This is just an opinion piece or as I call it a rant!!
Is there still “Movie Stars”?
Back in the old days of cinema, there were Movie Stars. Performers whose names on the top of a poster or on a Movie Theater Marque would guarantee a hit!
Fans would flock to see their favourite star’s new movie.
There were the likes of John Wayne, James Stewart, Elizabeth Taylor, Clarke Gabel, Cary Grant, Gary Cooper and Dorris Day.
Regardless of film title or co-star these stars guaranteed box office success.
Now we know there is nothing that will guarantee box office success anymore.
We now live in an age of “Celebrity” and the line is blurred between famous and notorious some people are “celebrities” for unclear reasons they are famous for being famous.
So there is a galaxy of “stars” in Hollywood who are celebrities who are known for performing in films and TV but they are not “Movie Stars” like James Stewart was.
All the data around who are the actors that draw big numbers is skewed due to the box office juggernauts that were the Marvel movies from Iron Man - Avengers End Game.
So the stats show the biggest earning actors are the Avengers ensemble cast.
There is only one out of that crew who could be viewed as a movie star and that is Robert Downey Jr. who has had a great run of success since Iron Man in 2008 even his broader comedies made money The Sherlock Homes movies made heaps of cash and even Doolittle wiped its face financially. I believe Robert Downey Jr’s name at the top of a poster does have a significant draw and gives a project prestige.
Also! I am not knocking Scarlett Johansson she has a very successful career and moves effortlessly between big mainstream movies and more intense film roles with highly respected directors such as Wes Anderson, The Coen Brothers, Spike Jonze and Sofia Coppola.
Chris Hemsworth and Chris Evans have been made massive celebrities off the back of Marvel movies they have repeatedly shown they do not have the star power at the box office that people assumed they would have post Avengers.
Dwayne Johnson could be viewed as a movie star because it is safe to say he is not an actor.
His huge hits have come from being part of the Fast and the Furious ensemble cast and the Jumanji reboot movies again in an ensemble cast.
Movies like Rampage and Skyscraper were definitely “Dwayne Johnson vehicles” and made money but his star power took a real blow with the epic failure of Black Adam and Jungle Cruse and he seems to be doing stuff like Red Notice and its sequel that's that is just going straight to Netflix now.
I would say there was probably a time when people would go see the new Tom Hanks movie but I think that faded out around 2009 around the time of Angels & Demons.
Now! I am going to say something controversial.
If you are looking for a performer who makes films whose name at the top of a poster guarantees a draw at the box office who isn't bogged down with “Acting” he does his thing and makes money. Gerard Butler! He is a movie star. He has a run of modestly budgeted testosterone-driven action flicks that appeal to the demographics of people who want to be him and people who want to be with him. Law Abiding Citizen, Olympus Has Fallen, London Has Fallen, Geostorm, Angel Has Fallen, Plane. I am the first to admit I can do a couple of basic sums and work out if a movie may have made a profit at the box office but the shadowy dark art of working out if a film makes money streaming is totally beyond me but his films do well streaming even with his box office bombs like Machine Gun Preacher, Copshop and Greenland finding an audience on streaming. He is 54 and doesn’t seem to be slowing down. If he is making movies that get people into the cinema and making money I say. All the power to you! Mr Butler!
I would also have to name-drop Denzel Washington who when his name is attached to a project does elevate it and is still working. Another stone-cold movie star who is still working today is Harrison Ford even though box office indicates his star in on the wane.
The elephant in the room is Mr Tom Cruise! People do think of him as the last Movie Star but for every hit, he has some stinkers as well. Yes! Top Gun Maverick was a huge global smash and his films make money but some projects are modest hits and Mission Impossible-Dead Reckoning part one did not turn a profit in its theatrical run! Remember it was The Mummy movie starring Cruise in 2017 that launched and buried “Universal’s Dark Universe” so nothing is guaranteed.
In pure hard data actor, Alan Tudyk has banked more bucks at the box office than Tom Cruise.
I think it's fair to say “The Movie Star” as in a living brand that if they are on top of the bill you are guaranteed a smash hit is a thing of the past. The binary and flawed metric of the “Tomato Meter” causes havoc in the movie Zeitgeist and I don't think anyone is immune.
I think there has been a shift where filmmakers have become the new stars of movies.
Which is something I highly endorse!
This is nothing new, brand recognition for a director was pioneered by Alfred Hitchcock whose films were regularly billed as Alfred Hitchcock’s (insert movie title) since 1950 so people would go and see “The New Hitchcock Movie”.
Before he abandoned the concept of a reasonable run time Scorsese was a box office draw on his name alone to a movie fan.
Until quite recently the name Steven Spielberg was a massive box office draw.
Where we can debate which small handful of actors could be viewed as contemporary.
"Movie Stars"
I can easily list 10 filmmakers whose films automatically draw attention and automatic buzz.
Christopher Nolan, Quentin Tarantino, Wes Anderson, Joel Coen, Spike Lee, Paul Thomas Anderson, David Fincher, James Cameron, Guillermo del Toro and now Gretta Gerwig.
Or am I too into movies and the directors being the real stars is just my fantasy?
