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McConaughey has become notorious for public speaking as he is very passionate about important topics, as well as being a very highly skilled speaker. Here, McConaughey addresses gun law legislation following a school shooting in his home town of Uvalde, Texas. McConaughey was widely praised for his touching and passionate speech. McConaughey's increasing involvement in politics has led him to become more than an a movie star, an activist fighting for what he and many of his home town believe to be justice.  With the source being so official, being directly from The White House McConaughey's image is presented as highly-professional.

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Matthew McConaughey STUNS with most PASSIONATE Speech of the Year

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V-necks and Rom-Coms, a thing of the past

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V-necks and Rom-Coms, a thing of the past

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McConaughey has been one of the most successful cases of breaking free of prolonged typecasting. Once an actor so closely associated with a single genre, now a face of diverse skills whether it be on-screen or off-screen.

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McConaughey as Micky Pearson in The Gentlemen (2019)

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McConaughey as Moondog in The Beach Bum (2019)

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McConaughey as Buster Moon in animated musical Sing (2016)

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McConaughey as Killer Joe Cooper in Killer Joe (2011)

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McConaughey as Dallas in Magic Mike (2012)

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McConaughey's character Cooper in sci-fi epic Interstellar (2014)

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A sign of McConaughey's dedication to his work, the way in which he is able to embody such a wide variety of characters, this is achieved through preparation for the role.

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Extract from Meyer's 'Can you handle my truth?' (2009, p.g. 895)

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McConaughey's authenticity overshadows old Rom-Com persona

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McConaughey's authenticity overshadows old Rom-Com persona

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By showing an active interest in the sports and academic scene of his hometown in recent years, McConaughey has cemented himself as an authentic celebrity in the eyes of many, resonating with the public by remaining true to his roots and wanting to help and develop out his Texan community where possible.

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McConaughey had a few roles during the Rom-Com era which showed us a sneak-peak of the versatility which he would become so adversed at in his profession. A side-part role in Ben Stiller's Tropic Thunder as movie-star agent Josh Peck highlighted the actors ability to project sincere, and ever charismatic emotions.

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Dreamworks

Director: Ben Stiller

Year Released: 2008

Studio: Warner Bros.

Cast: Ben Stiller, Jack Black, Robert Downey Jr., Tom Cruise, Matthew McConaughey

Get This Movie
McConaughey stepped in at the last minute to replace Owen Wilson in the role of pampered star Ben Stiller's obsequious agent, Rick Peck. It's easy to see how the role would have suited McConaughey's fellow Texan, but he makes the part his own, bringing to it the manic energy tighter than his own kinky perm.

He's a BS artist who has long since succumbed to his own sales pitch, to the point where anything less than getting his client the TiVo package to which he's contractually entitled as a perk will cause him to lose face professionally. He reacts with something less than moral horror when studio chief Tom Cruise offers him a fat bribe to let his client die in the jungle as a write-off, but the TiVo matter sets him off and sends him to the wilds of Southeast Asia to make sure that, even in the remote wilderness, Stiller still has the DVR the studio promised him. Absurd, yes, but McConaughey is clearly on the same wavelength as Stiller, Cruise, and the rest of the cast, all of them mercilessly sending up the protective-bubble mentality that (viewers imagine) characterizes Hollywood bigwigs like themselves.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KA2ziAAXoqE]

Next The Lincoln Lawyer

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Tropic Thunder | Magic Matt: 10 Best Movie Perfomances by Matthew McConaughey | TIME.com

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Director: Ben Stiller Year Released: 2008 Studio: Warner Bros. Cast: Ben Stiller, Jack Black, Robert Downey Jr., Tom Cruise, Matthew McConaughey Get This Movie McConaughey stepped in at the last minute to replace Owen Wilson in the role of pampered star Ben Stiller's obsequious agent, Rick Peck.

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McConaughey delivered an online (due to COVID-19) speech to the 2021 graduates of Austin's Moody College of Communication. Becoming a bid advocate for academic learning, the speech is highly motivational, with a focus on another theme he advocates, dedication.

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Matthew McConaughey's Message to Class of 2021

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In 2019, McConaughey joined the faculty team of Austin's Moody College of Communication, at the University of Texas. The actor covered a number of his films, with a focus on the movie-making process.

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Perhaps the next era of the McConaissance will be in education.

McConaughey will return to his alma mater, the University of Texas, to serve as a professor of practice at Austin's Moody College of Communication this fall. McConaughey, who graduated from the university with a film degree in 1993, has been a visiting instructor since 2015, co-teaching a Script to Screen course with faculty member Scott Rice.

The teaching duo delves into the movie-making process of one or two of the actor's films per semester, often bringing in the movies' directors to guest speak. The upcoming course will look at the McConaughey films "The Gentleman" and "Mud," with the director of the latter, Jeff Nichols, scheduled to visit.

In recognition of his professional pedigree and personal investment in student success, Matthew McConaughey has been appointed a #TEXASMoody professor of practice. @McConaughey will continue to teach the #UTScriptoScreen class in @UTRTF. pic.twitter.com/9goKkc6U0A

- TEXAS Moody (@UTexasMoody) August 28, 2019

"It's the class I wish I would have had when I was in film school. Working in the classroom with these students gives me a chance to prepare them," McConaughey said in a statement. "Making movies, turning words on paper into film, is both a science and art - no matter the time or generation. The elements of truth and genuine joy for the process are timeless. That will always be our classroom focus."

UT has been propping up their McConaissance scholar, beginning by crowning him Minister of Culture earlier this year. In the new role, McConaughey, a UT sports super-fan, will preside court-side over the university's swanky new basketball stadium.

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Matthew McConaughey Is Now a Communications Professor

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Perhaps the next era of the McConaissance will be in education. McConaughey will return to his alma mater, the University of Texas, to serve as a professor of practice at Austin's Moody College of Communication this fall.

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McConaughey becomes minority owner for Austin FC

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McConaughey becomes minority owner for Austin FC

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Diversifying his star image even more, McConaughey joined the ownership group in 2019, wanting a hands-on roll where he can be actively involved. Along with movie mega-star status, McConaughey has become a big advocate and mascot for the sports scene in Austin.

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Of MLS, McConaughey says 'Austin finally has a team that allows us to root for our city'

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Matthew McConaughey is the unofficial mascot for a new generation of Austinites watching the city transform away from the music oasis that crowned Willie Nelson as its leading man decades ago. The skyline expanded. The traffic worsened. And a city known for University of Texas athletics finally graduated to a professional sports town with the addition of Austin FC.

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In recent years McConaughey has become much more than just an actor, owning stakes in several businesses. One notable business being Workrise, an Austin based company specialised in matching skilled workers with employers in the energy industry. Before a re-branding and laying off an unclosed number of staff in 2021, the company was valued at $2.9 billion.

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Matthew McConaughey is far more than an Oscar-winning actor. He's the "Minister of Culture" for the University of Texas. He's a professor at UT and a best-selling author. And he's co-owner of Austin FC, the Major League Soccer team.

But did you know the Austin celebrity also invests in startups?

McConaughey owns a stake in several businesses, and it turns out one of them is based in Austin. In an email interview with Fast Company magazine, McConaughey revealed he's an investor in Workrise, an Austin company whose workforce management platform matches skilled workers with employers in the energy industry.

As an investor, McConaughey says he looks for companies "that have a purpose to uplift, empower, construct, redefine, and bring a new or renewed health to individuals, communities, and systems."

Formerly known as RigUp, Workrise rebranded in early 2021. Since its founding eight years ago, the company has raised $752.5 million from major investors such as 137 Ventures, Andreessen Horowitz, Baillie Gifford, Bedrock Capital, Brookfield Growth Partners, Founders Fund, Franklin Templeton, and Moore Strategic Ventures.

"We founded RigUp in 2014 on the premise that technology could be used to more efficiently and effectively source skilled labor across the oil and gas industry. In the years that ensued, we found that our approach could be taken further; we could help address a much larger socioeconomic shift across the infrastructure industry," co-founder and CEO Xuan Yong said last year.

"Today, Workrise reflects our aim to bridge the skilled labor gap across industries, to leverage technology and data to empower skilled workers - and, in turn, the economy at large - so the U.S. can prepare for an infrastructure renaissance," he added.

A little over a year after its rebranding, Workrise laid off an undisclosed number of employees and streamlined its business offerings. Before the layoffs, the company was valued at $2.9 billion.

"Filling the skilled labor gap will be essential to our continued economic growth and recovery, and Workrise is at the forefront of that effort," Allen Narcisse, chief operating officer at Workrise, said last year. "Workrise has already proven that traditional ways of staffing large projects are ripe for disruption."

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This article originally ran on CultureMap.

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In his role as investor, Matthew McConaughey backs Texas startup

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Matthew McConaughey is far more than an Oscar-winning actor. He's the "Minister of Culture" for the University of Texas. He's a professor at UT and a best-selling author. And he's co-owner of Austin FC, the Major League Soccer team. But did you know the Austin celebrity also invests in startups?

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Oscar acceptance speech - cementing a new star image of dedication 

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Oscar acceptance speech - cementing a new star image of dedication 

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McConaughey gives his acceptance speech after winning the Oscar for actor in a leading role. The speech is heavily based around his private life, offering thanks as well as an insight to his relationship with  God, his father, mother and brothers. McConaughey speaks of his dedication and perseverance, citing that the person he is chasing is the future version of himself. An ever unattainable goal, which aligns with and cements the new and seemingly more reflective of his real self, star image. With McConaughey's performance recognised by an official establishment such as the Academy Awards, the actors talented performance is difficult to be discredited by the public

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Matthew McConaughey winning Best Actor | 86th Oscars (2014)

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Extract from Tolson's being yourself': The pursuit of authentic celebrity (2001, page 445)

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Here, Tolson writes of how celebrities possess a 'real self', and how individuals/audiences are interested in seeing the 'real self' versions of celebrities when they have the opportunity.

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McConaughey's authenticity is again reinforced by an interaction with Alison during the 2014 interview, as the interviewer knocks over a bottle of water, McConaughey offers to clean up the spillage, gaining credit from Alison for being a true 'gentleman'. An unofficial source, yet insightful anecdote.

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Deep in the heart of Texas the stars are famously big and bright, but celestial watchers may have noticed them dimming recently.

Fear of competition with Matthew McConaughey, perhaps. The actor, father, and son of Texas is "having a moment" the way Archie Gemmill had a moment against the Netherlands in the 1978 World Cup.

Having juked his way past a reputation as a bare-chested stud muffin in romantic comedies, McConaughey has had a run of box office and critical hits. Now in possession of both a Golden Globe and a Screen Actors Guild award for his latest film, Dallas Buyers Club, the 44-year-old is in contention for the best actor Oscar on March 2. It is one of the toughest fields in years, with Christian Bale (American Hustle), Leonardo DiCaprio (The Wolf Of Wall Street), Chiwetel Ejiofor (12 Years A Slave) and Bruce Dern (Nebraska) also in the running, but who would bet the oil rights against McConaughey?

Our meeting in London starts in true Gemmill fashion with a spectacular kick. When I enter the room there's the usual dance over who wants to sit where, and in the process I hoof a bottle of water that's on the floor. "That's all right," says McConaughey in his molasses drawl, "we'll get a cloth." Less than a minute in the company of the man People magazine once dubbed "the sexiest man alive" and already he is doing the housework. If there had been a small animal in need of rescuing the father of three would probably have done that too. (He has form in that area, saving stranded pets after Hurricane Katrina.)

McConaughey is a gentleman. But as his progression from rom-com star to Oscar contender indicates, he is not interested in finishing last. While he resists the notion that he had some grand plan, only conceding that he made a few "conscious decisions" to change direction, there is something more to the tale. Behind the story of the successful but undervalued actor who went from Fool's Gold to box office gold lies another.

Before we turn those pages, there's another fine yarn in Dallas Buyers Club. Directed by Jean-Marc Vallee, it is the true story of Ron Woodroof, an electrician and good ol' boy who liked to party hearty. Told in 1985 that he was HIV positive, doctors gave Woodroof 30 days to live. What happened next was an astonishing illustration of one man's rage against the dying of the light and medical bureaucracy. While the authorities were dragging their heels, Woodroof started an international search for affordable remedies, bringing medication back to America and selling it through his club. In making a buck he prolonged his own life and that of others.

McConaughey liked that Woodroof was as much a hustler as a hero yet it was a heartfelt story. "I thought what a great way to tackle an Aids drama, from this guy's point of view. It didn't have the sentiment that this subject usually has. Not to say it doesn't have as much meaning. I think it has more meaning because it is not a 'message movie'."

The script had been in development limbo for 20 years. It was only when McConaughey said yes that it began to have a chance of being made. Even then, it was a struggle. But turning in outstanding performances in films from The Lincoln Lawyer to Bernie (directed by Richard Linklater), Killer Joe (William Friedkin), Mud (Jeff Nichols), Magic Mike (Steven Soderbergh) and The Wolf Of Wall Street (Martin Scorsese) gives an actor a chance to turn red lights to green.

Rewind to the early noughties and the thought of McConaughey working with Scorsese might have been the basis for a Saturday Night Live skit. So used were audiences to seeing McConaughey bare-chested it might have been hard to recognise him with his shirt on. Matt Damon had a running joke with late-night TV host David Letterman in which the Bourne star would impersonate McConaughey and somehow work in a line about taking his shirt off. In another measure of how times have changed, Damon spoke recently of working on Christopher Nolan's hugely anticipated science fiction film Interstellar, out in November, in which McConaughey is the lead. "Talk about being in the zone," said Damon of his co-star. "He's really just crushing everything right now." Nobody is laughing at McConaughey these days.

Well, maybe they are smiling a little. His acceptance speech at the Screen Actors Guild awards, in which he compared the buzz of acting to taking a flight to Neptune ("They'd better have the sprockets rolling when you get off that spaceship!") sparked a few grins. Given the chance to speak about acting, his love of what he does, allied to his natural Texan loquaciousness, can produce all-round-the-ranch responses.

McConaughey is an old-school character actor rather than a modern method man, but for Dallas Buyers Club he lost more than three stones to play the ailing Woodroof. The first week on a strict diet he was grumpy. After that he went into an almost spiritual mode, getting up earlier, reading more, feeling more alive. "There's a freedom in being able to have a singular focus."

He and his wife Camila Alves have two sons and a daughter, ages from two to six. His youngest son is called Livingston, not after the West Lothian town but after several individuals McConaughey met during his travels in Africa, Australia and elsewhere. "I can't wait to hear him say my name is Livingston McConaughey. It has strength to it, it has dignity. It's like a lumberjack conductor," he laughs.

McConaughey was born in Uvalde, Texas (population 16,000) in 1969. His father worked in the pipe supply business and his mother was a teacher. The three McConaughey boys had Huck Finn childhoods. "The rule in our house was: if it's daylight you are outside." He swears by the outdoorsy life, so much so that he and his wife set up a non-profit foundation called Just Keep Livin, which offers fitness and confidence boosting programmes to high school students.

His childhood sounds like perfect preparation for Mud, in which McConaughey played a drifter washed up on an island in the Mississippi. "That was a real adolescent trip for me, that character." Does he still regard himself as an adolescent? "No, I think of myself as more of a man. But being a father definitely makes me younger in certain ways." Kids make you look at things afresh, he says.

The couple's first son was born around the time McConaughey's career began to change. Career-wise, he says, there was no epiphany, no conversion on some road to a thespian Damascus. Before the rom-coms, indeed, his career had been pretty toasty. His first major movie was Linklater's cool Dazed And Confused. This was followed by John Sayles's acclaimed crime drama Lone Star, the John Grisham thriller A Time To Kill, then Steven Spielberg's Amistad and Robert Zemeckis's Contact (with Jodie Foster). McConaughey was getting the meatier parts, but just not enough of them.

The rom-com decade, from The Wedding Planner to Failure To Launch followed. Critics threw words such as "agonising", "nauseating" and "smug" like confetti. McConaughey wasn't feeling any pain. "I was enjoying my career. It had been good to me, I was doing my best to be good at it." But he was curious to know what else might be out there. He wanted to feel daunted. So he started saying no to the rom-coms.

"I was conscious that this probably meant things were going to dry up for a while. I talked to my wife about it, my agent. Made that decision. Had to say no to these things for six months. After that six months, a year passed when I got nothing. Nothing came."

For someone who grows anxious when he's not working, it was not easy. But something good came from that plunge into anonymity. "All of a sudden I get a call from Steven Soderbergh, William Friedkin, Mud comes up, Bernie. These things came up. I didn't chase them."

So what made the difference? It could have been starting a family, entering his forties, the alignment of the moon and stars, or luck. Perhaps it just came down to timing. The younger McConaughey had a good rep with directors but he was arguably too good looking for the parts they wanted to fill. But time, so often the enemy of actors, was on his side. When he "reappeared" as Mickey Haller in The Lincoln Lawyer he was all of 42, but in one sense he was born again.

It wasn't just time. On Dallas Buyers Club, Vallee recalls McConaughey's script being covered in notes. "I've rarely seen an actor work like he has and prepare like he did." I had read that he switched from law to film at university after reading The Greatest Salesman In The World by Og Mandino. Published in 1968, the self-help book cum fable tells of a wealthy merchant passing on the secrets of his success. Its teachings are simple but seductive: "I will greet each day with love in my heart"; "I will persist until I succeed", and so on.

Reading the book, it seemed that McConaughey had done more than just pick it up while at university. So it proves. He has gone through many copies. "Two of them I've had to put in Ziplocs and put away in a treasure chest because they became so frayed. One got eaten by a friend of mine's dog. I had to go round picking up hundreds of pieces and tape them back together. A couple of other ones I have written in so much that I've had to get new ones."

Why does he need a self-help book? "I've always liked philosophy. I'm always trying to improve as a man. I love trying to figure life out. Part of that is I've got to know myself." And part of that is to stop apologising for the rom-coms. Or at least he's trying to. When I ask if it bothers him to have those brought up he says it's the nature of the game. "Do I want to change people's perception of that? No. I don't feel like spending any time on that." But then he does just that. "Not all of them are good," he says. "Some of them are really just lazy rehashes of certain things. It's a genre I did well in and it did well for me for. It sure as heck paid my bills. Even to this day. They were fun. I call them Saturday afternoon characters." The characters he's been playing recently are very different. "They're Tuesday morning characters. Wake up - we've got some responsibility here."

Dallas, his character in Magic Mike, Soderbergh's tale of a troupe of male strippers, was certainly not Saturday afternoon watch with mother material. He had to strip in front of a female audience that was not backward in coming forward. Scary? "Hell yeah, it was scary! That was a great buzz though. Hoo-eee!" It was never written in the script that Dallas dances but Soderbergh said it would be a good idea. "I'm like, 'No way, no way,' then a voice on the other shoulder said: 'Are you kidding me?'"

Dance he did, and proceedings duly got a little wild. Almost going Full Monty was not in the script either but someone in the crowd had not read that page. "I came out in a G-string and I was down there and some girl reached over and ripped it, it broke. I felt this cool breeze coming so I made my move, held on to it, rolled out of it, stood up and walked off. But it was coming off!"

He coped with it better than most actors. "That's how we grew up, we're a hugging and kissing family. Physical intimacy is not something we back away from."

I'm reminded of the time 15 years ago when he was arrested for disturbing the peace. When the police arrived, he was naked and playing the bongos. You don't do that any more then?

"You said I don't," he replies.

Well, do you?

"I've got like 35 different drums from all over the world that I've gathered, and yes, I still play them."

In the nude?

He gives that big skies smile. "Possibly."

Good to see he's taken to heart Mandino's "I will laugh at the world" teaching. But McConaughey does not have to convince anyone of his seriousness any more. n

Dallas Buyers Club (15) is in cinemas now

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Matthew McConaughey on Dallas Buyers Club

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Deep in the heart of Texas the stars are famously big and bright, but celestial watchers may have noticed them dimming recently. Fear of competition with Matthew McConaughey, perhaps. The actor, father, and son of Texas is "having a moment" the way Archie Gemmill had a moment against the Netherlands in the 1978 World Cup.

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Extract from Tolson's being yourself': The pursuit of authentic celebrity (2001, page 452)

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How anecdotes of private life can change star image -  The Persona

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How anecdotes of private life can change star image -  The Persona

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Tolson writes of how a celebrities' persona is affected and created by the private life becoming public. By McConaughey speaking of how his personal values affect his work in a professional capacity, the audience sees him as authentic as there is a consistency between his public image and private life. The themes of dedication and hard-work begin to shape a new age of the star image of Matthew McConaughey.

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With talk of responsibility and words such as 'militant', McConaughey gives off a much assured, dedicated, and ambitious professional persona during the interview. These themes are linked to his private life too, speaking of how he relays these values to his children, teaching them of delayed gratification. McConaughey's private life and profession are integrated to showcase his persona, offering the audience a much more multidimensional star image than what was assumed by the public during the decade of Rom-Coms

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McConaughey appeared on Joe Rogan's popular podcast, whereby in which he speaks of the preparation he underwent to play Ron Woodroof. There is a clear theme of dedication when addressing the role, he described his training for the role as being 'militant'. The actor dropped down to a staggering 135lbs and described his transformation as a 'responsibility' when playing the AIDs patient.

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Joe Rogan Experience #1552 - Matthew McConaughey

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With an incredibly modest budget of $5 million, the movie was loved by audiences along with critics, earning $27 million at the domestic box office, and $60 million worldwide, earning a staggering 12X its budget.

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March 2nd, 2014

The Oscars are being handed out this evening and as usual, we will be live-blogging the event. Here's the last look at the nominations with those chosen by our contest entrants as the likely winners in Bold. If I disagree with the consensus, they are in italics, and sharp-eyed readers will note there are no categories where that's true. Finally, if I am rooting for an underdog, they are underlined. There are only two categories where that is true. I want Chiwetel Ejiofor to win Best Lead Actor for his performance in 12 Years a Slave. I also want Jackass Presents: Bad Grandpa to win for Best Hair and Make-up, because Dallas Buyers Club had a hair and make-up budget of $250. Yes it was effective, but the special effects make-up used in Bad Grandpa was just more difficult to pull off, even if the movie wasn't Oscar-bait. Regardless, I don't expect there to be many surprises at this year's awards. More...

March 2nd, 2014

February 27th, 2014

February 25th, 2014

February 20th, 2014

February 18th, 2014

February 3rd, 2014

It's another slow week on the home market. There are five or so first run releases, but the biggest box office was earned by Free Birds, which earned $55 million. Fortunately, while there are no box office hits, there are some high quality releases, led by Dallas Buyers Club. Unfortunately, the DVD and Blu-ray Combo Pack has so few extras that I'm convinced a special edition is on its way, so it isn't a Pick of the Week contender. So what are the Pick of the Week contenders this week? First there's Cutie and the Boxer on DVD or Blu-ray. Second there's ... Cutie and the Boxer is the Pick of the Week. More...

February 3rd, 2014

Dallas Buyers Club is widely considered a favorite to win at least one Oscar and it has a shot at becoming the big winner come Oscar night. Needless to say, my expectations for the film are really high. I'm hoping they are not unrealistically high. Is this the case? Or is the movie as good as its critically acclaim? More...

January 26th, 2014

After tracking poorly for months, Lionsgate's I, Frankenstein arrived in theaters this weekend with a disappointing projected $8.275 million, according to the distributor, enough for only 6th place on a box office chart that's a jumble of Oscar hopefuls and less ambitious January fare. Ride Along tops the list with $21.1 million projected for the weekend by Universal, which also lays claim to this weekend's number two spot with Lone Survivor's $12.6 million. More...

January 19th, 2014

What could have been a close run thing at the box office this weekend has turned into a romp to victory for Ride Along, with the comedy set to break Cloverfield's record for biggest opening weekend in January with estimated three-day $41.2 million. The performance is all the more impressive for being delivered from just 2,663 theaters, and marks Universal's third consecutive MLK weekend win, following Mama last year and Contraband in 2012. With the studio's holdover, Lone Survivor, holding on to second place with $23.2 million in its second weekend the other three wide openers range from 3rd to 6th place in the charts. More...

January 19th, 2014

January 19th, 2014

Producers Guild of America announce the winners tonight, but it seems I forgot to upload the story when they announced their nominations. In my defense, they announced them on January 2nd. You don't make an announcement on January 2nd, not unless you are trying to bury a story. As for the actual nominations, there are very few differences between this group and others, except when it comes to documentaries. Then again, that's been the norm this year. No one seems to agree on what the best documentaries were. More...

January 16th, 2014

The Oscar nominations were announced this morning and there are some surprises mixed in with the predictable results. Gravity and American Hustle led the way with ten nominations each while 12 Years a Slave was right behind with nine. The fact that 12 Years a Slave wasn't the leader is the first of the surprises. More...

January 13th, 2014

January 7th, 2014

January 5th, 2014

WGAs announced their nominations this weekend and there were a couple of surprises to talk about. The top of that list is 12 Years a Slave, which was deemed ineligible because it wasn't written under WGA jurisdiction. This makes using the WGAs as an Oscar guide less reliable. On the other hand, several Oscar favorites showed up as well, including American Hustle, Nebraska, and others that have picked up major nominations this year. More...

December 14th, 2013

December 14th, 2013

December 8th, 2013

Frozen will come out the winner at the box office this weekend, topping Catching Fire $31.6 million to $27 million, according to studio estimates released on Sunday. Both films are down over 50% from last weekend's holiday frame, but Frozen enjoys an advantage as the more seasonal of the two and will likely maintain its lead, at least until The Hobbit blows them both away on Friday. More...

November 28th, 2013

November 17th, 2013

Although it's still the calm before the storm that will be Catching Fire next weekend, this weekend has a healthy look to it thanks to a stronger-than-expected debut for The Best Man Holiday, which will post about $30.5 million according to Universal's Sunday projection, more than three times the debut figure for the previous film in the franchise. That won't be enough to unseat Thor at the top of the chart though. The Marvel superhero will post about $38 million, down a reasonable 55% from its opening frame. Most other returning films are enjoying good holds too. More...

November 12th, 2013

The Book Thief was a surprise top spot with an average of $26,251 in four theaters. It was seen by some as a possible Awards Season contender, but its reviews suggest otherwise. Thor: The Dark World was first on the overall box office and second on the per theater chart with $22,322. Dallas Buyers Club fell from first to third on the per theater chart, but with a still strong average of $18,249 in 35 theaters. More...

November 10th, 2013

Thor: The Dark World gets the holiday season off to a start this weekend with a powerful display at the box office. Disney is pegging its opening weekend at $86.8 million, which will be a healthy 30% boost from the debut of the first film in the franchise and also one of the ten biggest weekends in November. It's the first film in the Avengers Ã¼ber-franchise to open outside of the May-July Summer season, but that certainly doesn't seemed to have harmed it at the box office, and it won't have much competition until Catching Fire opens in a couple of weeks' time. All said, it looks a virtual certainty to top the box office performance of the original. More...

November 7th, 2013

November 3rd, 2013

As expected, Ender's Game will comfortably win this weekend's box office race with an opening in the vicinity of $28 million. That's a healthy figure, but barely gets it into the top 100 openings in November and it'll be footnote by the time Thor and The Hunger Games have rolled out in a few week's time. It seems well short of what would be needed for a sequel to be greenlit. Free Birds will also not enjoy a theatrical sequel (although direct-to-video spin-offs seem likely) as it will open with around $16 million, but CBS Films is very happy with the $16 million debut of Last Vegas, which will benefit from an older demographic in the weeks to come. More...

November 1st, 2013

November 1st, 2013

October ended on a winning note, but it was the only time the entire month that 2013 topped 2012 in the year-over-year comparison. This is quite shocking, as Gravity crushed expectations with more than $200 million and counting. Even with that surprise monster hit, the month still couldn't keep pace with last year. Compared to October, November looks a lot better with three films that could be monster hits: Frozen, Thor: The Dark World, and The Hunger Games: Catching Fire. On the other hand, those are the only three movies with a 50/50 chance or better to top $100 million compared, while there were seven films that reached that milestone last November. The Hunger Games: Catching Fire should make more than last year's number one film, Skyfall, but the depth last year could prove too much to deal with. 2013 might dip below last year's pace sometime during the month, but hopefully it won't stay there too long. More...

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Dallas Buyers Club (2013) - Financial Information

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March 2nd, 2014 The Oscars are being handed out this evening and as usual, we will be live-blogging the event. Here's the last look at the nominations with those chosen by our contest entrants as the likely winners in Bold.

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McConaughey's performance won him the most coveted of prizes in Hollywood, the Oscar for best actor in 2014 for his role in Dallas Buyers Club. If there were any that still saw the actor as limited to shirtless beach scenes and repetitive Rom-Coms, they were put in their place seeing McConaughey win the award for such a difficult and delicate role.

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Matthew McConaughey has won the best actor Oscar for his turn as a homophobic cowboy in the 80s-set Aids drama Dallas Buyers Club. The US actor defeated fellow nominees Leonardo DiCaprio, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Christian Bale and Bruce Dern to win the first Academy award of a chequered film career.

The bookies' favourite heading into the night, McConaughey had earlier won the best actor in a drama Golden Globe for his acclaimed performance as Texas rodeo cowboy Ron Woodroof, who smuggled unapproved medication into the US after being diagnosed with Aids. The Oscar marks the high point of a career that has bounced McConaughey from early acclaim in the likes of Lone Star and A Time to Kill, through a lucrative run in Hollywood romcoms to a recent critical resurgence in Mud, Magic Mike and The Wolf of Wall Street.

Accepting the award at the Dolby theatre in Hollywood, he said he needed three things each day in life: someone to look up to, someone to look forward to, and someone to chase. The first, he explained, was God. The second was his family. And the third, the person he continually chased, was himself in 10 years' time.

Xan Brooks's liveblog of the ceremony
Full list of winners as they were announced

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Matthew McConaughey wins best actor Oscar for Dallas Buyers Club

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Matthew McConaughey has won the best actor Oscar for his turn as a homophobic cowboy in the 80s-set Aids drama Dallas Buyers Club. The US actor defeated fellow nominees Leonardo DiCaprio, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Christian Bale and Bruce Dern to win the first Academy award of a chequered film career.

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McConaughey as AIDs patient Ron Woodroof

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Perhaps the role to show the world exactly how much quality McConaughey has as a serious and diverse actor, with a stunning performance as AIDs patient Ron Woodroof set in 1985.

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The movie was somewhat of a surprise yet welcome success amongst critics, earning 83% on Rotten Tomatoes and 7.3 on IMDB. The film helped separate McConaughey's star image from the Rom-Com genre. Jim Schembri writes 'McConaughey reminds us
with this top-notch legal thriller that there actually is a really good actor behind that over-exposed rack of abs.'

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This was published 11 years ago

Matthew McConaughey reminds us he can act in this solid legal thriller, writes JIM SCHEMBRI

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THE LINCOLN LAWYER (119 min) M

Don't lie to me, dude: Matthew McConaughey holds an expensive debrief with client Ryan Phillippe in The Lincoln Lawyer.

After appearing in way too much mulch - do we really have to list them all? - Matthew McConaughey reminds us
with this top-notch legal thriller that there actually is a really good actor behind that over-exposed rack of abs. He plays Mick Haller, a savvy, charming, slightly slimy deal-loving lawyer who has to defend a rich kid (Ryan Phillippe) from charges of beating a woman, even though he suspects that his client might be guilty. The film does take some predictable turns - even with its "surprise" twist - but it's a perfectly enjoyable time killer. William H Macy and Marisa Tomei (now apparently ageing backwards) chime in with top-shelf support as investigator and ex-wife respectively. Based on the best-selling novel by Michael Connelly.

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This was published 11 years ago Normal text size Larger text size Very large text size THE LINCOLN LAWYER (119 min) M After appearing in way too much mulch - do we really have to list them all? - Matthew McConaughey reminds uswith this top-notch legal thriller that there actually is a really good actor behind that over-exposed rack of abs.

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From a $40 million budget, the film grossed $58 million domestically and $29 million internationally

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August 3rd, 2011

Rango remained the best selling Blu-ray this week with 317,000 units / $6.34 million for the week and 670,000 units / $13.39 million after two. More...

August 3rd, 2011

During its first full week on the home market, Rango led the weekly DVD sales chart, holding off a few new releases in the process (very few new releases).It sold an additional 621,000 units / $9.93 million during the week for totals of 1.18 million units / $20.43 million after two. That's very close to Gnomeo & Juliet's running tally, and that DVD was released two months ago. More...

July 28th, 2011

July 26th, 2011

July 11th, 2011

July 10th, 2011

April 3rd, 2011

Universal have a shot at posting the biggest opening of 2011, thanks to a stronger than expected opening for Hop, which is currently estimated to open with $38.118 million. If that number holds up, it would just beat the $38.079 million opening enjoyed by Rango at the beginning of March. Encouraging as that performance is, it also highlights the overall weakness of the market in 2011, as four movies had opened over $40 million by this time last year, and Clash of the Titans debuted with $61 million the first weekend of April, making for another tough year-to-year comparison. The weekend as a whole will likely be down around 27% from last year, continuing the industry's losing streak into the second quarter. More...

March 28th, 2011

March 27th, 2011

The last weekend in March have brought us another pair of movies opening in the high teens to low twenties. This time around Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Rodrick Rules was the low-twenties movie, picking up a very respectable $24.4 million on debut, which is a shade ahead of the $22 million earned by the first film in the franchise this time last year. Sucker Punch produced a slightly disappointing $19 million opening weekend, which is a drop in the bucket compared to its $75 million budget. It'll need good international numbers and a strong home market performance to recoup costs. Overall box office will be down about 7% from last year, continuing 2011's losing streak, although that makes this one of the better weekends of the year so far. More...

March 24th, 2011

Predicting the winner at the box office this weekend could be tough, as there appears to be no real consensus on which film has the advantage. This is mostly due to uncertainty with one of the films, with just as many analysts predicting Sucker Punch will win with ease as are predicting that film will really struggle. On the other hand, there is a pretty strong consensus with regards to the overall box office when compared to last year and there's almost no chance 2011 will keep pace with 2010. Worse case scenario has Sucker Punch and Diary of A Wimpy Kid: Rodick Rules combined opening with less than How to Train Your Dragon opened with. This means March will end on a low note, which has happened far too often this year. More...

March 21st, 2011

It was another poor weekend at the box office and none of the new wide releases were blockbusters, but on the plus side, none were bombs either. The overall box office was down 11% from last weekend to $115 million, which was 9% lower than the same weekend last year. However, that was actually much better than 2011 has managed for most of the year. Year-to-date, 2011 is still off of 2010's pace by 20% at $2.52 billion to $2.02 billion and that likely won't change till Memorial day. Hopefully it won't be too late to turn things around by then. More...

March 20th, 2011

The North American box office showed further glimmers of hope this weekend, with no less than five movies vying for top spot on the chart, and Limitless handily beating expectations to finish first. Its $19 million debut is the best so far for Relativity Media's fledgling distribution organization. Overall, however, box office will be down around 10% from last year, continuing a losing streak that will almost certainly extend to cover the entire first quarter. More...

March 17th, 2011

Three wide releases come out this week, all of which have the potential to reach first place, and there's a slim chance they will finish one-two-three. On the other hand, there are also two holdovers that have a reasonable shot at first place as well, meaning the new releases could be fighting for scraps at the box office. Regardless, there's little hope that the total box office will match last year's pace, as Alice in Wonderland was still dominating the chart. Best case scenario, there's a close race for top spot with a couple of the new releases pulling in $30 million, or close to it. Worst case scenario has no new release earning half that. Unfortunately, the low end seems more likely. More...

March 1st, 2011

This is going to suck. February wasn't exactly a banner month at the box office and 2011 is already roughly $400 million behind 2010's pace. To make matters worse, last March broke records starting with the release of Alice in Wonderland. There is no movie coming out this month that will come close to Alice in Wonderland's performance; in fact, the number one film this March will likely not do as well as the second best film from last March. The best case scenario has the month producing three $100 million movies, plus a number of midlevel hits, while still failing to match last year's pace by about $100 million. The worst case scenario has two of the three potential $100 million hits missing that mark, plus the midlevel hits also struggling. In that case, we could end March about $300 million further behind 2010's pace. (Hopefully things will start to turn around in April.) More...

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The Lincoln Lawyer (2011) - Financial Information

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August 3rd, 2011 Rango remained the best selling Blu-ray this week with 317,000 units / $6.34 million for the week and 670,000 units / $13.39 million after two. More...

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The first role McConaughey took on after his 20-month break was to play Mick Haller in The Lincoln Lawyer in 2011; a character with greater depth in a more serious and dramatic story than what he had been doing for the past decade.

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McConaughey recalls how there were great offers for Rom-Com movies that came in after he made the decision to stop, all being rejected with the hope that he would eventually be offered a breakthrough dramatic role (Lincoln Lawyer), even rejecting. $14.5 million offer.

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Rejecting roles to break free of typecast

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Rejecting roles to break free of typecast

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McConaughey realised he wanted out of the Rom-Com game, and to do so he told his agent that he would no longer be accepting these movie roles. McConaughey wanted to take on more dramatic roles, and believed to do so he would have to stop the Rom-Coms all together, ultimately changing his star image.

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Matthew McConaughey: Rejecting $14.5M rom-com offer

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The film brought in $88 million domestically, and $128 million world-wide from a $50 Million budget.

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June 3rd, 2008

This was a bad week for big movies, with not a single first run release is even worth rating a solid purchase, never mind being a contender for DVD Pick of the Week. There were a few other contenders for the title, including Dirty Harry Collection on DVD or Blu-ray. However, I found it impossible to decide which format was the better deal. Had the Blu-ray provided anything more than High Definition, or been a more reasonable price compared to the DVD, it would have been an easier choice. One of them is the DVD Pick of the Week, I just don't know which one. On a side note, there is an immense flood of Blu-ray releases, including a few I thought were coming out previously. More...

April 24th, 2007

It's a busy week for DVD releases, but the signal to noise ratio is a little high, and that made it harder to find the DVDs that were truly worthy of attention. (And even then, I went off track a couple of times.) As for the DVD Pick of the Week, there is really only one choice for me, The Queen - Buy from Amazon. However, I'm also giving that honor to Burning Annie - Buy from Amazon, which would have won a few weeks ago if I had got the right information on the quality of the DVD. More...

August 5th, 2006

There were only two new release to reach the top five this week but they finished 1-2 with The Benchwarmers leading the way with $9.98 million in DVD rentals. More...

July 29th, 2006

There were not that many releases from this week's crop to chart, but it was a newcomer taking top spot as She's the Man lead both the rental and the sales chart this week. It earned $5.57 million after one week of rentals while the sales figures were not released as usual. More...

July 22nd, 2006

For the third weekend in a row, Failure to Launch topped the rental charts as it added $5.77 million over the week for a total of $25.18 million after three. More...

July 15th, 2006

A near total lack of competition allowed Failure to Launch to remain in first place with $8.87 million over the week for a two-week total of $19.41 million. More...

July 8th, 2006

Failure to Launch wasn't the only new DVD release to chart this week, but it was far and away the best. The film took first place with $10.42 million, which was nearly double its nearest competition. More...

June 26th, 2006

It's an absolutely horrid week for DVD releases with six or seven contenders for DVD Pick of the Week, I have no idea how I'm going to afford to buy them all. But I will buy them all. Oh yes, I will buy them all. While the latest Masters of Horror collection was high on my list, as was Why We Fight - Buy from Amazon and Imagine Me & You - Buy from Amazon, (but for widely different reasons), I went with the criminally underrated Yellowbeard - Buy from Amazon as my DVD Pick of the Week. Maybe one day it will get the Special Edition treatment it so richly deserves. More...

June 11th, 2006

The final weekend before the start of World Cup saw Volver become the latest best of the rest finishing sixth with $4.46 million on 863 screens in 5 markets for a total of $27.25 million. The film was again led by its performance in France where it grew for the second week in a row up 14% to $3.02 million on 404 screens for a total of $9.09 million while in Italy it grew by 28% to $1.44 million on 268 screens for a total of $5.61 million after three weeks. In both of those markets the film is on pace to top such worldwide blockbusters as Mission: Impossible 3, something nobody would have predicted before the start of the summer. Even more impressively, it is about a week away from France becoming the film's most lucrative market topping the $11.94 million it made in its native Spain. More...

May 21st, 2006

Silent Hill's weekend numbers were better than earlier estimates and that helped place the film fourth overall with $4.99 million on 1398 screens in 11 markets. The film finished first in Russia with $1.45 million on 213 screens over the weekend and $1.61 million in total while it had to settle for second in Germany with $1.10 million on 308 screens. It also opened in second place in Hong Kong with $462,000 on 34 screens and $580,000 including the previews mentioned last week. So far the film has earned $18.92 million at the international box office, the largest single chunk coming from the U.K.; in that market the film has made $6.32 million including $439,000 on 285 screens this week. More...

May 14th, 2006

With Mission: Impossible 3 dominating the international charts, most films saw a serious drop-off and those that didn't were able to climb the charts, or at least remain stable. For instance, Eight Below fell 27% to $3.67 million on 1951 screens in 27 markets, but despite there being two new releases in the top five, it was able to remain in sixth place on the overall charts. The film was not able to crack $1 million in any single market, but did perform well in Spain with $587,000 on 225 screens and that lifted its total box office to $2.15 million in the market, $30.35 million internationally, and $111.42 million worldwide. More...

May 7th, 2006

A pair of openings in major markets helped Eight Below climb a spot to sixth with $5.05 million on 2129 screens in 24 markets for a total of $24.26 million so far. The film opened in France but could only manage sixth place with $1.85 million on 473 screens while in Spain it opened in first place, but only managed $981,000 on 224 screens. In the meantime, the film dipped just 4% during its second weekend in Australia adding $769,000 on 258 screens to its total of $2.29 million there. More...

April 30th, 2006

The Wild added a few more markets but still fell out of the top five down 54% to $4.37 million on 2868 screens in 27 markets for a two week total of $17.77 million. Its best market was Spain where the film was down just 43% to $875,000 on 382 screens over the weekend and $3.49 million in total. It had a hard time in family friendly Mexico where it was down 59% to $702,000 on 501 screens over the weekend and $3.60 million in total while in Italy it plummeted an unheard of 84% to just $216,000 on 343 screen for a two-week total of $2.75 million. More...

April 23rd, 2006

The latest Asterix & Obelix movie, Asterix and the Vikings, opened in second place in native France with $3.64 million on 606 screens. The film also made $167,000 during its second weekend in Belgium for a $454,000 two week total. These films are very popular in France and other parts of Europe, but have never made the transition here. More...

April 16th, 2006

Several films made they international debut this past weekend with even more returning to the charts, but because of the power of Ice Age: The Meltdown, none of them were able to reach the top five, but a few came close. Leading that list is Jean-Philippe; the French film debuted in third place in its native home with $3.34 million on 550 screens. It also opened in two other French-speaking markets but was much weaker earning seventh in Switzerland with $62,000 on 12 screens over the weekend and $68,000 in total while in Belgium it managed just ninth with $131,000 on 29 screens over the weekend and $144,000 in total. Add it up and the film pulled in $3.53 million on 591 screens in 3 markets during its first weekend of release. More...

April 9th, 2006

With Ice Age: The Meltdown dominating the international box office, the rest of the charts were weaker than usual with several films in the top 30 this week that would not have charted last week. Failure to Launch had its best weekend haul on the international scene taking in $4.17 million on 1300 screens in 14 markets for a running tally of $13.61 million. Much of that came from the film's opening in two major markets, the U.K. and Italy. In the former is finished second with $1.88 million on 352 screens while in the latter it managed just fourth with $686,000 on 220 screens. It's best market in total is Germany, despite the fact that it fell out of the top five there; so far the film has pulled in $4.10 million after three weeks there, including $841,000 on 354 screens this weekend. More...

April 3rd, 2006

For the first time in a long, long time we have a bona fides hit topping the charts. Not only did Ice Age: The Meltdown beat almost all expectations, but it single-handedly brought the 2006 box office out of its slump. The overall box office was $142 million, nearly half of which came from that one movie. This represents a 29.7% increase from last weekend and a 34% increase from last year. Year-to-date, 2006 is still behind 2005, but the deficit was cut in half to just 1%. More...

April 2nd, 2006

Two openings in two major markets helped Hostel climb into sixth place with $4.03 million on 1120 screens in 27 markets for a running tally of $15.42 million. Its best opening was in the U.K. where it debuted in second place with $2.12 million on 304 screens while it struggled in Spain with just $1.01 million on 250. The film has already earned enough to show a profit even after taking into account P&A budget, exhibitor's share, etc. and should be able to double its current international total before its run is over. More...

March 31st, 2006

We have the first event movie of the year coming out this weekend. Yes, I realize I said that when V for Vendetta came out, but this time I mean it. In all seriousness, if Ice Age: The Meltdown doesn't have the best opening of the year, then the 2006 box office is pretty much sunk. More...

March 27th, 2006

The number one film of the weekend got off to a much stronger start than expected, and that helped the overall box office climb to $109 million over the weekend, which was 2.4% higher than last weekend. It was also 9.8% higher than last year, stopping a five-week slump of year-to-year drop-offs, but 2006 is still behind 2005's pace by 2% More...

March 26th, 2006

The only opening of note for Syriana over the weekend was Turkey where the film placed third with $211,000 on 62 screens. Without a major opening, the film fell 35% to $3.68 million on 1992 screens in 43 markets and now has $27.35 million, which is still a disappointing total. More...

March 24th, 2006

Three wide releases this weekend, and of those two are not being screened for critics, which likely means the streak of terrible movies will continue. Fortunately, the third wide release is earning the best reviews of any prospective number one the whole year. It could also beat last year's weekend chart topper, but the overall market still seems weak and that will lead to yet another year-to-year drop-off. More...

March 20th, 2006

Another poor weekend at the box office saw the overall gross drop to $106 million, which is 3.6% lower than last weekend and 8.7% lower than the same weekend last year. Year-to-date, 2006 has now brought in $1.8 billion, which is about 2% lower than 2005's pace. If this keeps up 2006 will be the second year in a row of declining box office revenue and the fourth year in a row of declining ticket sales. It's not quite time to push the panic button yet, but it is certainly worrying. More...

March 17th, 2006

The first event movie of the year comes out this week, and V for Vendetta should have no problem topping the charts. However, there are other questions that are not so easily answered. For instance, will it become the biggest opener of the year? Will it help the box office keep pace with last year? Can it become the first $100 million movie of the year? At least two of those three questions will be answered by Monday. More...

March 13th, 2006

Only one of the four new films beat expectations over the weekend, and that left the box office hurting. Overall, the total for the weekend was $110 million, which was 6.8% higher than last weekend, but since last weekend was Oscar weekend, this is hardly an impressive result. More importantly, it was 4.7% lower than the same weekend last year. More...

March 10th, 2006

There are three and a half new films opening wide this weekend, and the best of them is earning merely mediocre reviews. (The half film refers to The Libertine, which is opening in only 815 theatres.) Even so, there should be a huge jump from last weekend, perhaps even enough to push 2006 ahead of 2005 again. More...

March 9th, 2006

During the past week promotional websites for several movies were launched and some older ones added additional content. This week's winner was one of last week's best sites, She's the Man - Official Site, which added a lot of content this week including some old stuff that was off site for previous weeks. More...

March 2nd, 2006

During the past week promotional websites for several movies were launched and some older ones added additional content. There was a three way race for top spot this week with Slither - Official Site taking home the award. However, it won based on equal parts what it is and what it should become once all the content marked coming soon is added to the site. More...

March 1st, 2006

This is a not as busy a month as it initially looks. Granted, there are 18 movies on this month's list, but there are five weekends, or at least five Fridays. Also, every week there's at least one film that may or may not be getting a truly wide release. Considering the level of competition, I'm leaning against any of five such films opening in more than 2000 theatres. On the plus side, we should see the first $100 million movie of 2006 open this month, and perhaps even see two movies reach that milestone. More...

January 26th, 2006

During the past week promotional websites for several movies were launched and some older ones added additional content. The winner this week was Curious George - Official Site, which was extremely well done, although it is aimed at a very young audience. More...

January 19th, 2006

During the past week promotional websites for several movies were launched and some older ones added additional content. It's busier on this week's list than it has in a while, but there was only one site that was in contention to win the award, Underworld: Evolution - Official Site. More...

December 29th, 2005

This week's list of movie site is abridged and only contains the two films that are opening this week plus more than a dozen site that have never appeared on this list before. However, it was one of the two new openings, Match Point - Official Site, that took the weekly website award. More...

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Failure to Launch (2006) - Financial Information

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June 3rd, 2008 This was a bad week for big movies, with not a single first run release is even worth rating a solid purchase, never mind being a contender for DVD Pick of the Week. There were a few other contenders for the title, including Dirty Harry Collection on DVD or Blu-ray.

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McConaughey's Rom-Com role that put him on the map within the genre, earning $60 million domestically, and $94 million world-wide from a $35 million budget

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Mary Fiore is San Francisco's most successful supplier of romance and glamor. She knows all the tricks. She knows all the rules. But then she breaks the most important rule of all: she falls in love with the groom.

Grosses

Domestic (63.8%)
$60,400,856

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Mary Fiore is San Francisco's most successful supplier of romance and glamor. She knows all the tricks. She knows all the rules. But then she breaks the most important rule of all: she falls in love with the groom. Domestic (63.8%) $60,400,856

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How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days grosses an impressive $105 million domestically and $177 million world wide, off a $50 million budget.

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Benjamin Barry is an advertising executive and ladies' man who, to win a big campaign, bets that he can make a woman fall in love with him in 10 days.

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Zack Sharf speaks of and analyses McConaughey's memoire 'Greenlights' (2020), whereby the actor writes of how Rom-Coms were his only consistent incoming offers, as the romantic comedies remained the actors only consistent box office hits.

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Turning down a whopping paycheck opened the door to the "McConaissance."

The year 2010 was a pivotal moment for Matthew McConaughey. The actor was coming off a decade as the face of the romantic-comedy genre thanks to "The Wedding Planner," " How To Lose A Guy In 10 Days," "Failure To Launch," "Fool's Gold," and "Ghosts Of Girlfriends Past," nearly all of which grossed over $100 million at the worldwide box office. As McConaughey writes in his new memoir "Greenlights," rom-com offers were about the only offers he was getting at the turn of the decade.

"The romantic comedies remained my only consistent box office hits, which made them my only consistent incoming offers," McConaughey writes. "For me personally, I enjoyed being able to give people a nitty-minute breezy romantic getaway from the stress of their lives where they didn't have to think about anything, just watch the boy chase the girl, fall down, then get up and finally get her. I had taken the baton from Hugh Grant, and I ran with it."

But come 2010, McConaughey's heart was no longer with the rom-com genre. No wonder the infamous "McConaissance" began in 2011 with a string of character-driven indie projects such as "Bernie," "Killer Joe," and "Mud." McConaughey writes in the book that he "enjoyed making romantic comedies, and their paychecks rented the houses on the beach I ran shirtless on," but when the time came to move on he did so without looking back.

Moving on for McConaughey meant turning down one of the biggest offers of his career: a $14.5 million paycheck in 2010 to make another rom-com. McConaughey does not reveal which rom-com he rejected, but turning down $14.5 million makes it clear how serious he was about saying goodbye to the genre that made him a household name.

"I declined the offer," McConaughey writes. "If I couldn't do what I wanted, I wasn't going to do what I didn't, no matter the price."

McConaughey's career change in 2011 opened the door to some of his most beloved performances, including "Magic Mike" and "True Detective." The actor won the Oscar for "Dallas Buyers Club," which was quickly followed by Christopher Nolan's "Interstellar." Since leaving the rom-com genre behind with 2009's "Ghosts of Girlfriends Past," McConaughey has yet to return. The actor's most recent film credit was Guy Ritchie's "The Gentlemen," and he'll reprise his voice role in the upcoming animated sequel "Sing 2."

McConaughey's memoir "Greenlights" is now available for purchase.

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Matthew McConaughey Turned Down $14.5 Million Offer to Make Another Rom-Com Movie

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Turning down a whopping paycheck opened the door to the "McConaissance." The year 2010 was a pivotal moment for Matthew McConaughey. The actor was coming off a decade as the face of the romantic-comedy genre thanks to "The Wedding Planner," " How To Lose A Guy In 10 Days," "Failure To Launch," "Fool's Gold," and "Ghosts Of Girlfriends Past," nearly all of which grossed over $100 million at the worldwide box office.

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An extract from Shingler's Star Studies: a critical guide (2012), referencing Morins' Les Stars (1957) (2005 translation by Richard Howard)

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With use of referencing Morin's work, Shingler highlights how the characters that actors/actresses play can have a big impact on the publics perception of said actor/actress. McConaughey's relationship with the Rom-Com genre is a perfect example of this.

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While the review is not overtly negative, what the critic praises McConaughey for is simply his own persona/characteristics. Noting the actor's killer southern charm and smile’ and labelling him as 'one of Hollywood’s sexiest and most eligible bachelors’ - a more intense focus on his star image over his acting talents

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Behind the Lens is your home for in-depth movie reviews, filmmaker & celebrity interviews, and more, all by industry professional and film critic debbie lynn elias...

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Regardless of the typecasting the actor had to endure as a result , McConaughey remains adamant that he enjoyed the Rom-Com movies which he became a staple-pin for, being able to create stories where an audience could forget about their own problems for the duration.

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Matthew McConaughey Was Having A Great Time With Rom-Coms When They Almost Ruined His Career

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In the early '00s, the actor was wooing leading women including Kate Hudson and Jennifer Garner as a rom-com regular.

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McConaughey as Vilmer Slaughter in Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Next Generation

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Between his acting debut and the start of the Rom-Com era, McConaughey starred in various roles, raising the profile of his star image. the most notable movies are; Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Next Generation (1994), Contact (1997), and The Rebel (1998). All roles which raised his profile, but none to the heights of his future roles.

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McConaughey became a target for movie critics, with a lack of diverse and challenging roles often being the subject. Here Bradshaw reviews the actors performance in The Wedding Planner "as for McConaughey, well, whatever presence or charisma he ever had has been surgically extracted, [...] leaving behind the dullest leading man in the movie".

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Peter Bradshaw: As for McConaughey, well, whatever presence or charisma he ever had has been surgically extracted, loaded into some sort of supergun and fired off into outer space.

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In 2003, McConaughey starred alongside Kate Hudson in How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days, a huge box office success with a $177 million box office from a $50 million budget. While the role was a success, it did nothing to help McConaughey's typecasting as such a big audience again saw him as the V-Neck wearing heart-throb

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McConaughey's first Romantic-comedy The Wedding Planner (2001) was a box office success, however due to this and the lack of dramatical potential critics claim to have derived from his performance, the movie marked the beginning of a tight typecast for McConaughey.

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Bright Beginnings; Dazed and Confused (1994)

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Bright Beginnings; Dazed and Confused (1994)

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McConaughey's first major role was in the now cult-classic Dazed and Confused. McConaughey got the role after meeting casting director Don Phillips in an Austin bar. McConaughey is still well-known for the role and his iconic line: Alright Alright Alright.

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The Texas born actor has played a variety of characters through his 30 years of acting and is now well-recognised critically, as well as seemingly respected by the public as a result of his great devotion to his profession. However his star image has undertaken dramatic change over the course of his career.