Raquel Welch, and Kim Basinger.

The role went to Pfeiffer, who was regarded as a proven actress and someone who worked well with Burton, although some publications suggested the role would challenge her acting range. Pfeiffer had also been considered for the role of Vale in Batman, but Michael Keaton vetoed her casting due to their previous romantic relationship, believing her presence could interfere with attempts to reconcile with his wife. She received a $3 million salary, plus a share of the film's gross profits. Pfeiffer trained for several months in kickboxing with her stunt double, Kathy Long, mastering the whip and becoming skilled enough to perform many of her own stunts with it.

Batman Returns broke the opening weekend record, but divisive word of mouth prevented it from legging out like the original. It closed with $266 million worldwide, becoming her highest grossing film, but WB was reportedly disappointed with the figure, as it marked a rough drop from the original. But Pfeiffer earned high praise for her performance, becoming one of the most popular comic book performances.

That same year, she starred in Love Field, playing a woman obsessed with Jacqueline Kennedy. While not a financial success, she earned another Best Actress nomination for it. The following year, she had a key role in Martin Scorsese's The Age of Innocence, a critical and financial success.

In 1994, she starred opposite Jack Nicholson in Mike Nichols' Wolf. Despite their popularity, the film earned $130 million worldwide, failing to recoup its $70 million investment.

The following year, she had a lead role in Dangerous Minds. She played retired U.S. Marine LouAnne Johnson, who in 1989 took up a teaching position at Carlmont High School in Belmont, California, where most of her students were African-American and Latino teenagers from East Palo Alto, a racially segregated and economically deprived city. The film earned mixed reviews, but it was a huge success, earning $179 million worldwide.

In 1996, she starred with Robert Redford in Up Close & Personal. Despite hitting $100 million worldwide, it fell short of expectations. She also starred in To Gillian on Her 37th Birthday, written by her husband David E. Kelley, but it flopped at the box office. She also co-starred alongside George Clooney in the rom-com One Fine Day, which made almost $100 million.

She then starred in the drama A Thousand Acres, a huge disaster with critics and audiences. At the very least, she had a voice role in the successful animated film, The Prince of Egypt.

She capped off the decade with three films: The Deep End of the Ocean, A Midsummer Night's Dream, and The Story of Us. All of them disappointed with critics and flopped at the box office.

A very inconsistent decade, but Pfeiffer's profile definitely rose here. More hits added to her resume.

2000s: Keep on Truckin'

Her first film was the thriller What Lies Beneath, also starring Harrison Ford. Pfeiffer stated that shooting the underwater scenes were particularly difficult for her due to her fear of water, "It was awful. I took some scuba lessons because I was really uncomfortable in the water. Being in the bathtub was the worst because it was so confined and I think it was weeks in that bathtub, I'd be in there for 5 hours [at a time] just laying there." Despite mixed reviews, it earned almost $300 million worldwide, becoming her highest grossing film ever.

She then starred opposite Sean Penn in the drama I Am Sam. It made almost $100 million despite negative reviews, although she earned praise for her performance.

Subsequently, she was seen in White Oleander. Despite positive reviews, a box office failure. She also voiced the villain in Sinbad: Legend of the Seven Seas, but unlike The Prince of Egypt, this wasn't a success. She admitted her problems with the production, as she had struggles with finding the character's villainies, and was often annoyed by the constant rewrites.

Following Sinbad, she took a 4-year hiatus from acting, during which she remained largely out of the public eye to devote time to her husband and children. During this time, she turned down the role of the White Witch in The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe, which went to Tilda Swinton.

She returned to acting in 2007 with 3 films. The first was I Could Never Be Your Woman, but the film failed as it was sent to DVD in the States. She played the antagonist in Stardust, but it was a financial disappointment (although it eventually saw a profit thanks to strong DVD sales). But she also had a key role in the musical Hairspray, which broke records and earned over $200 million worldwide, becoming one of the biggest musical adaptations.

Her last film in the decade was Chéri, reuniting her with director Stephen Frears. But the film couldn't replicate the success of Dangerous Liaisons.

This decade wasn't exactly great. She appeared in less films, and while she started with her highest grossing film, she only had one more big hit (Hairspray) in the whole decade. It's weird how Pfeiffer is popular, but a lot of the projects weren't fully connecting with audiences.

2010s: Is That All There Is?

She was part of the ensemble in New Year's Eve. A panned film, but it was a modest financial success.

In 2012, she reteamed with Tim Burton on Dark Shadows, but the film was a financial disappointment. Same case for People Like Us. But at least, The Family was a small success the following year.

After taking a 4-year break, she returned with a supporting role in Darren Aronofsky's Mother!. It earned a polarizing response and flopped at the box office. But Murder on the Orient Express, where she also had a supporting role, was a big hit. It earned $352 million worldwide, becoming her highest grossing film.

In 2018, she returned to the superhero genre with Ant-Man and The Wasp, playing the role of Janet van Dyne. Pfeiffer was director Peyton Reed's dream casting for the role when he was working on the first film and he ensured that he received her input on the character. The film was a big success, earning over $600 million worldwide, becoming her highest grossing film.

She closed the decade with 2 films in 2019. The first was in Avengers: Endgame. The highest grossing film ever back then, but it's hard to pin this on Pfeiffer, as she only appears for around 15 seconds in the whole film. So it's not really placed in here. Now, she still had a big role in Maleficent: Mistress of Evil. It made almost $500 million worldwide, although the high costs meant that it wasn't successful enough.

In this decade, there were more successes here, including her three highest grossing films. But don't you feel like the roles and the films themselves… were far from the best? Like they clearly didn't know how to use her or give her something much more substantial.

2020s: No, Seriously. Is That All There Is??

Her first film was the drama French Exit. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, it didn't do much in theaters. But at least she got a Golden Globe nomination for it.

She reprised her role as Janet van Dyne in Ant-Man and The Wasp: Quantumania. But the film became the MCU's worst received entry, and was a financial disappointment. And it further showed that Pfeiffer wasn't quite getting the great treatment she deserved, as the writing really left a lot to be desired.

Her latest film was the Christmas comedy Oh. What. Fun., playing a family matriarch going through the obstacles of planning the perfect Christmas. It was sent to Amazon Prime Video, and earned unfavorable reviews.

While she is attached to some film projects, none are currently filming. She is actually moving to TV. She will star in The Madison, a Yellowstone spin-off, opposite Kurt Russell and Patrick J. Adams. It will air in March, and it's already renewed for a second season. She is also starring in the Apple TV+ miniseries, Margo's Got Money Troubles (created and written by her husband David E. Kelley), alongside Elle Fanning and Nicole Kidman.

HIGHEST GROSSING FILMS

No.	Movie	Year	Studio	Domestic Total	Overseas Total	Worldwide Total	Budget
1	And-Man and The Wasp	2018	Disney	$216,648,740	$406,025,399	$622,674,139	$130M
2	Maleficent: Mistress of Evil	2019	Disney	$113,929,605	$377,800,484	$491,730,089	$186M
3	Ant-Man and The Wasp: Quantumania	2023	Disney	$214,504,909	$261,566,271	$476,071,180	$200M
4	Murder on the Orient Express	2017	20th Century Fox	$102,826,543	$249,967,538	$352,794,081	$55M
5	What Lies Beneath	2000	DreamWorks / 20th Century Fox	$155,464,351	$135,956,000	$291,420,351	$100M
6	Batman Returns	1992	Warner Bros.	$162,924,631	$104,010,057	$266,942,358	$80M
7	Dark Shadows	2012	Warner Bros.	$79,727,149	$165,800,668	$245,527,817	$150M
8	The Prince of Egypt	1998	DreamWorks	$101,413,188	$117,200,000	$218,613,188	$60M
9	Hairspray	2007	New Line Cinema	$118,946,291	$84,681,462	$203,631,405	$75M
10	Dangerous Minds	1995	Disney	$84,919,401	$94,600,000	$179,519,401	$23M
11	New Year's Eve	2011	Warner Bros.	$54,544,638	$87,500,000	$142,044,638	$56M
12	Stardust	2007	Paramount	$38,634,938	$98,880,202	$137,515,140	$70M
13	Wolf	1994	Columbia	$65,002,597	$66,000,000	$131,002,597	$70M
14	Tequila Sunrise	1988	Warner Bros.	$41,292,551	$64,700,000	$105,992,551	$23M
15	The Witches of Eastwick	1987	Warner Bros.	$63,766,510	$39,400,000	$103,166,510	$22M
16	Up Close & Personal	1996	Disney	$51,088,705	$49,600,000	$100,688,705	$60M
17	I Am Sam	2001	New Line Cinema	$40,311,852	$57,506,287	$97,818,302	$22M
18	One Fine Day	1996	20th Century Fox	$46,151,454	$51,378,096	$97,529,550	N/A
19	Sinbad: Legend of the Seven Seas	2003	DreamWorks	$26,483,452	$54,289,625	$80,773,077	$60M
20	The Family	2013	Relativity Media	$36,918,811	$41,500,000	$78,418,811	$30M
21	The Age of Innocence	1993	Columbia	$32,255,440	$35,800,000	$68,055,440	$34M
22	Frankie and Johnny	1991	Paramount	$22,773,535	$44,200,000	$66,973,535	$29M
23	Scarface	1983	Universal	$45,967,303	$20,476,000	$66,443,303	$23.5M
24	The Story of Us	1999	Universal / Warner Bros.	$27,100,031	$31,800,000	$58,900,031	$50M
25	Mother!	2017	Paramount	$17,800,004	$26,716,995	$44,516,999	$30M
26	Dangerous Liaisons	1988	Warner Bros.	$34,670,720	$0	$34,670,720	$14M
27	The Deep End of the Ocean	1999	Sony	$13,898,649	$14,222,451	$28,121,100	$38M
28	The Russia House	1990	Metro Goldwyn-Mayer	$22,997,992	$0	$22,997,992	$21.8M
29	White Oleander	2002	Warner Bros.	$16,357,770	$5,314,514	$21,672,284	$16M
30	Married to the Mob	1988	Orion	$21,486,757	$0	$21,486,757	$10M
31	Ladyhawke	1985	Warner Bros.	$18,432,000	$0	$18,432,000	$20M
32	The Fabulous Baker Boys	1989	20th Century Fox	$18,428,904	$0	$18,428,904	$11M
33	A Midsummer Night's Dream	1999	Searchlight	$16,071,990	$0	$16,071,990	$11M
34	Grease 2	1982	Paramount	$15,171,476	$0	$15,171,476	$11M
35	Sweet Liberty	1986	Universal	$14,205,021	$0	$14,205,021	N/A
36	People Like Us	2012	Disney	$12,434,778	$124,153	$12,558,931	$16M
37	The Hollywood Knights	1980	Columbia	$10,000,000	$0	$10,000,000	$4M
38	I Could Never Be Your Woman	2007	The Weinstein Company	$0	$9,576,495	$9,576,495	$24M
39	Chéri	2009	Warner Bros.	$2,715,657	$6,652,585	$9,368,242	$23M
40	A Thousand Acres	1997	Disney	$7,936,780	$0	$7,936,780	$28M
41	Into the Night	1985	Universal	$7,562,164	$0	$7,562,164	$8M
42	To Gillian on Her 37th Birthday	1996	Triumph	$4,189,233	$0	$4,189,233	N/A
43	French Exit	2020	Sony Pictures Classics	$741,895	$814,868	$1,556,763	N/A
44	Charlie Chan and the Curse of the Dragon Queen	1981	United Artists	$1,500,000	$0	$1,500,000	N/A
45	Love Field	1992	Orion	$1,014,726	$0	$1,014,726	$18M
46	Amazon Women of the Moon	1987	Universal	$548,696	$0	$548,696	$5M
47	Where Is Kyra?	2018	Great Point	$59,717	$15,104	$74,821	$5M

She has starred in 51 released films, but only 47 have reported box office numbers. Across those 51 films, she has made $5,005,908,293 worldwide. That's $98,155,064 per film.

ADJUSTED DOMESTIC GROSSES

No.	Movie	Year	Studio	Domestic Total	Adjusted Domestic Total
1	Batman Returns	1992	Warner Bros.	$162,924,631	$373,859,190
2	What Lies Beneath	2000	DreamWorks	$155,464,351	$290,654,236
3	And-Man and The Wasp	2018	Disney	$216,648,740	$277,764,241
4	Ant-Man and The Wasp: Quantumania	2023	Disney	$214,504,909	$226,642,273
5	The Prince of Egypt	1998	DreamWorks	$101,413,188	$200,302,245
6	Hairspray	2007	New Line Cinema	$118,946,291	$184,689,670
7	The Witches of Eastwick	1987	Warner Bros.	$63,766,510	$180,714,626
8	Dangerous Minds	1995	Disney	$84,919,401	$179,391,120
9	Scarface	1983	Universal	$45,967,303	$148,582,845
10	Maleficent: Mistress of Evil	2019	Disney	$113,929,605	$143,468,940
11	Wolf	1994	Columbia	$65,002,597	$141,208,711
12	Murder on the Orient Express	2017	20th Century Fox	$102,826,543	$135,053,385
13	Tequila Sunrise	1988	Warner Bros.	$41,292,551	$112,374,029
14	Dark Shadows	2012	Warner Bros.	$79,727,149	$111,795,593
15	Up Close & Personal	1996	Disney	$51,088,705	$104,828,877
16	One Fine Day	1996	20th Century Fox	$46,151,454	$94,698,136
17	Dangerous Liaisons	1988	Warner Bros.	$34,670,720	$94,353,301
18	New Year's Eve	2011	Warner Bros.	$54,544,638	$78,066,784
19	I Am Sam	2001	New Line Cinema	$40,311,852	$73,322,703
20	The Age of Innocence	1993	Columbia	$32,255,440	$71,864,450
21	Stardust	2007	Paramount	$38,634,938	$59,989,041
22	Married to the Mob	1988	Orion	$21,486,757	$58,474,311
23	The Russia House	1990	Metro Goldwyn-Mayer	$22,997,992	$56,649,139
24	Ladyhawke	1985	Warner Bros.	$18,432,000	$55,149,194
25	Frankie and Johnny	1991	Paramount	$22,773,535	$53,830,985
26	The Story of Us	1999	Universal	$27,100,031	$52,368,939
27	The Family	2013	Relativity Media	$36,918,811	$51,021,230
28	Grease 2	1982	Paramount	$15,171,476	$50,615,031
29	The Fabulous Baker Boys	1989	20th Century Fox	$18,428,904	$47,847,230
30	Sinbad: Legend of the Seven Seas	2003	DreamWorks	$26,483,452	$46,337,836
31	Sweet Liberty	1986	Universal	$14,205,021	$41,726,341
32	The Hollywood Knights	1980	Columbia	$10,000,000	$39,070,752
33	A Midsummer Night's Dream	1999	Searchlight	$16,071,990	$31,058,011
34	White Oleander	2002	Warner Bros.	$16,357,770	$29,273,315
35	The Deep End of the Ocean	1999	Sony	$13,898,649	$26,858,179
36	Mother!	2017	Paramount	$17,800,004	$23,378,698
37	Into the Night	1985	Universal	$7,562,164	$22,626,261
38	People Like Us	2012	Disney	$12,434,778	$17,436,386
39	A Thousand Acres	1997	Disney	$7,936,780	$15,920,191
40	To Gillian on Her 37th Birthday	1996	Triumph	$4,189,233	$8,595,884
41	Charlie Chan and the Curse of the Dragon Queen	1981	United Artists	$1,500,000	$5,312,590
42	Chéri	2009	Warner Bros.	$2,715,657	$4,075,226
43	Love Field	1992	Orion	$1,014,726	$2,328,467
44	Amazon Women of the Moon	1987	Universal	$548,696	$1,555,007
45	French Exit	2020	Sony Pictures Classics	$741,895	$922,866
46	Where Is Kyra?	2018	Great Point	$59,717	$76,562

The Verdict

It's crazy to think that Pfeiffer almost lost her career when it was about to start, all due to Grease 2. After all, her co-star Maxwell Caulfield definitely lost roles and his career never really took off. Fortunately, the industry saw something in her to keep hiring her. Even though both Brian De Palma and Al Pacino refused to consider her for Scarface, producer Martin Bregman deserves credit for vouching for her.

She has had her share of hits and misses, but Pfeiffer soon emerged as a breakout star. Scarface helped, and Dangerous Liaisons and The Fabulous Baker Boys solidified it. And of course, her iconic performance as Catwoman in Batman Returns. There's been some more actresses playing that role, but are any of them as popular and beloved as Pfeiffer's?

Starting on the 21st century, she had more big roles, which led to her highest grossing films. But something notable is how it feels like very few directors know how to give her any interesting material. I mean, she absolutely kills it in What Lies Beneath (especially that bathtub scene), Hairspray, Stardust and Mother!. That can't be denied, and you can tell she is giving it all in practically all her films.

But in the rest of the films, it seems like the material does not do justice to her talent. I Am Sam gives her very saccharine and overly sentimental shit, Sinbad has a huge identity crisis, and a lot of the comedies also waste her. On paper, Janet van Dyne should be a great character… so why is it that it doesn't rank among her most iconic characters or performances? Because it doesn't look like Marvel knows what do with her. Quantumania was an absolute travesty.

You'll notice that she takes a lot of years off, compared to other stars. Pfeiffer stated that her lack of acting throughout the 2000s was due to several reasons, including family matters and her approach to choosing roles. She stated she was intending to "work a lot" once her children left for college, mentioning that she felt her best performance was "still in her", saying how that's what she felt kept her going.

So all things considered, she has had a great career and now it's taking whatever she considers fun. Nothing wrong with that. But with the right material and a great director, Pfeiffer will eventually get another Oscar nomination and maybe even winning. A lot of films have weak writing, but she still gives it all.

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

The next actor will be Diane Keaton. A Queen no longer with us.

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… Lauren Bacall. An important figure of the Golden Age.

This is the schedule for the following four:

Week	Actor	Reasoning
January 31	Diane Keaton	"Constantly. I'd say three times a week."
February 7	Ethan Hawke	I know.
February 14	Halle Berry	So what's up with her latest projects?
February 21	Lauren Bacall	Where does she stand opposite the giants?

Who should be next after Bacall? That's up to you. And there's a theme.

A movie star doesn't neccessarily begin at the movies. They can come from anywhere, and there's a specific area we're addressing here. So the theme is singers turned actors. It can be a singer that occassionally acts, or a singer that acts as much as that person sings. But they must be known because of their musical career. Who should it be?

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. But if you leave a short comment about the post without naming a future write-up, that's fine.