Decades After His $1,700,000 Bomb, Shaquille O’Neal Marvels Over $9.5 Billion Gross Revenue from Rapper Turned Actor, Will Smith

Over the years, Shaquille O’Neal has developed a reputation as a jack of all trades. Apart from being a first-ballot Hall of Famer, Shaq has tried his hand at almost everything, from releasing Platinum rap albums and DJing all across the country to creating a $400 million business empire. However, one area he has never been able to find success is at the box office. Shaq has appeared in several movies over the years, and most of them have failed to make it big at the box office. In fact, he once starred in a movie that made a measly $1,700,000. Therefore, it’s no surprise that the Big Diesel is in awe of rappers who have found success in Hollywood. Taking to Instagram decades after his box office bomb, Shaq recently shared a list of the highest-grossing rapper turned actors, all of whom have hit the billion mark.

In 1997, Shaq starred in the movie Steel, playing the eponymous character. The movie was heavily influenced by the DC Comics superhero, Superman. O’Neal has always been a fan of the Man of Steel. So much so, that he even got a tattoo of the Superhero’s symbolic ‘S’ on his shoulder. Unfortunately for the four-time NBA Champion, even Superman couldn’t save him from the box office disaster that was his movie. Despite having a $16,000,000 budget, the film only managed to rake in $1,700,000, bombing in a major way at the box office.

Shaquille O’Neal shares incredible list of highest-grossing rapper turned actors

Shaquille O’Neal hasn’t found much success in Hollywood, but there are others who have. Recently, the Big Aristotle shared a list of the highest-grossing rapper turned actors, with all five of the celebrities featured in the list crossing the $1,000,000,000 mark. The list is topped by none other than Will Smith, who has received a lot of heat in recent times for his stunt at the 2022 Academy Awards.

Apart from Smith, the list also includes the likes of Mark Wahlberg, Ludacris, Queen Latifah, and Donald Glover. With a whopping $9.5 billion in total gross revenue, Smith took the top spot, grossing $6.5 billion as a lead actor and $2.96 billion as a supporting actor. Meanwhile, Ludacris and Donald Glover grossed $6.56 billion and $3.9 billion respectively, just from supporting roles.

Unfortunately, unlike the aforementioned rappers, Shaq’s semi-successful career as a rapper never really translated to the big screen. That being said, he has found some success recently. His performance in the movie Uncle Drew was redeeming. Shaq has also had success playing cameos in popular movies like Blended, Hustle and Hubie Halloween.

Shaq’s movie career kickstarted during his stint with the Los Angeles Lakers. However, movies like Kazaam, that starred the big man, failed to make it big in the theatres and curtailed his Hollywood aspirations to some extent.

Shaq once expressed interest in acting in Marvel movies so he can beat up Robert Downey Jr.

Back in 2018, Shaquille O’Neal claimed that he would love to work in the Marvel Cinematic Universe films. A humungous individual, Shaq could easily have taken up a role with Marvel, suitable for his 7’1″, 324-pound frame. In fact, he even had an opponent in mind if he were ever to play a Marvel character.

Clearly a big fan of Iron Man, Shaq expressed his interest in taking on Robert Downey Jr. in a movie. He even claimed to Entertainment Weekly that he would “kick his a**”.

It certainly would be interesting to see Shaq take up a role in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. But only time will tell if he gets the superhero role he dreams of.