There are tons of examples of this situation. One of the many examples is “An Officer and a Gentleman”, the main character Zack Mayo was turned down by John Travolta and eventually given to Richard Gere. The film was a critical and commercial success. Travolta instead starred in “Staying Alive”, reprising his role as Tony Manero in the previously successful “Saturday Night Fever”. “Staying Alive” was a modest box office success (about $125 million), but grossed half of “SNF” (nearly $250 million) and cost about 8 times more to make, probably as a result of Travolta’s rising fees as a headline actor. “Staying Alive” was also a critical failure, panned almost universally by most critics.
By contrast, “An Officer and a Gentleman” was both a critical and commercial success, garnering an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for Louis Gossett Jr. as Gunnery Sargent Foley, who almost steals the show. It was also nominated for Best Actress, Debra Winger, and Best Original Screenplay. In retrospect I think Gere was the better acting choice for his ability to play vulnerable characters whereas I think Travolta would have been “too cool” to be convincing as Zack.