graveyard spiral
n.— «Smokey, a goofball, silly but friendly car-chase comedy, became a runaway hit and locked Reynolds into a series of road-race films that put his film career into a graveyard spiral.» —“Affable Reynolds stays afloat in a sea of miserable movies” by Patrick Taggart Austin American-Statesman (Texas) Feb. 12, 1989. (source: Double-Tongued Dictionary)
Further reading
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