In 2001, Harrison Ford thought audiences were sick of him. He was right, his next movie lost over $100 million

Harrison Ford expected audiences to be less interested in seeing him play a character role in *K-19: The Widowmaker* than reprise the leading-man roles that made him famous. The submarine thriller, directed by Kathryn Bigelow, flopped despite Ford’s star power, illustrating how difficult it can be for an established actor to draw audiences outside their familiar screen persona.

Ford filmed the 2002 historical drama in 2001 and made his first executive-producing credit on it. It was the first film directed by a woman to have a production budget of $100 million, and generous estimates put its losses at around $100 million. Ford had described the audience as less interested in seeing him in that kind of role.