Fed up with the Hollywood grandstanding that came hand-in-hand with the 88th Academy Awards? Well, you’re in luck. 24 hours before Leonardo DiCaprio picked up his first Oscar and Spotlight stopped The Revenant from completely dominating the ceremony, the Razzies were held, and the annual event celebrated the worst that Hollywood has produced in the last 12 months. Unsurprisingly, considering the critical responses, Fantastic Four and Fifty Shades Of Grey led the way. In fact, Razzie organizers were so torn over which to "reward" with Worst Picture of 2016 that they just gave it to both.
Fantastic Four and Fifty Shades Of Grey currently hold scores of 9% and 25% on the movie rating website Rotten Tomatoes, respectively, which underscores just how poorly they were received by critics upon their release. But while Fantastic Four’s box office of $168 million worldwide immediately saw it labelled a flop, Fifty Shades Of Grey’s haul of $571 million means that not just one, but two sequels have been given the green light.
Fifty Shades of Grey's financial triumph didn’t stop director Sam Taylor-Johnson’s adaptation of E.L. James’ erotic novel from dominating the 2016 Razzie Awards though. Kelly Marcel clamed Worst Screenplay for the picture, while its leading actors, Jamie Dornan and Dakota Johnson, were each singled out for praise at the Razzies as they picked up the Worst Actor and Worst Actress accolades.
The ceremony didn’t just decide to celebrate the pair’s awfulness individually though, as the Razzies also honored their combined ghastliness by awarding them the Worst Screen Combo, a prize that they beat All Four Fantastics from Fantastic Four, Johnny Depp and His Glued-On Moustache from Mortdecai, Kevin James and EITHER His Segue Or HIS Glued-On Moustache from Paul Blart: Mall Cop 2, and Adam Sandler and Any Pair Of Shoes from The Cobbler, to win.
Fantastic Four also took home more than one prize too. Josh Trank’s failed reboot claimed Worst Remake/Rip-Off/Sequel, while the director himself picked up the Worst Director gong. Which, considering that he savagely bad-mouthed Fantastic Four on the eve of its release on Twitter, was pretty warranted.
In fact, Fantastic Four and Fifty Shades Of Grey claimed every prize except for two at the Razzies, with the Worst Supporting Actress and Actor awards going to Kaley Cuoco-Sweeting for both Alvin & The Chipmunks: Road Chip and The Wedding Ringer and Eddie Redmayne for Jupiter Ascending, respectively. Obviously, Eddie Redmayne was a little too busy preparing for his second consecutive Oscar nomination for Best Actor to claim his prize, but the fact that he was in contention for both is proof of just how beautifully fickle the business of show can be.
