14 DAY TRIAL // Katherine Heigl is no longer the hottest commodity on the rom-com block. In less than 18 months, she's slipped so low on the scale of bankability in the industry that she's no longer even the last choice on many a movie studio's list, two separate reports note.
The former “Grey's Anatomy” star has a new movie out now, “One for the Money,” based on the incredibly popular novels by Janet Evanovich.
In its opening weekend, despite massive promotion and the success of the books, the film grossed a mere $12.6 million (€9.5), a mere fraction of the kind of ticket sales Heigl could generate less than 2 years ago.
Both MovieFone and Vulture believe that her career is officially in deep water and that there's no way she could get back up again unless she takes a break for a while – and comes back in indie film or network television, with a project that's worthy of fans' time.
Heigl's case, both publications note after speaking to talent agents and industry people, is a clear example of what happens when your mouth gets ahead of your career.
The once very popular actress made the mistake of speaking her mind one too many times, and she ended up insulting the people she was working with and her fans. This inevitably translated into a decreased appeal.
Afterwards, it was just hard to sell her as the relatable, gorgeous and very likeable woman she played in every movie since before “Killers,” which was another bomb and drove the final nail in her career.
“Look at the TV spots: You notice that they’re not calling her out? There’s no 'Katie Heigl stars in…' They’re going out of their way to not mention her,” one talent agent tells Vulture, saying Heigl's own people might have picked up on the reaction she has on audiences these days.
“They’re hiding her; they might as well black her face out. Because when you don’t call out a movie star like that? They know there’s an issue. She did something to turn everyone off. Whether it’s behavior or perception, but she did something,” the same source says.
“They [her agents at Paradigm] really tried to maximize her quote, but they out-priced her. Then she followed that price up with bad bombs and bad attitude. She doesn’t have the value she used to have, and people think she’s incredibly difficult to deal with,” another PR insider notes.
The solution for Heigl to get back up in the saddle would be to just go away for a while. If she keeps on making movies that show she has no respect for the craft and her fans, she will lose whatever interest she still commands, analysis predict.
She will then be at a point of no return. For the time being, though, not all is lost.
See a more in-depth analysis of Katherine Heigl's flops and fading career here and here.