West moved to Propaganda Films and began considering offers for his feature directorial debut. Having made his name in funny commercials, he found himself deluged with "slapstick comedies, romantic comedies and dinosaur comedies" but held out until Jerry Bruckheimer sent the script for "Con Air" (1997), a heady mix of testosterone and pyrotechnics in a slick 115-minute package. Though panned by critics, the non-stop spectacle of noise, fire and madness took in over $100 million, making it one of the year's top action films. A powerhouse roster of stars including Nicolas Cage, John Malkovich and John Cusack signed on to wear either a white or (more often) black hat, helping to lift this tale of dangerous convicts hijacking a plane mid-flight high above "Turbulence", its mayhem-in-the-sky counterpart. After reading endless scripts, West settled on "The General's Daughter" (1999), adapted from the best-selling Nelson De Mille novel, for his sophomore effort, hoping that its classic but dark story involving betrayal, honor and conspiracy would prove he was not merely a filmmaker specializing in guns and explosions.