The television version lasted just one season before being unceremoniously axed by NBC. Lucas was eventually given his own TV show however, where he starred in an episodic version of John Grisham’s The Firm, which had been adapted into a mega-successful Tom Cruise film in 1993. Edgar (another outright flop), the Nicolas Cage film Stolen (yes, Lucas was in two movies called Stolen), and the critically reviled drama film Big Sur, a film that grossed a staggering 35 thousand dollars. He starred in several indie productions, including the non-Nicolas Cage film Stolen, the minor hit and Matthew McConaughey vehicle The Lincoln Lawyer, Clint Eastwood’s Oscar bait biopic J. High-profile work for Josh Lucas disappeared almost immediately after Poseidon flopped. Wolfgang Peterson hasn’t directed a film since. Though Poseidon was praised for its use of special effects (it was also nominated for an Oscar in this category), the film was an enormous flop, grossing just 60 million dollars domestically. The high-profile release also starred Kurt Russell and Richard Dreyfuss (who I’m sure all the kids were clamoring for) and featured cameos from awful people like Fergie. Directed by Wolfgang Petersen, who had delivered on entertaining summer fare in the past with works like Air Force One and The Perfect Storm, Poseidon was a 160 million dollar would-be blockbuster released in May of 2006. It was Lucas’ next role, in the mega-budgeted The Poseidon Adventure remake simply titled Poseidon, which sank his career for good. Poseidon marked Lucas’ third high profile disaster in just three years, essentially killing his career as a leading man. Additionally, compared to other films in this sports movie subgenre such as Remember the Titans or even We Are Marshall, Glory Road is an almost completely forgotten movie. Glory Road was released direct-to-video in many markets, however, because its subject matter (college basketball) was not deemed commercial enough for foreign theatrical release. The film drew mediocre reviews and was controversial for its portrayal of legendary basketball coach Adolph Rupp but did solid box office, grossing just over 40 million dollars. Subsequent film projects for Lucas included Glory Road – the umpteenth white person/black person race-relations feel good sports dramedy. The late-summer release bombed in theaters however, becoming one of the biggest box office busts of all time at that point in history (it has since been easily surpassed by the likes of John Carter, Battleship, and The Lone Ranger). With Foxx hot off of his Oscar win for Ray and Cohen coming off both the Fast and the Furious and the xXx film franchises, Stealth was expected to do gangbusters at the box office. Just two short years after Hulk, Lucas was headlining a movie once again, this time in Rob Cohen’s even more disastrous Stealth, which co-starred Jessica Biel and Jamie Foxx. 2005’s Stealth was another huge misfire, becoming one of the biggest box office flops in history to that time.
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