![]() I noticed this one Saturday when I was selling tickets for Judd’s slickly packaged Ida Lupinoesque “Woman-in-Jep” flick, Double Jeopardy. You know who else customers used to ask for by name with alarming regularity? Ashley Judd. Again, not that those stars haven’t had their share of hits, or that they weren’t occasionally referred to by name. ![]() Most people don’t come up and ask for just any ole actor: Meryl Streep, Gary Oldman, Liam Neeson, Cameron Diaz, Hilary Swank, Jamie Fox, etc. This is not as common as you might have imagined. If she had a movie playing, customers wanted to see it, and they didn’t even really care what it was called. During her reign as a top draw in comedies released through Disney’s Touchstone division, patrons at my box office window were more likely to plop down their money and ask for tickets to see “Bette Midler” than they were to ask for her given film by name. You know, I worked in the movie biz for over twenty years, and one of the things I noticed was the pull that a very select few stars had with the public, and Midler was one of them. Now, the reason for pointing out this trend can be summed up in exactly two words: Bette Midler. The Divine Miss M won an American Comedy award for her performances in the film though Tomlin was every bit her equal. The cast of Big Business (l-r): Lily Tomlin, Bette Midler, Lily Tomlin, and Bette Midler. ![]() Audiences have been flocking to see what happens when Bullock is specifically paired with the juggernaut known as Melissa McCarthy. On the other hand, it’s hard to imagine that Bullock’s latest smash, The Heat, would work with just anyone. My point is that even with all their years and years of residual audience goodwill, the allure of Hanks and Bullock was simply not a guarantee of box office legs. Likewise, people might not have been in the mood for a movie that revisited 9-11 so close to the Xmas holiday. Now, this isn’t a slam against Hanks or Bullock. The movie, to put it nicely, performed sluggishly at the box office. released Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close, a post 9-11 movie toplined by two of America’s most beloved stars, Tom Hanks, a two-time Oscar winner, and Sandra Bullock–her first role since the blockbuster The Blind Side, also from Warner’s, which earned her a Best Actress Oscar. Moviegoers bought tickets to see their favorite stars in a variety of scenarios, often with the reasonable expectation of a good story with excellent performances and production values, and that’s no longer the case to the degree that it once was. Even so, the public often responded accordingly. Still, the point is what we once thought of as true-blue movie stars are no longer the guaranteed draws they were back in the day–not that every old-time Hollywood star never knew defeat, but, typically, the old studios took great care handling talent, with movies designed to play to a particular performer’s strength likewise, movies were marketed much differently than they are now. ![]() If these movies score with big-name stars such as two-time Oscar nominee Downey, that’s great! If such movies score with lesser known talents, well, that’s probably even better for the studios–at least for awhile–since they are in more enviable positions when it comes to salary/contract negotiations with performers who might still be floating somewhere under the radar of the public consciousness. Since probably about the 80s and much more so now, the studios and even the big talent agencies have been pushing the idea of the high concept package, and that often means more and more emphasis on easily marketable franchises: movies based on comic books (I mean graphic novels), games, and, of course, sequels. On the other hand, movie stars are no longer necessarily the guaranteed draw, or draws, that they once were. Downey, btw, reportedly earned 75 million in the year or so. just named the highest paid movie star of the year thanks to his recent turns as Iron Man in both his own movies as well as The Avengers franchise? Certainly, Hollywood is still willing to pay top dollar for high profile talent. I think the general moviegoing public is still as fascinated by the Angelina Jolies and George Clooneys as they ever were, though both of them have had their share of clunkers, and wasn’t Robert Downey Jr. ![]() For several years, entertainment reporters, movie biz insiders and/or analysts have been mourning the passing of the institution once known as “The Movie Star.” Oh, please don’t misunderstand. ![]()
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