Main Character Did Not Get Top Billing
In these movies the main character didn't get first billing.
In your opinion, which example is the most unfair?
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In your opinion, which example is the most unfair?
Cast your Vote in the Live Poll
Join the Discussion Here in the IMDb Poll Community Forum
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- DirectorFrancis Ford CoppolaStarsMartin SheenMarlon BrandoRobert DuvallA U.S. Army officer serving in Vietnam is tasked with assassinating a renegade Special Forces Colonel who sees himself as a god.Martin Sheen billed after Marlon Brando and Robert Duvall.
- DirectorOliver StoneStarsCharlie SheenTom BerengerWillem DafoeChris Taylor, a neophyte recruit in Vietnam, finds himself caught in a battle of wills between two sergeants, one good and the other evil. A shrewd examination of the brutality of war and the duality of man in conflict.Charlie Sheen billed after after Tom Berenger and Willem Dafoe.
- DirectorRichard DonnerStarsChristopher ReeveMargot KidderGene HackmanAn alien orphan is sent from his dying planet to Earth, where he grows up to become his adoptive home's first and greatest superhero.Christopher Reeve billed third after Marlon Brando and Gene Hackman.
- DirectorRon HowardStarsVal KilmerJoanne WhalleyWarwick DavisA young farmer is chosen to undertake a perilous journey in order to protect a special baby from an evil queen.Warwick Davis (Willow) billed after Val Kilmer.
- DirectorRichard LesterStarsGene HackmanChristopher ReeveMargot KidderSuperman agrees to sacrifice his powers to start a relationship with Lois Lane, unaware that three Kryptonian criminals he inadvertently released are conquering Earth.Christopher Reeve billed second after Gene Hackman.
- DirectorWes CravenStarsNeve CampbellCourteney CoxDavid ArquetteA year after the murder of her mother, a teenage girl is terrorized by a masked killer who targets her and her friends by using scary movies as part of a deadly game.Drew Barrymore got top billing and then is killed in the first scene.
- DirectorPaul HaggisStarsDon CheadleSandra BullockThandiwe NewtonLos Angeles citizens with vastly separate lives collide in interweaving stories of race, loss and redemption.Though Sandra Bullock is well renowned for her role and is given top billing, she has only 5 minutes of screentime throughout the entirety of the film.
- DirectorJohn CarpenterStarsDonald PleasenceJamie Lee CurtisTony MoranFifteen years after murdering his sister on Halloween night 1963, Michael Myers escapes from a mental hospital and returns to the small town of Haddonfield, Illinois to kill again.Donald Pleasance is barely in the movie, shows up every once in awhile.
- DirectorMichelangelo AntonioniStarsDavid HemmingsVanessa RedgraveSarah MilesA fashion photographer unknowingly captures a death on film after following two lovers in a park.David Hemmings third after Vanessa Redgrave and Sarah Miles.
- DirectorStephen DaldryStarsThomas HornTom HanksSandra BullockA nine-year-old amateur inventor, Francophile, and pacifist searches New York City for the lock that matches a mysterious key left behind by his father, who died in the World Trade Center on September 11, 2001.Tom Hanks aprox. 15 minutes in the film.
- DirectorMike NicholsStarsMelanie GriffithHarrison FordSigourney WeaverWhen a secretary's idea is stolen by her boss, she seizes an opportunity to steal it back by pretending she has her boss' job.Melanie Griffith billed third after Harrison Ford and Sigourney Weaver.
- DirectorVic ArmstrongStarsNicolas CageLea ThompsonCassi ThomsonA small group of survivors is left behind after millions of people suddenly vanish and the world is plunged into chaos and destruction.Cage has first billing, but he is barely in it at all. He features in the opening sequence.
- DirectorMartin ScorseseStarsRobert De NiroRay LiottaJoe PesciThe story of Henry Hill and his life in the mafia, covering his relationship with his wife Karen and his mob partners Jimmy Conway and Tommy DeVito.Ray Liotta, stars and narrates the epic mob classic about working class hoods in the New York mob while Robert De Niro gets billed over him.
- DirectorJames L. BrooksStarsWilliam HurtAlbert BrooksHolly HunterTake two rival television reporters: one handsome, one talented, both male. Add one producer, female. Mix well, and watch the sparks fly.William Hurt and Albert Brooksbeat out the real star, Holly Hunter.
- DirectorTim BurtonStarsMichael KeatonJack NicholsonKim BasingerThe Dark Knight of Gotham City begins his war on crime with his first major enemy being Jack Napier, a criminal who becomes the clownishly homicidal Joker.Michael Keaton is billed after Jack Nicholson (The Joker).
- DirectorJohn LandisStarsJohn BelushiKaren AllenTom HulceAt a 1962 college, Dean Vernon Wormer is determined to expel the entire Delta Tau Chi Fraternity, but those troublemakers have other plans for him.John Belushi receives front runner status as Bluto in this John Landis college party classic, even though Tim Matheson’s character Otter is the main Delta.
- DirectorAmy HeckerlingStarsSean PennJennifer Jason LeighJudge ReinholdA group of Southern California high school students are enjoying their most important subjects: sex, drugs and rock n' roll.Jennifer Jason Leigh’s freshman Stacy Hamilton is the main character, but Sean Penn, receives first star billing... over several other cast members (including Judge Reinhold and Phoebe Cates) with more important roles.
- DirectorJohn SchlesingerStarsDustin HoffmanJon VoightSylvia MilesA naive hustler travels from Texas to New York City to seek personal fortune, finding a new friend in the process.It takes at least twenty minutes for Dustin Hoffman’s character Ratso Rizzo to appear. The plot is about the tragic New York City life of Jon Voight’s character Joe Buck.
- DirectorRidley ScottStarsSigourney WeaverTom SkerrittJohn HurtThe crew of a commercial spacecraft encounters a deadly lifeform after investigating a mysterious transmission of unknown origin.Tom Skerritt gets first billing over Sigourney Weaver, who wound up in every sequel thereafter.
- DirectorBert I. GordonStarsOrson WellesPamela FranklinLee PurcellMr. Cato is the head of a witches' coven in the town of Lilith, where he needs the powers of Lori Brandon to raise his son from the dead.Orson Welles lands the lead credit in this thriller about a beautiful young woman, played by Pamela Franklin.
- DirectorRalph NelsonStarsRobert MitchumFrank LangellaRita HayworthSet in the 1920s, several foreigners held by a South American military group are offered possible freedom if they accept to topple a local crazed military leader.Ken Hutchison's character is the one everything, and everybody, centers around. The saddest part is Ken’s pretty far down on the opening credit list, with another actor's name above his.
- DirectorSergio LeoneStarsHenry FondaCharles BronsonClaudia CardinaleA mysterious stranger with a harmonica joins forces with a notorious desperado to protect a beautiful widow from a ruthless assassin working for the railroad.It's only after Claudia Cardinale, Henry Fonda and Jason Robard's name appear do we get Charles Bronson who, plays a mystery man named "Harmonica," the central character in this epic Western.
- DirectorJoel SchumacherStarsArnold SchwarzeneggerGeorge ClooneyChris O'DonnellBatman and Robin try to keep their relationship together even as they must stop Mr. Freeze and Poison Ivy from freezing Gotham City.George Clooney comes in second to Arnold Schwarzenegger.
- DirectorNimród AntalStarsAdrien BrodyLaurence FishburneTopher GraceA group of elite warriors parachute into an unfamiliar jungle and are hunted by members of a merciless alien race.Despite prominent billing, Laurence Fishburne has less than 15 minutes of screentime.