New Movie Stars: Summer 2013

The Summer Movie Season is officially over.

Box office revenues have been up about 10% from last year, but that number is deceiving.  Some movies were monster hits and that made up for the collosal flops.  In other words, more money was spent going to the theater but it was spread around less movies.

In terms of the movie star, I tried to figure out whose name could draw in an audience.  Besides the dependable stars like Tom Cruise and Adam Sandler, I put together an enitial list last year that consisted of:

Amy Adams:

Vince Vaughn:

Liam Neeson:

Robert Downey Jr.:

Emma Stone

Daniel Craig

Hugh Jackman

Steve Carell

Jeremy Renner

Channing Tatum

Mark Walberg

Mila Kunis

Chris Hemsworth

With

UP-AND-COMERS

Joseph Gordon-Levitt

Jennifer Lawrence

Anna Kendrick

I later dropped Daniel Craig, because outside of Bond, he doesn't draw in the numbers.  I also let go of Amy Adams and Steve Carrell who had some big bombs.  Ironically, they had movies in the top 3 grossing of the year, but since I don't think their names were at all a draw, I am confident in leaving them off.  And Jeremy Renner's only non-Marvel vehicle, Hansel and Gretel Witch Hunters was a bomb.

So how did everyone else do?

THE WINNERS:

Robert Downey Jr.

photo by Paul Bird

Iron Man 3 was a monster.  It kicked off the Summer Movie Season and no one has caught it, grossing $1.2 billion worldwide.  You could argue that it was Iron Man brand itself, but I doubt that the film would gross anywhere near what it did without him as the star.  He recently inked an astronomically high payday for starring in 2 more Avengers movies and he's worth every penny.

Hugh Jackman

Franz Richter

While his latest bout as Wolverine is the lowest grossing X-Men movie thus far, it still nearly doubled its profit.  Like Robert Downey Jr., Jackman is so tied to the character that he is a huge part of the draw to the theater.

THE LOSERS

Vince Vaughn

photo by Emily Tan

This one hurts because I like the guy so much and he is one of the few people whose name is enough for me to buy a movie ticket.  But audiences don't seem to feel that way anymore.  The Internship was a disappointment financially and critically.  He has another starring vehicle, Delivery Man, opening later this year, but I am not optimistic.

Channing Tatum

photo by Tony Sheck

White House Down was a big-budget bomb.  I am not sure how much of Tatum's brand has been hurt, considering that the movie at least opened rather large.  But even a good star can't beat horrible word of mouth.  

Mark Walberg

photo by Eva Rinaldi

He had 3 movies open in 2013: Pain and Gain, 2 Guns, and Broken City.  None of them broke even $70 million.  Even when co-stars with Denzel Washington, the Rock, and Russell Crowe, he cannot break through.

UNDECIDED

Mila Kunis

Oz: The Great and Powerful was a big hit, but I don't think the stars names were at all a draw to the box office.

Emma Stone

She did voice work for the hit movie The Croods, but she had a supporting part in the modestly successful Gangster Squad.  She hasn't had a starring vehicle in a while.

Liam Neeson

He had no movies come out in 2013.

Chris Hemsworth

He has 2 big movies yet to come out this year: Ron Howard's Rush and Thor: The Dark World.  The latter should be a hit, but I don't know about the former

Jennifer Lawrence

Like Neeson, she hasn't had any releases in 2013, but Catching Fire should be big.

Joseph Gordon-Leavitt

He's gone back to doing independent work.  His directorial debut, Don Jon is coming out soon.  We'll see what box office this low budget film does.

Anna Kendrick

I'm watching and waiting until we see how Pitch Perfect 2 does.

So has this Summer produced any potentially new movie stars?

Vin Diesel

photo by Dudek1337

The Fast and Furious franchise shows no signs of slowing down at all.  We'll see how his other franchise, Riddick, will do when it comes out.

Melissa McCarthy

photo by MingleMediaTv

She was in 3 movies this year that grossed over $100 million.  She is a comic presence, so we'll keep an eye on her.

So... thoughts?