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In the latest ranking of Hollywood’s most bankable actors, Tom Cruise has dropped from the top ten for the first time in a decade. He placed 11th with 80 points. His latest film “Valkyrie”, grossed $200 million worldwide.
Tom’s good friend Will Smith topped the list, scoring 96 out of a possible 100 points. Smith’s last three movies averaged $459 million in worldwide box office and has climbed the list, ranking 12 in previous rankings.
The list is compiled by author James Ulmer, whose book “Actors Hot List” ranks the box-office clout of 1,400 actors. The rankings are based on a survey of more than 100 movie buyers and sellers. A former editor and columnist for the Hollywood Reporter, Ulmer resumed publication of his annual list this year after taking a year off.
Who else made the list? Following Will Smith is: Johnny Depp, Brad Pitt, Tom Hanks, George Clooney, Will Ferrell, Reese Witherspoon, Nicolas Cage, Leonardo DiCaprio and Russell Crowe.
Can Tom Cruise climb the list again and make it back into the top ten?
Image Credit: Newscom
Tom hasn’t made a movie for a while, those other actors seem to have movies coming out every year, I’d love to know why he’s left it so long between movies, maybe problems with UA. Really, when you think about it, 2006-MI3,a cameo in Tropic Thunder, Lions for Lambs (don’t know why he did that one) and Valkyrie, which I think did ok for a war movie. I think Wichita might do well, but the Materese Circle I think would have nailed it, but then again you never know what the media says is true or not.
Annie: I think what that list says is true because Hollywood is a very
competitive, cut throat town and Tom Cruise made several missteps that
have caused this set back.
I mean the most loyal fans have got to admit this. I think that is why he
went on Oprah’s show to try and set the record straight about the couch
jumping incident, the Matt Lauer sermon, the Brooke Shields attack, the
leaked YouTube video, the Morton book, etc. The list is long. Tom took
one hit after another and these are the consequences.
All these guys that are on the top list generally keep their personal life
to themselves. Hollywood is a very competitive industry, you have to be
good looking, attractive, talented, and have that “it” quality that is hard
to describe. I don’t know that Tom will fully recover because he has a lot
of competition and to say that he was in the top ten for the last decade is
an achievement in itself. Its hard to sustain a successful career in
Hollywood that long.
And when one signs onto a movie there are no sure bets. Look at Lions for
Lambs, the stars were Robert Redford and Meryl Streep. Looking at that would
have made someone think “guaranteed hit.” But the movie did not do well at
the box office because there are so many factors that go into making a
successful movie and then marketing at the movie.
I think it will be hard for Tom Cruise to get his career back to the days of
the earlier Mission Impossible movie. He should be happy that he even
experienced this much success. It makes one realize how one should never take
anything for granted and clearly he must have been isolated or badly advised
in those missteps I described above. Time will tell what happens.
Annie: I think what that list says is true because Hollywood is a very
competitive, cut throat town and Tom Cruise made several missteps that
have caused this set back.
I mean the most loyal fans have got to admit this. I think that is why he
went on Oprah’s show to try and set the record straight about the couch
jumping incident, the Matt Lauer sermon, the Brooke Shields attack, the
leaked YouTube video, the Morton book, etc. The list is long. Tom took
one hit after another and these are the consequences.
All these guys that are on the top list generally keep their personal life
to themselves. Hollywood is a very competitive industry, you have to be
good looking, attractive, talented, and have that “it” quality that is hard
to describe. I don’t know that Tom will fully recover because he has a lot
of competition and to say that he was in the top ten for the last decade is
an achievement in itself. Its hard to sustain a successful career in
Hollywood that long.
And when one signs onto a movie there are no sure bets. Look at Lions for
Lambs, the stars were Robert Redford and Meryl Streep. Looking at that would
have made someone think “guaranteed hit.” But the movie did not do well at
the box office because there are so many factors that go into making a
successful movie and then marketing at the movie.
I think it will be hard for Tom Cruise to get his career back to the days of
the earlier Mission Impossible movie. He should be happy that he even
experienced this much success. It makes one realize how one should never take
anything for granted and clearly he must have been isolated or badly advised
in those missteps I described above. Time will tell what happens…
Annie: I think what that list says is true because Hollywood is a very
competitive, cut throat town and Tom Cruise has made several missteps that
have caused this set back. He has admitted this himself on several talk
shows.
I mean the most loyal fans have got to admit this. I think that is why he
went on Oprah’s show to try and set the record straight about the couch
jumping incident, the Matt Lauer sermon, the Brooke Shields attack, the
leaked YouTube video, the Morton book, etc. The list is long. Tom took
one hit after another and these are the consequences.
All these guys that are on the top list generally keep their personal life
to themselves. Hollywood is a very competitive industry, you have to be
good looking, attractive, talented, and have that “it” quality that is hard
to describe. I don’t know that Tom will fully recover because he has a lot
of competition and to say that he was in the top ten for the last decade is
an achievement in itself. Its hard to sustain a successful career in
Hollywood that long.
And when one signs onto a movie there are no sure bets. Look at Lions for
Lambs, the stars were Robert Redford and Meryl Streep. Looking at that would
have made someone think “guaranteed hit.” But the movie did not do well at
the box office because there are so many factors that go into making a
successful movie and then marketing at the movie.
I think it will be hard for Tom Cruise to get his career back to the days of
the earlier Mission Impossible movie. He should be happy that he even
experienced this much success. It makes one realize how one should never take
anything for granted and clearly he must have been isolated or badly advised
in those missteps I described above. Time will tell what happens…
My comment is not appearing.
Just my opinion, I can’t agree with you that having Robert Redford and Meryl Sreep guaranteed success, because for me it was quite the opposite, I only went to see it because of Tom, not that R and M are not wonderful actors because they are the best, they just don’t do it for me, and the movie was boring, unlike a lot of his other movies, but I agree TC has made a few mistakes, I think his biggest obstacle, is the lack of trust people seem to have in him ,and sometimes me included, even though I like him. I wish there was a way for him to get over this, but I don’t know how he can go about it mainly because of the media.
LFL was not a bad movie, it as a movie released at the wrong time. The public was bombarded with news about the war and had absolutely no interest in seeing it at the multiplexes as well. Still LFL did better than many movies dealing with the war on terror.
David Cronenberg (the director) said it best, the Tom Cruise the media wants to create is far different from the real Tom Cruise and from reports of those who have actually met the man and interacted with him, TC is a really nice guy.
The media spins these takes on him and then one reads
comments from the British actors who worked with Tom on Valkyrie and how fabulous he was with them and their
families.
Even as recently as the WHCA dinner in Washington and the Memorial Day concert ……… The reports are about how lovely he and KH were.
Creating a tabloid negative image of a person is easy but when those tabloid machinations are compared to people’s meetings with the man himself then one realizes just how cruel and untruthful the media can be.
I’m not sure what all that has to do with Tom dropping out of the top 10 of the Ulmer report, which is taken seriously in the industry, Mary. He has always been known as a nice guy. However, the public perception is what matters since they are the people who buy tickets. Unfortunately, I think Tom really hurt himself in terms of his career a few years ago and the public hasn’t forgotten completely. Perhaps eventually they will. Perhaps not. I hope they do for his sake and ours since he’s a good actor. I don’t think the alot of the public feels the same way about him and this is one indicator. Back in the day LFL would have been a hit just because Tom was in it. People flocked to see his films….even the not so fantastic ones (Think Far and Away or Cocktail). Valkyrie was a modest hit. Again, a few years ago, I think it would have been a blockbuster. Times change and so does public opinion, whether its generated by media speculation or not. Either way, it affects the actors drawing power and Tom was definitely affected in the past few years.
Everyone, sorry for the repeated postings. It would not take the posting and
then showed up several times:(
Times have changed. I was watching Lionel Ricthie on Larry King and he was
asked “do you think times have changed from when you started in show
business?” He said “YES, now you have the Internet and EVERYONE has a camera
(even civilians with their telephone cameras), and in a few seconds, minutes
news and photos can be leaked on the Internet and be available ALL OVER THE
WORLD. He also said, “before you could go to a party in Amsterdam and really
party HARD and NO ONE would have knows about it. Today, someone at that party
MIGHT have a hidden camera.” Lionel Ricthie also said that when he went to
visit King Jordan they asked for his daughter Nicole. This almost FLOORED
Lionel Ricthie whos been around over 20 years.
In the world we live in today, celebrities have to be very careful because
things can be saved on TIVO, uploaded to YouTube.com, etc. I think in Tom
Cruise’s case, the interviews with Matt Lauer, the jumping on the couch on
Oprah’s show, the leaked YouTube video, the Brooke Shields attack, and
his Scientology connection all hurt him and the public was able to watch
these videos again and again and that is why he went on Oprah’s show to set
the record straight.
The problem is Hollywood is a VERY COMPETITIVE industry and there’s a line of
actors waiting to take your roles. And it is very expensive to make movies,
most financial investors want to see a profit and not gamble on someone that
is controversial. This is my opinion.
In the world we live in today, celebrities have to be very careful because
things can be saved on TIVO, uploaded to YouTube.com, etc. I think in Tom
Cruise’s case, the interviews with Matt Lauer, the jumping on the couch on
Oprah’s show, the leaked YouTube video, the Brooke Shields attack, and
his Scientology connection all hurt him and the public was able to watch
these videos again and again and that is why he went on Oprah’s show to set
the record straight.
The problem is Hollywood is a VERY COMPETITIVE industry and there’s a line of
actors waiting to take your roles. And it is very expensive to make movies,
most financial investors want to see a profit and not gamble on someone that
is controversial. This is my opinion.
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I’m with you on this Just My Opinion. Back when Tom was in his heyday, his PR was carefully controlled by the amazing Pat Kingsley. When he fired her and did the things you mentioned, the publics opinion of him seemed to change. Its not that he’s any less of a good actor. It’s simply that the public views him differently and that can be hard to overcome with the internet, as you mentioned. It is a different world out there these days. Even though Tom is now with Paul Bloch (one of the best in the industry), the damage was done and people haven’t quite forgotten it yet! It’s still hurting him, IMHO.
Charlotte Rose: Well said. Hollywood is an illusion and you have to understand that to be successful.
People thought Tom Cruise was like his movies, once his other side was
revealed the one with Matt Lauer, Oprah Winfrey, Brooke Shields, the Morton
book, etc., people didn’t like what they were seeing. How does that translate? People stop going to see your movies.
But the public still saw Tom in Valkyrie to the surprise of all those who panned it from before pre-production to it’s release.
The public may always recall the Matt Lauer interview etc and beyond but above all else Tom Cruise has a body of work as an actor that is enviable. Lines from his movies are part of our vocabulary.
Valkyrie success shows that no amount of ravaging in the media can undermine years of quality work.
Mary: I understand your devotion but there is no way Valkyrie performed the
way Tom Cruise would have hoped. It has recently been released to DVD and
in my nearby Blockbuster, there’s a lot of copies sitting on the shelf. Its
not doing great DVD business. I am certain Tom learned a lot of things in
the last 3-4 years. Although I am certain he was isolated from a lot of
things that were going on until it was too late. Whoever was advising him
was not doing a good job. Time will tell if Tom can turn this around.
I don’t think this is a bad thing. IMO Tom will become more determined to show that he is about making good movies in which he does everyhing he can to portray his character the best it could have been.
TC is in a good place.If Cruise makes two movies in a year his spot is on top remember he was top ranking because of War of the Worlds and MI-3.
For a WW-2 flick like Valkyrie to make lots of money speaks of Tom’s draw at the box office considering those genres are not blockbusters,not franchises nor female and teeny bopper demos.
This rankings usually determines how many films an actor makes and ofcourse strength at the B.O. if Cruise will make 2 movies per year definitely he rules the list. Remember the year Tom did MI-3 and War of the Worlds coming out of the same year? TC can draw cementing that proof with Valkyrie a WW-2 flick making lots of money domestically and internationally since its not a blockbuster,franchise or teeny cult following like Twilight.
Mary: Tom Cruise should be proud of his body of work but I seriously
doubt that alone will keep him satisfied. He reminds me of the energizer
bunny that wants to keep going and going and not sitting on his laurels.
But if you look at X17Online, you will see a young crop of actors whos
latest movies are racking in the MILLIONS in the U.S. alone: Zac Efron,
Rob Pattinson, etc. Even Ben Stiller was LUCKY his new movie opened well
because its brutal out there. The entertainment industry is a very, very
competitive business.
I think Valkyrie did quit well considering the way it was panned , as Mary says. I must admit, I saw Valkyrie, only because Tom was in it, I’m not a fan of war movies, but he played Col VON STR very well. I also think the age that Tom is now is a difficult one for an actor, and family movies seem to do very well, as is the case with Ben Stiller. I read that THE HARDY MEN is going ahead with TC AND BS, and if it does I think it will be be very successful. Obvoiusly we don’t know what goes on , and it seems sometimes neither does the media, but The Matarese Circle with Denzel Washington sounds absolutely fabulous, if it was ever on in the first place, considering all the things you read. Tom Cruise has been around a long time, and should be proud of his work, and I think he still has very very much to offer movie goers, and whatever he does he will still get bagged ,its not the couch jumping , Matt Lauer or Brook Shields incidents, I believe people have more or less forgotten about them its the Scie thing he can’t get away from, the media won’t let him.
As for the new wave of actors that around,I don’t think they have what it takes to stay around for a decade or two.
In my opinion, if Tom were to do more Indie films, he would be fabulous. He’d have more scope to break out! of the template characterizations of blockbusters like MI3 (yes, I appreciate those bring the money in). I’d rather see his talent in other roles. Sure there was damage in the past few years. Being a scientologist is unfortunate for Tom. People have done their homework on this organization and it doesn’t look good to say the least.
I think Tom can revive his career with smart choices. I think he will, too.