Burt Reynolds Almost Died Making His Only Fantasy Movie
Burt Reynolds was once the biggest movie star on the planet.
For five years straight, he topped Hollywood's box office rankings. And yet, according to Reynolds himself, Deliverance was the first film he made that wasn't total garbage — and that came 11 years into his career.
Even during his ‘80s peak, Reynolds admitted he torched his own momentum. In his words, 1983's Stroker Ace marked the exact point his career went off a cliff — made even worse by the fact he passed on Terms of Endearment (and the Oscar-winning role Jack Nicholson took) to make it.
From there, his filmography spiraled into a mix of direct-to-video clutter, sequels nobody wanted, and one big Oscar comeback (Boogie Nights). But somehow, through all the genres he tried, he never touched fantasy — until 2007, when he finally caved. And nearly died doing it.
The movie? In the Name of the King: A Dungeon Siege Tale. Directed by Uwe Boll, the man widely considered one of the worst filmmakers in cinema history. A movie so bad that even Reynolds — who once made a film called Cop and a Half — almost didn't live to regret it.
Box Office & Budget Breakdown:
- Budget: $60 million
- Worldwide gross: $13.1 million
- Rotten Tomatoes score: 4%
- Razzie Nominations: 5
- Critical consensus: Unwatchable
The film also starred Jason Statham, Ray Liotta, and Ron Perlman, who were presumably paid in regret and hazard pay. According to Boll, the shoot was so chaotic and poorly planned that Reynolds collapsed from heat exhaustion while wearing heavy metal-and-leather armor on a raised platform.
"We did everything we could to get water to them," Boll told Emmanuel Levy. "Sometimes you would see them lying on the ground and think they were resting, but they had actually passed out. He was wearing metal and leather armor, and he fell from a platform. Luckily, the stunt guys caught him."
That's right: Burt Reynolds nearly fell to his death shooting a fantasy epic directed by the guy who made House of the Dead. Not exactly the legacy anyone was hoping for.
This was Reynolds' first and last fantasy film, and for good reason. Even in a career filled with bombs, this one stood out — not just for how bad it was, but because it nearly killed him. And if you've seen In the Name of the King, you'll understand why the near-death experience wasn't even the worst part.