Once a Hollywood heavyweight, John Travolta is now watching his once-glittering career spiral further into irrelevance — with his latest movie barely managing to earn more than the price of a streaming subscription.
His new film High Rollers, which hit a mere three theaters in the UK, has so far scraped together just $171. The action flick — centered around a master thief forced into a high-stakes heist after his wife is kidnapped — was met with yawns from both critics and audiences.
For Travolta, it’s just the latest in a long line of cinematic disasters.
The 70-year-old actor, who once commanded $20 million a film and became a global sensation after Grease and Saturday Night Fever, has in recent years turned to low-budget thrillers with minimal fanfare. His career nosedive seems to have accelerated through repeated collaborations with controversial producer Randall Emmett.
Emmett, known for churning out “geezer teaser” films — cheap action movies that feature aging stars for just a few minutes to attract investors — has been the driving force behind several of Travolta’s latest flops, including Mob Land and Speed Kills.
Speed Kills famously earned a 0% rating on Rotten Tomatoes, and High Rollers is being panned as “a heart-slowing work of staggering stupidity.” One critic wrote the film had “production values that belong in a karaoke lounge, not a cinema.”
Travolta’s name, once a box-office draw, now seems more like a cautionary tale.
His association with Emmett may not be helping either. The filmmaker has denied a slew of misconduct allegations, but his reputation for cheaply made movies and legal woes has only added fuel to the fire surrounding Travolta’s fall.
Behind the scenes, Travolta has endured a string of personal tragedies. The death of his son Jett in 2009 and wife Kelly Preston in 2020 reportedly took a massive emotional toll.
A Disney executive reportedly said, “If Travolta had stopped after his Pulp Fiction comeback, he’d be remembered as one of the greats. But now it just feels like he doesn’t know when to exit the stage.”
His public image hasn’t helped either. Travolta’s deep ties to the Church of Scientology — and the cloud of controversy that often follows it — have alienated parts of his fanbase and kept his name in tabloid headlines more often than red carpet premieres.
In the ’90s, Travolta pulled off one of the most impressive comebacks in film history. Now, it’s unclear whether he’s stuck in a slump — or quietly exiting the industry through the back door.
At the very least, it appears Hollywood may have already moved on.
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