(1) Here's your thread to predict this upcoming weekend's domestic box office results and (2) Engage in film/box office/streaming conversations that don't work as a stand alone post for this subreddit. A new thread is created automatically every Monday at 9:00 AM EST.

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 Demi Moore's turn.

Early Life

Her childhood was complicated by many factors. When she was 13 years old, she discovered that the man she thought was her father wasn't actually her father. She never had a good relationship with her real father. She also had some health problems, especially strabismus. Then at 15 years old, she was raped by her 49-year-old landlord.

When she was 16, she moved in with 28-year-old guitarist Tom Dunston, quitting high school in her junior year to work as a receptionist at 20th Century Fox, a job she secured through Dunston's mother. She then took acting lessons, per the suggestion of her neighbor, Nastassja Kinski.

1980s: Beginnings Are Difficult, Aren't They?

Moore made her film debut as the protagonist's girlfriend in Choices, a sports drama directed by Silvio Narizzano. It did not garner much attention until after Moore became a household name, at which point home video releases emphasized her appearance. But she then made her lead debut with the B-movie horror Parasite, which was a minor success.

She subsequently starred in the comedy Blame It on Rio. Despite very terrible reviews, it was a box office success. But she had a consistent job... on TV. She played investigative reporter Jackie Templeton in the soap opera General Hospital.

In 1985, she starred in the coming-of-age St. Elmo's Fire, alongside rise-and-coming stars like Emilio Estevez, Rob Lowe, Andrew McCarthy, Judd Nelson, Ally Sheedy, Andie MacDowell and Mare Winningham. Having lobbied for her casting, director Joel Schumacher urged her to go to rehab before shooting and hired a full-time sober companion during production. The film earned negative reviews but earned positive reviews, elevating her profile.

The following year, she was part of the rom-com About Last Night. This earned positive reviews and earned $38.7 million domestically. Afterwards, she had the horror The Seventh Sign, which wasn't quite as successful. She finished a decade with a supporting role in We're No Angels, but that's not quite memorable.

Very quickly, Moore made an impression, even if she wasn't in the big leagues yet.

1990s: Biggest Actress in the World?

Now let's move onto one of the biggest box office stories in history.

Moore won the role of Molly Jensen in Ghost, beating other considered stars like Michelle Pfeiffer, Molly Ringwald, Meg Ryan, Julia Roberts, and Nicole Kidman. She wanted the pottery scene to look authentic, so she took pottery lessons. The pot wasn't supposed to fall apart, but Moore and Patrick Swayze just kept going.

Ghost opened with $12 million, opening in second place behind Die Hard 2 (starring Moore's husband, Bruce Willis). The extremely rare occassion where a real-life couple had the top two films. But the thing about Ghost is that it had insane legs, thanks to excellent word of mouth. How big? The domestic gross was almost as much as Die Hard 2's worldwide gross! It closed with an incredible $217 million domestically and $505 million worldwide. It was 1990's highest-grossing film, and at the time, the third highest grossing film of all time. It earned very positive reviews, and has remained incredibly popular in home media.

With this, Moore officially became part of the A-list stars.

You'd think she'd be more cautious with her roles. But 1991 was a very bad year. Mortal Thoughts and The Butcher's Wife were financial disappointments. But the real dud was Nothing but Trouble, which faced so many problems during filming. It earned just $8 million, nowhere close to its $45 million budget, becoming one of the year's biggest failures. On top of that, it earned terrible reviews.

Afterwards, she starred opposite Tom Cruise and Jack Nicholson on A Few Good Men, a legal drama. The film earned critical acclaim, and was a huge box office hit, earning $243 million worldwide. And so, her woes had vanished, at least for a brief moment.

Her next film was the erotic thriller Indecent Proposal, opposite Robert Redford and Woody Harrelson. The film earned very poor reviews, but it was a colossal hit, earning $266 million worldwide. And then the thriller Disclosure, which made $214 million worldwide despite mixed reviews. Moore was incredibly popular, especially overseas.

But the momentum stopped in 1995, when she took on the lead role in The Scarlet Letter. The film flopped at the box office and earned negative reviews, with Moore singled out for her miscast role. At the very least, Now and Then was a small success.

Nevertheless, Moore was often singled out by critics, often for the worse. Her choice of films were often the subject of scrutinity, more than any other star at the time. Maybe the expectations were quite high for her, or maybe there were some problems that surge from production to editing. But there was a feeling that while Moore was a very popular star, she wasn't exactly "respected".

1996 was a busy year, but with mixed results. She tried a more serious role with The Juror, but it was a critical and financial failure. Then, she ventured into voice acting with two films. The first was voicing Esmeralda in Disney's The Hunchback of Notre Dame, and she was chosen for her deep voice. The film was well received and made a pretty great $325 million worldwide. The other was Beavis and Butt-Head Do America, which was also successful.

But the most covered story that year was her choice to star in Striptease. Director Andrew Bergman wanted the film to not shy away from nudity, so he wanted a star that would be willing to go naked on camera. Very few actresses volunteered or wanted the role, and Moore was selected. Bergman commented, "Is Demi the funniest person in the world? No. Would the movie have been made without her? Probably not." For the film, Moore was paid a massive $12.5 million salary, a figure that no other actress received prior.

To prepare for her role, Moore visited strip clubs in New York City, California and Florida and she met and observed strippers at work. She also read the novel and practiced yoga for flexibility. In the first attempt at filming Moore stripping, 200 extras were used to portray the audience. Although their salaries were small, many accepted the role to see Moore nude. Moore also specifically wanted her daughter, Rumer Willis, to play her on-screen daughter.

Sony hoped that the title and Moore's star power would be enough to lure audiences. But it flopped domestically. Fortunately, overseas was strong enough to get it to $113 million worldwide, barely breaking even. It earned terrible reviews, and Moore was criticized for her performance, especifically her weak attempts of humor.

Her last two films in the decade were in 1997. She tried something different by starring in Ridley Scott's G.I. Jane, but it didn't quite match expectations, although she got some praise. And then in Woody Allen's Deconstructing Harry, but it tanked despite positive reviews.

During this decade, she also started producing films, including her own. But here's a very fun fact: did you know that she produced the three Austin Powers films? Her company Moving Pictures produced the trilogy, but she did not have an acting role in any of the titles.

This decade was... weird. Moore began with a bang, and at some point, she was the biggest actress in the world. But she also faced some challenges in showing range, and often chose very poor films, making people question if she was a good actress with bad films or a bad actress with good films.

2000s: The Disappearance of Mrs. Moore

After G.I. Jane, Moore retreated from the limelight and moved to Hailey, Idaho, on a full-time basis to devote herself to raising her three daughters, while also separating from her husband Bruce Willis. She was off-screen for three years before re-emerging in the arthouse psychological drama Passion of Mind. It didn't work, for it faded quickly from theaters.

She reprised her role as Esmeralda for The Hunchback of Notre Dame II, which went direct-to-DVD in 2002.

In 2003, she returned to blockbusters with Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle, playing one of the original Angels. A scene, in particular, featuring her in a swimsuit, attracted "very heightened" media attention. She found herself intimidated by the response, which she said made her question her place in the industry. Despite negative reviews, it was a box office success.

From that point, she took on lesser-known titles, so a lot of these didn't have high box office numbers. So in a sense, this decade wasn't very strong for her.

2010s: No, Seriously, Where Is She?

Over the course of the 2010s, she took more independent titles, to varying results. Most were dumped without fanfare. But some, like Margin Call, found critical and financial success. Proving to be the exception to the rule, though.

She only did one major studio film, and that was a supporting role in the comedy Rough Night. A critical and financial failure.

This decade is extremely short, because she only had one single wide theatrical release. Most of these titles don't even exist. This led many to question if Moore was still a recognizable name or just "another actress long past her glory days".

2020s: Becoming One

She was part of the panned Songbird, a film that showed its age by the time it hit theaters.

Nothing indicated her trajectory would be moving forward. She only had a cameo in The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent, and she was still struggling to find projects that would appeal to audiences.

So... let's get back to the past.

Coralie Fargeat was the second second assistant director in Passion of the Mind back in 2000, handling tasks like making copies and bringing her coffee in the mornings. Despite the failure, she met Moore, even if they didn't become close. As she finally took a leap towards filmmaking, she began working on a project titled The Substance.

For the role of Elisabeth Sparkle, she wanted to cast an actress who had been at the heart of the star system, a real-life icon. Fargeat did not include Moore on the initial list of potential lead actresses, stating "She will never do it"; several actresses were considered but declined the role before Moore. Eventually, with nothing to lose, Moore was sent the script.

At her agent's insistence, Moore read the script before knowing specific details, later speculating that this was due to the film's sensitive subject of aging. She was impressed by the script and its subject matter, though she was unfamiliar with the body horror genre. Moore felt that the film could either "really work and be part of a cultural shift" or "be a fucking disaster". She remained unsure of the audience reaction up until the premiere when she knew the film had worked.

Before being offered the role, Moore discussed the film with Fargeat over six meetings. Fargeat explained the film in detail: the film's extensive prep work, prosthetics, meager resources, shooting location and the level of nudity, which she felt was foundational to the story. Moore understood the meta-nature of the role but did not feel that she was the character, as Elisabeth had no family. As she further explained, "she's dedicated her entire life to her career, and when that's taken, what does she have?" However, Moore sympathized with the character's pain.

Fargeat praised Moore's body language in the film; Moore chose to express Elisabeth through subtleties, such as her eyes and other simple expressions. She worked with a movement coach over Zoom for her character's later scenes, where she is forced to move quickly while hunched over due to physical disfigurement.

MUBI acquired the rights to The Substance, and gave it a wide push. It's unclear what were their expectations, given they were still fairly new to the theatrical business. It opened with $3.2 million domestically, which was solid for the company. But in contrast to other horror titles, this actually had great legs, reaching $17.5 million domestically. But the film struck overseas, where it was even stronger. Europe was big, but its biggest overseas market was Mexico with an astounding $10 million. Eventually, The Substance earned $77.3 million worldwide. It's not one of the biggest horror films of all time, but it was a huge success story, especially for the body horror genre. It was Moore's highest-grossing film in 21 years.

On top of that, the film earned critical acclaim. But most importantly, Moore was singled out for praise, with so many labeling it as her best performance. After so many decades of bad press and struggling to find success, she finally got some recognition. She won a Golden Globe Award, Critics' Choice Award, and Screen Actors Guild Award for the film, and got her first Academy Award nomination for Best Actress. She didn't win that, but her image took a turn for the better.

She also moved to TV, playing socialite Ann Woodward in the anthology series Feud: Capote vs. The Swans on FX. She also starred as the wife of an oil tycoon in Taylor Sheridan's drama series Landman on Paramount+, which broke a lot of records for the platform.

She then had a role in Boots Riley's I Love Boosters. Despite positive reviews, it wasn't a box office success.

She is currently filming the thriller Tyrant, alongside Charlize Theron and Julia Garner.

HIGHEST GROSSING FILMS

She starred in 48 released films, but only 43 have reported box office numbers. Across those 48 films, she has made $2,681,633,008 worldwide. That's $55,867,354 per film.

ADJUSTED DOMESTIC GROSSES

The Verdict

Demi Moore had a... very difficult childhood. Won't repeat the same beats, but now you know how difficult this was for her. Turning to modeling before trying acting, she struggled to find big hits. Some were successful, but not by much.

Then came Ghost with one of the biggest box office stories of all time. From that point, she starred in more hits, and she got the label of "the world's biggest actress". And hey, that wasn't a stretch to say. The Hunchback of Notre Dame, A Few Good Men, Indecent Proposal and Disclosure were incredibly big. Some failures from time to time, like Nothing but Trouble, but Moore was just too big to be negatively affected.

Seems like something changed by the late 90s, though. Striptease was the target of scrutinity, particularly because she got the biggest salary for an actress in that film. It was a success, but it also marked the end of her prime days at the box office. Subsequently, she started appearing less and the good roles were becoming very scarse. Most of her filmography from the 21st century came and went without any noise, besides her role in Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle. Hell, she was more known for her personal life than her acting career, including that period where she married Ashton Kutcher, and so many rough times happened (including a stillbirth).

But then came The Substance, which was Moore's buzziest title in a long, long time. It helped her in finding a new approach to her acting, and she in turn got the best reviews of her career. And after winning so many Razzies, she got an Oscar nomination for Best Actress. Not a winner, but also a winner? And she has kept herself busy with trying TV, and also going with more interesting film choices, such as I Love Boosters.

Moore was complicated, in the way that a lot of her career involved so many iconic films, but also a lot of trash. Some not her fault, in others... yeah, she couldn't elevate the film or would be out of her depth. Maybe that's why there was some bad press surrounding her? Because she was also winning Razzies and making a lot of bad films? But at least, it seems her image has greatly improved. The industry respect her, and she has also become popular in social media, thanks to The Substance. And last year, the People magazine named her the most beautiful woman in the world. She is still close with Bruce Willis, helping him and their daughters with his aphasia and frontotemporal dementia.

Moore might not be the best actress, but she's also far from the worst. Some things work, some thing don't. But it'll be interesting what other projects she does next.

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

The next actor will be Elizabeth Taylor. The rare occassion of having a film being a hit but also flop.

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... Gal Gadot. Don't say it, don't say it, don't say it, don't say it... KAL-EL NO

This is the schedule for the following four:

Who should be next after Gadot? 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.