# Last Example of Hollywood Star Power? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** movies\ **Created:** [July 19, 2024, 11:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/last-example-of-hollywood-star-power/1004479 "2024-07-19T23:22:45Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 16\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Quimby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/22d042/32.png) [@Quimby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quimby)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2024, 1:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/last-example-of-hollywood-star-power/1004479/21 "2024-07-20T13:59:10Z")
Yeah I saw Uncut Gems in a theater. I still feel the tension 🙂 Not sure that was a hit though. ---
**Author:** ![don\_t\_ask](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@don\_t\_ask](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/don_t_ask)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2024, 8:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/last-example-of-hollywood-star-power/1004479/22 "2024-07-21T08:15:51Z")
> [@Shalmanese](#): > > What about Challengers? Luca Guadagnino has some star power from people who liked Call Me By Your Name but I wager a substantial number of people went because it was the “Zendaya threesome movie”. It was almost universally well reviewed. I have seen it but I had seen none of Guadagnino’s prior works and only one movie (_West Side Story_) featuring any of the 3 leads. I have since seen Faist in _The Bikeriders_. ---
**Author:** ![Pavelb1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/439d5e/32.png) [@Pavelb1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pavelb1)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2024, 8:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/last-example-of-hollywood-star-power/1004479/23 "2024-07-21T08:41:55Z")
Not quite sure what you’re asking but Tom Cruise is the last movie star. And Tarantino was right. He just didn’t word it very well. If I told you a new trilogy coming out with Sebastian Stan as Luke Skywalker between the Jedi Temple burning and his exile ending and directed by Lucas…no one would see it for Sebastian Stan. They’d see it cause Lucas is directing and they’re intrigued by the idea of Stan. ---
**Author:** ![crazyjoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f14d63/32.png) [@crazyjoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/crazyjoe)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2024, 3:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/last-example-of-hollywood-star-power/1004479/24 "2024-07-22T03:15:50Z")
Naw, if you told me Lucas was direcring another star wars movie, that would cross it off my list of movies to see. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_waldo_pepper/32/12370_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2024, 11:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/last-example-of-hollywood-star-power/1004479/25 "2024-07-23T11:32:13Z")
> [@Pavelb1](#): > > Not quite sure what you’re asking but Tom Cruise is the last movie star. > > And Tarantino was right. He just didn’t word it very well. > > If I told you a new trilogy coming out with Sebastian Stan as Luke Skywalker between the Jedi Temple burning and his exile ending and directed by Lucas…no one would see it for Sebastian Stan. You know, that makes me wonder. For the sake of argument, imagine there _is_ a movie star who — right now — could headline a plain-vanilla movie and it’d be a hit. Not a sequel or a remake or whatever; not an adaptation of some well-known franchise; just a courtroom drama FEATURING THIS GUY, or a romantic comedy FEATURING THIS GUY, or an action movie FEATURING THIS GUY, or whatever: that’s the only pitch you’d really need, it’s a sure thing to hit screens at number one and promptly rake in more than 2.5x its budget. And imagine that — even though that’s so — said movie star opts to headline franchise-tastic blockbusters. _Oh, sure,_ he reasons, _I could do a film with a low-key premise, and it’d be a hit; but I don’t want to do that; I want to do this._ And he proceeds to, like, make tons of money. Would we be able to tell? ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2024, 11:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/last-example-of-hollywood-star-power/1004479/26 "2024-07-23T11:55:57Z")
> [@Thudlow\_Boink](#): > > I got the impression that the OP was thinking of the kind of thing where people would say “Let’s go see the latest Arnold Schwarzenegger movie” or “Let’s go see the latest Adam Sandler movie” without really knowing or caring anything else about the movie besides who was starring in it. That’s how I generally feel about Reynolds movies - _Red Notice_, _Free Guy_, _Adam Project_ , _The Hitman’s Bodyguard_ etc… I mean, they _are_ often effects-laden, but that’s not why I want to watch them. There are lots of FX-fests I wouldn’t watch if you paid me. And they’re all original properties, AFAIK. ---
**Author:** ![Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba9def/32.png) [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Asking_Questions)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2024, 2:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/last-example-of-hollywood-star-power/1004479/27 "2024-07-23T14:42:17Z")
> [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](#): > > For the sake of argument, imagine there _is_ a movie star who — right now — could headline a plain-vanilla movie and it’d be a hit. Tom Hanks is your guy. For either stand alone or franchise, plain jane or big budget. ---
**Author:** ![Great\_Antibob](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e47c2d/32.png) [@Great\_Antibob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Great_Antibob)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2024, 2:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/last-example-of-hollywood-star-power/1004479/28 "2024-07-23T14:55:59Z")
> [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](#): > > or an action movie FEATURING THIS GUY, or whatever: that’s the only pitch you’d really need, it’s a sure thing to hit screens at number one and promptly rake in more than 2.5x its budget. There may be a more recent example, but I’d argue that “Free Guy” or “Red Notice” from a few years ago falls into this bucket. The premise of those movies is unimportant and kind of silly and the movies themselves were kind of unimportant and kind of silly, but made at least 2.5x its budget on the basis of “RYAN REYNOLDS”!!1! And he certainly (now) knows a few things about the whole franchise blockbuster thing. The Rock got close and may even get there (he’s got a TON of generic action movies), but he might have over-extended with the whole “Black Adam” fiasco. He could have done pretty well for himself in the 80s or 90s. > [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](#): > > Tom Hanks is your guy. For either stand alone or franchise, plain jane or big budget. I think those days are past for him. He’s been in a fair number of plain jane and big budget movies over the last decade or so, and while most have been decently successful, Toy Story is probably the only real standout. Maybe “Sully” but that one didn’t rely solely on Hanks, either. ---
**Author:** ![Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba9def/32.png) [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Asking_Questions)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2024, 3:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/last-example-of-hollywood-star-power/1004479/29 "2024-07-23T15:01:27Z")
> [@Great\_Antibob](#): > > The Rock got close and may even get there (he’s got a TON of generic action movies) For me, he might be the answer. I watched a lot of Mr Rock’s actioners just because I like his style. Unfortunately, not all were actually good. I liked _Skyscraper_, but _San Andreas_ was stupid beyond belief. And _Baywatch_ was actually fun. I never watched the show, so I guess I did watch the film just because of Mr Rock. Now I’ve gotten too old for this shit. I wait and see if the movie reviews say the right things before I risk wasting time. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2024, 3:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/last-example-of-hollywood-star-power/1004479/30 "2024-07-23T15:14:17Z")
Action movies tend to be special effects movies, though, which the OP is excluding on the grounds that people might be seeing them just for the effects, not the star. Though I will say that I’m more likely to see an effects movie starring Dwayne Johnson than one starring most other action stars. ---
**Author:** ![ZipperJJ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zipperjj/32/211_2.png) [@ZipperJJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZipperJJ)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2024, 3:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/last-example-of-hollywood-star-power/1004479/31 "2024-07-23T15:15:56Z")
I feel like Timothee Chalamet is the big leading man star power to bring out the young folks now. But it’s hard to say because he was in _Dune_ and _Wonka_, both effects-heavy and nostalgia-heavy films. I think a regular-old film starring him would still do well, though. ---
**Author:** ![Munch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/munch/32/5281_2.png) [@Munch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Munch)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2024, 3:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/last-example-of-hollywood-star-power/1004479/32 "2024-07-23T15:23:56Z")
“Oppenheimer” was a major movie attraction based on the star power of the director. ---
**Author:** ![Great\_Antibob](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e47c2d/32.png) [@Great\_Antibob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Great_Antibob)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2024, 3:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/last-example-of-hollywood-star-power/1004479/33 "2024-07-23T15:27:29Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > Action movies tend to be special effects movies, though, which the OP is excluding on the grounds that people might be seeing them just for the effects, not the star. I’ve seen Dwayne Johnson’s masterpiece “Rampage”, and I assure you, people watched it for the specials effects just as much as they watched “The Running Man” on the basis of its dystopian philosophical musings rather than some unknown Austrian bodybuilder. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2024, 3:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/last-example-of-hollywood-star-power/1004479/34 "2024-07-23T15:36:54Z")
Rampage was a bad movie where everyone involved in it knew that it was bad, and therefore decided to have fun with it, leading to it being so-bad-it’s-good. And Johnson is an actor who could pull that off, where many couldn’t or wouldn’t. So I’d still credit him some with supporting that movie. ---
**Author:** ![veryfrank](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/87869e/32.png) [@veryfrank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/veryfrank)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2024, 4:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/last-example-of-hollywood-star-power/1004479/35 "2024-07-23T16:15:02Z")
> [@Great\_Antibob](#): > > I think those days are past for him. He’s been in a fair number of plain jane and big budget movies over the last decade or so, and while most have been decently successful, Toy Story is probably the only real standout. Maybe “Sully” but that one didn’t rely solely on Hanks, either. I remember when Hanks was maybe the biggest star in Hollywood, winning two Oscars in a row and hitting it out of the park box office wise every time. In the past decade he’s had a few moderate successes outside of Pixar, but he’s also made films that barely got a North American release, if at all. That said, he’s likely enjoying the phase of his career in which he gets to choose interesting projects and filmmakers because he believes in the project, not because he thinks it’s a surefire hit. He’s worked with Tom Twyker twice now; wouldn’t have done something like that back in the mid-90s. ---
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2024, 9:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/last-example-of-hollywood-star-power/1004479/36 "2024-07-23T21:02:58Z")
> [@veryfrank](#): > > That said, he’s likely enjoying the phase of his career in which he gets to choose interesting projects and filmmakers because he believes in the project, not because he thinks it’s a surefire hit. He seems to be a creative voice in their production too. He doesn’t just sign onto a project and do what’s written, he’ll shepherd it himself, find a team, funding, and get it created, but not take the front-facing credit for it beyond starring in it. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/last-example-of-hollywood-star-power/1004479.md?page=1)