Shia LaBeouf has become more famous in recent months for his acting out than his acting.
With his arrest Thursday night for disrupting a performance of the Broadway musical "Cabaret" — just the latest installment of a spate of off-screen drama surrounding the 28-year-old actor — the shine is definitely off the one-time Hollywood golden boy.
As the bad headlines continue to mount, LaBeouf has gone from being compared to James Dean to cautionary tales like Mel Gibson and Lindsay Lohan.
"If his career hasn't reached the tipping point, he's right there on the verge of it," film critic Richard Roeper told the Daily News, "where just the announcement that Shia LaBeouf is in a movie is going to draw more snickers than, 'Oh I'm looking forward to it.'"
Though LaBeouf's recent movies ("Nymphomaniac: Vol. I and II," "Charlie Countryman") have been indie projects that haven't been huge box office successes, the former child star does have an impressive resume in his favor.
"Adding up his box office, this guy has been a part of some of the biggest franchises of all time with 'Transformers' and 'Indiana Jones,'" says Paul Dergarabedian, box office analyst for Rentrak.
"This is somebody whose career many actors would kill for, but he seems like he's squandering all that right now with bad behavior."
It's glaring that LaBeouf's Broadway meltdown came on the same day that "Transformers" Age of Extinction" opened without him — and went on to earn $100 million over its debut weekend with Mark Wahlberg in the drivers' seat.
LaBeouf is riding shotgun to Brad Pitt on upcoming World War II tank drama "Fury," but it may be a while before he gets a part in a similarly sized popcorn movie.
"If I'm a studio or I'm a producer and I'm writing the checks, I wouldn't cast LaBeouf right now," says Roeper. "Because there are a lot of other talented young actors who show up on time, do a really good job and you don't have to worry about what they're going to do between the time you're yelling cut and the time you're yelling action the next morning.
If I'm a studio or I'm a producer and I'm writing the checks, I wouldn't cast LaBeouf right now.
"Why take that risk?"
Like Gary Oldman's controversial comments to Playboy defending Mel Gibson's racist rants, LaBeouf's recent behavior is a challenge to the maxim that there's no such thing as bad publicity.
"Right now, I would keep him away from junkets and press conferences if he was working on one of our films," says a publicist for a major studio who requested anonymity. "You wouldn't feel comfortable with him anywhere near a microphone."
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Here's the good news: it's not too late for LaBeouf to pull out of this perceived downward spiral, says image consultant Amanda Sanders.
"The public roots for a comeback story," says Sanders, who's advised Chris Rock and Wanda Sykes. "Look at Robert Downey, Jr.; he was once found in a neighbor's bed (while high) and now he's Iron Man."
The first step for LaBeouf in rehabiliting his image, says Sanders, is to pull back from the public eye to let the negative publicity fade.
"My best advice to him is to go away for a while, issue an apology and go to rehab or take a mental vacation to work on himself," she added.
But LaBeouf needs to start taking action now to salvage his movie career. No more bar room brawls; no more paper bags over his head at red carpets; no bizarre Twitter rants.
"He's young, he definitely has a talent, and movie audiences are forgiving," says Roeper.
"If you show up and do the work, instantly people will forgive you — but he's got to start doing it now, he can't keep going down this path."
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