Future of Movie Stars: Who Will Shine? Who Will Fade Away?

[manbearpig]

Any thoughts on Elizabeth Banks this year? She directed and had a role in a hit movie, Pitch Perfect 2. Appeared in another popular movie (Magic Mike XXL), gave a very well received performance (Love & Mercy), is going to be in that Wet Hot American Summer Netflix series, and she has the last Hunger Games movie in November. Good for her! At the minute I'm more interested in seeing what she directs next, but I hope she continues to get good acting roles too.

[topanga]

 

 

Same goes for her Disney costar Brenda Song. I've liked her in everything I've seen her in but sadly she never completely broke out of that Disney mold.

 

Well, she did have that memorable turn as Andrew Garfield's psycho girlfriend in The Social Network, but that was five years ago. Frankly, given how some former child stars turn out, I think as long they keep working and don't screw up their lives, they're in pretty good shape.

I enjoyed her as a paralegal on Season 1 of Scandal. She was funny, smart, and memorable. She should be working more.

[absnow54]

At the minute I'm more interested in seeing what she directs next, but I hope she continues to get good acting roles too.

Hasn't she been tapped to direct "The Red Queen"? The next YA Fantasy adaptation Hollywood hopes will stick.

[methodwriter85]

I believe she was also rumoured to be one of the actresses up for the lead in the Star Wars spin-off (the role that eventually went to Felicity Jones),

But yeah, I think she's doing fine -- she seems to be into doing smaller, more art-house stuff with highly regarded directors (who seem to love her), with the occasional studio film mixed in there. And like you said, she's a good bet to get another Oscar nomination, if not a win, for Carol this year.

 

Yeah, like I said, I think she was being positioned for a huge A-list career, but then the two movies that were supposed to take her there as a leading lady didn't quite work out, and she seems to have taken a step back from her 2010/2011 It-Girl status and seems to want a smaller, more critically-acclaimed career than trying to be America's Sweetheart/Leading Lady. That's why I put her as kind of "third" in terms of post-Social Network career- both Eisenberg and Garfield seem to be gunning for (and having mixed success with) A-list status, while she's not and seems to be doing well, and then there's Armie Hammer, who has been supporting in meh movies and desperately needs a hit like a crack addict.

 

Elizabeth Banks is pretty smart. She knows that at 41, no one's going to be knocking down her door to star as the lovely young girl that our hero falls in love with or the plucky young girl in love, so she's making her own opportunities.

Edited July 27, 2015 by methodwriter85

[raezen]

Any thoughts on Elizabeth Banks this year? She directed and had a role in a hit movie, Pitch Perfect 2. Appeared in another popular movie (Magic Mike XXL), gave a very well received performance (Love & Mercy), is going to be in that Wet Hot American Summer Netflix series, and she has the last Hunger Games movie in November. Good for her! At the minute I'm more interested in seeing what she directs next, but I hope she continues to get good acting roles too.

She is also in these commercials I see for realtor.com. She's pretty funny in them as well. That must be a decent payday.

[VCRTracking]

There's a nice joke with Elizabeth Banks in the new Muppets show on ABC right at the 2:30 mark:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x2B5d-8H588

Edited July 27, 2015 by VCRTracking

[Rick Kitchen]

 

Justin Timberlake seems to have given up on becoming a box-office draw. He hasn't acted in two years. Honestly, I liked his supporting stuff such as Social Network and Bad Teacher but I don't think he's leading man material.

 

I loved TImberlake in Black Snake Moan.  That's an underrated, sort of creepy, but intriguing movie.

Any thoughts on Elizabeth Banks this year? She directed and had a role in a hit movie, Pitch Perfect 2. Appeared in another popular movie (Magic Mike XXL), gave a very well received performance (Love & Mercy), is going to be in that Wet Hot American Summer Netflix series, and she has the last Hunger Games movie in November. Good for her! At the minute I'm more interested in seeing what she directs next, but I hope she continues to get good acting roles too.

 

She's been doing a lot of cartoon voiceover work, and she's tapped to direct a TV movie called The Greater Good.

[onyxrose81]

Echoed about Ashley Tisdale. She really deserves better.

 

I honestly thought Lucas Grabeel was going to have a cool, mature indie career after he appeared in Milk, doing edgy stuff. Then he went off and did Switched at Birth instead, and he hasn't really broken out into mature material. I don't know if looking so young at 30 hampers him, or what. I still think he'd be great as a supporting scene stealer in movies.

 

 

The best careers right now for the Social Network graduates seem to be Garfield and Eisenberg, Garfield's Spiderman debacle notwithstanding, he seems to be winning a lot of critical acclaim with stage work and it sounds like he has some good movies in the pipeline. Eisenberg has his Now You See Me franchise, and of course Superman coming up.

 

Rooney Mara flopped with The Dragon Tattoo and Elm Street, but it seems like she wants to have a lower profile and do more supporting character work, such as Tiger Lily in Peter Pan. She honestly doesn't seem to be that interested in regaining her former It-Girl status or becoming a leading lady.

 

I feel like Armie Hammer is in serious trouble. He really, really needs to be in a movie that does well and is not a laughing stock. I don't think he's going to keep getting that many chances. I do think he's lucky that the Lone Ranger was really more about Johnny Deep, but still, Armie has not been a lead or secondary lead in a box-office and critical hit since the Social Network. He might seriously want to consider going back to T.V. if the Man From Uncle does as badly as I think it will.

 

Justin Timberlake seems to have given up on becoming a box-office draw. He hasn't acted in two years. Honestly, I liked his supporting stuff such as Social Network and Bad Teacher but I don't think he's leading man material.

 

Well, JT was on tour for nearly two years but I think he's done trying to be a "serious actor" which I can only hope for (and I say this as a fan).  He'll pop up now and then in comedies.  

 

I don't even know what to say about Armie Hammer and doesn't that just say it all?  

[Princess Sparkle]

Armie Hammer, while very attractive, I think has the charisma of a block of wood.  There's just not a whole lot of there...there.  If I had to pick between the two actors David Fincher chose for the Winklevoss twins, I would've gone with Josh Pence.  He's not the greatest actor in the world, but he has a little more stage presence.  

[blixie]

I just saw 22 Jump Street and it was IMO better than the first mostly because of Jillian Bell (and the Yangs), so I'm bummed to see she doesn't have much going on in her CV. She's at least as hilarious and talented as Melissa McCarthy, and is probably a better actress overall. "I like to spend time with my grandpa too." Hee.

[VCRTracking]

She improvised most of those insults and a whole bunch more that didn't make it into the movie and really kept Jonah Hill on his toes.

[blixie]

My niece, a YOUTH, let me know she's on Workaholics, so I guess I need to catch up on that one, since I think Bumper from Pitch Perfect is in that too.

[absnow54]

Funny you mention her! She's playing Seth Rogen's wife in "The Night Before" whose trailer came out today.

[methodwriter85]

People care about Michael Keaton again. I'm glad. I hope this goes better than Kevin Costner's supposed comeback.

[Craphole Island]

I just watched The DUFF and found it really charming, thanks to the cast. Particularly Mae Whitman and Robbie Amell.

 

Mae Whitman is always great (though I've never seen Parenthood!) and I think she really showed some impressive comedic chops in this film and I hope to see her continue into bigger and better things. I'm a big fan.

 

I don't think I've ever seen Robbie Amell in anything but I really enjoyed him here. He was really charming and funny in the role, so I hope to see more of him as well. Plus, he's like impossibly attractive. I love his cousin Stephen Amell on Arrow so I'm cool with seeing more from that family!

 

I don't really care much for this Bella Thorne girl though. It's unfair, but everything I've seen her in she plays a horrible person so I can't shake the feeling that she's secretly a terrible person haha. She's always been fine, acting wise, in everything I've seen her in but she just always plays a really mean person. I can't warm up to her in her roles.

[Amethyst]

The AV Club did a nice write up on It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia the other day and it got me thinking about Kaitlin Olson in particular, who is absolutely amazing on the show.  It sucks that she doesn't have any kind of movie career to speak of, but she has said in interviews that she wants to do more than just play Dee Reynolds in her career, and that's all the casting agents want her to do.  

 

Furthermore, her costar Glenn Howerton mentioned that he suspects a lot of male movie actors don't want to act alongside a woman who is as funny as they are and risk being outshone in the spotlight.  Kaitlin has been known to steal the show on Sunny, which is no small feat given that the entire cast is top-notch.  

 

Kaitlin has a small role in the Vacation reboot, but I'm disappointed that it's taken nearly 10 years for her to even get this.  I'm not really interested in the Ghostbusters reboot, but I would go see it if she had been cast.  I think she'd kill in a movie like that.  That said, I don't know if she auditioned for a role, or if she was even considered.

[methodwriter85]

I just watched The DUFF and found it really charming, thanks to the cast. Particularly Mae Whitman and Robbie Amell.

 

Mae Whitman is always great (though I've never seen Parenthood!) and I think she really showed some impressive comedic chops in this film and I hope to see her continue into bigger and better things. I'm a big fan.

 

I don't think I've ever seen Robbie Amell in anything but I really enjoyed him here. He was really charming and funny in the role, so I hope to see more of him as well. Plus, he's like impossibly attractive. I love his cousin Stephen Amell on Arrow so I'm cool with seeing more from that family!

 

I don't really care much for this Bella Thorne girl though. It's unfair, but everything I've seen her in she plays a horrible person so I can't shake the feeling that she's secretly a terrible person haha. She's always been fine, acting wise, in everything I've seen her in but she just always plays a really mean person. I can't warm up to her in her roles.

 

Mae Whitman. Talk about a child star who is very much looking like she's going to stick around as a "long star" rather than a big star. I've loved her every since she was George Clooney's daughter on One Fine Day. I like knowing that she and Alia Shawkat have become life-long BFF's because of that show they did together. (What a sweet show that was.)

 

Robbie Amell is hot, but man it is really straining credibility to see him still playing teenagers. I hope that was his last teenaged role.

 

I have this irrational hatred of Bella Thorne back from the days when I would have to watch Shake It Up because of my niece. Her character CeCe was annoying as hell. Bella Thorne kind of reminds me of what a vacant-looking Emma Roberts would have been like.

[blixie]

I actually thought Bella Thorne was great and that the movie was juiced by her complete OTT bitcaness. She is like, epically heinous, just like in the good old 80's heyday of Benny in Pretty in Pink, and Craig Schaeffer in Some Kind of Wonderful or Billy Zabka in anything. But yeah The DUFF is unbelievably charming based entirely on the two romantic leads and their very good chemistry, 

[vb68]

 

Mae Whitman. Talk about a child star who is very much looking like she's going to stick around as a "long star" rather than a big star.

 

 

It really annoys me that she lost out on reprising her role as Bill Pullman's daughter in the sequel to Independence Day. 

[Cobalt Stargazer]

Robbie Amell is hot, but man it is really straining credibility to see him still playing teenagers. I hope that was his last teenaged role.

 

FWIW, I looked it up, and Mae Whitman and Robbie Amell were born in the same year, 1988. Granted, she looks younger than he does, but if we're going to nitpick about age, The DUFF just came out last year.

[Ohwell]

I always thought Mae Whitman had an anguished look about her that when she walked into a room, you knew she was going to be trouble.

[methodwriter85]

I actually thought Bella Thorne was great and that the movie was juiced by her complete OTT bitcaness. She is like, epically heinous, just like in the good old 80's heyday of Benny in Pretty in Pink, and Craig Schaeffer in Some Kind of Wonderful or Billy Zabka in anything. But yeah The DUFF is unbelievably charming based entirely on the two romantic leads and their very good chemistry, 

 

I kind of like that they refused to "redeem" Madison and she just stayed an evil bitch, as opposed to Regina George. I feel like for whatever reason, a lot of teen movies from the recent decades have tried to "redeem" or explain away the bully's behavior so we can have a feel-good moment about how everyone is good deep down.

 

She does do bitch well. I still can't stand her, but she reminds me of Emma Roberts in the sense that they're both really, really good at playing bitchy people, and that they tend to fall flat when they're trying to play nice girls.

[JBC344]

 

 

It really annoys me that she lost out on reprising her role as Bill Pullman's daughter in the sequel to Independence Day. 

I still don't understand this decision.  It's not like Mae had been in a cave somewhere.  She was on a successful television show and is still a working actress.  Especially since this movie is bringing back so much of the original cast, it really is shameful of them to replace her with a "thinner/ more conventionally attractive" actress. 

[blixie]

I'm pissed off about Mae's replacement but I think it's shitty people are reducing the pretty great Maika Monroe to ONLY being cast because she's thin/pretty, she is both those things, but she is also super great in The Guest and It Follows.

[VCRTracking]

I kind of like that they refused to "redeem" Madison and she just stayed an evil bitch, as opposed to Regina George. I feel like for whatever reason, a lot of teen movies from the recent decades have tried to "redeem" or explain away the bully's behavior so we can have a feel-good moment about how everyone is good deep down.

 

That's usually because the protagonist, whether male or female ends up being as bad as the bully in these stories, so it's more a cautionary tale for kids how not to be like that.

[Rick Kitchen]

The world's top 10 highest paid actors:

 

1. Robert Downey Jr: $80 million

2. Jackie Chan: $50 million

3. Vin Diesel: $47 million

4. Bradley Cooper: $41.5 million

5. Adam Sandler: $41 million

6. Tom Cruise: $40 million

7. Amitabh Bachchan: $33.5 million

7. Salman Khan: $33.5 million

9. Akshay Kumar: $32.5 million

10. Mark Wahlberg: $32 million

Edited August 5, 2015 by Rick Kitchen

[absnow54]

Does Adam Sandler take home 100% of his movies' back ends? When was the last time he made a movie that didn't bomb?

Edited August 5, 2015 by absnow54

[AimingforYoko]

Does Adam Sandler take home 100% of his movies' back ends? 

There's an easy joke there, but I'll let someone far less mature than myself make it.

Edited August 5, 2015 by AimingforYoko

[caracas1914]

So this year is again an attempt to make gereric white boys Armie Hammer and Ryan Reynolds into movie superstars. Yet again.

The flops are like teflon with them.

Edited August 5, 2015 by caracas1914

[Trini]

The world's top 10 highest paid actors:

 

...for 2015. (Specifically, June 1, 2014 - June 1, 2015)

[dusang]

The world's top 10 highest paid actors:

 

1. Robert Downey Jr: $80 million

2. Jackie Chan: $50 million

3. Vin Diesel: $47 million

4. Bradley Cooper: $41.5 million

5. Adam Sandler: $41 million

6. Tom Cruise: $40 million

7. Amitabh Bachchan: $33.5 million

7. Salman Khan: $33.5 million

9. Akshay Kumar: $32.5 million

10. Mark Wahlberg: $32 million

 

 

The only one I'm surprised by is Vin Diesel.  Does he have a sweet deal on the Furious franchise?

[DollEyes]

 

So this year is an attempt to make gereric white boys Armie Hammer and Ryan Reynolds into superstars. Yet again.

 

The flops are like Teflon with them.

 

  Re Ryan Reynolds, while he's definitely made some shitty movies in the recent past, if the trailer for Deadpool is any indication, it looks like things are changing for the better.

 

  Another actor making great career moves lately is Channing Tatum. Besides doing Foxcatcher & Magic Mike XXL, he's going to be playing Gambit in his own X-Men spinoff series, co-starring in The Hateful Eight, Quentin Tarentino's upcoming Western with an all-star cast including Kurt Russell, Samuel L. Jackson, Demian Bichir, Bruce Dern & Tim Roth, among others and Hail, Caesar! the Coen Brothers' old Hollywood satire, with an another all-star cast that includes George Clooney, Scarlett Johansson & Ralph Fiennes. While Channing Tatum's not the best actor ever, the way I see it, if he was just another lunk-headed ex-stripper, then the likes of Steven Soderbergh, Quentin Tarentino nor the Coens wouldn't waste their time on him.

Edited August 6, 2015 by DollEyes

[methodwriter85]

The only one I'm surprised by is Vin Diesel.  Does he have a sweet deal on the Furious franchise?

 

The last two Furious movies made about 2.2 billion dollars worldwide. JUST the last two.

Edited August 6, 2015 by methodwriter85

[dusang]

The last two Furious movies made about 2.2 billion dollars worldwide. JUST the last two.

 

That doesn't mean anything to the actors unless they have a back-end deal.  Are you saying that Vin is very highly paid for those films?  That he has a back-end deal?  Why is Vin the only person from Furious to appear on the list?  Why isn't The Rock up there?

[methodwriter85]

They had to lure Vin back to the franchise so I'm sure he got a sweet back end deal to it.

[blixie]

 

Why is Vin the only person from Furious to appear on the list?

 

The entire series is/was built around him, and he has producer credits on FF 1, 5-7, I'm sure he gets paid very well, and between F&F 6 and Guardians of the Galaxy his movies made major bank, he makes people in town lots of money and I'm sure his reps make sure he is compensated appropriately.

[dusang]

The entire series is/was built around him, and he has producer credits on FF 1, 5-7, I'm sure he gets paid very well, and between F&F 6 and Guardians of the Galaxy his movies made major bank, he makes people in town lots of money and I'm sure his reps make sure he is compensated appropriately.

 

So the answer to my original question is, Yes, he has a sweet deal on the Furious films.

 

I wonder how much he made for GotG because, with the (notable) exception of Downey, the MCU is not on the list.  Bradley Cooper is there because of his Oscar noms with American Sniper and the David O. Russell factory.  Adam Sandler is there because he's apparently cast a voodoo curse on Hollywood so they will ignore his inability to earn out.  Tom Cruise is Tom Cruise.  Mark Wahlberg has his thumbs in a lot of lucrative pies.   Really, this list is more demonstrative of the huge discrepancies in pay because I'm sure we could come up with a dozen names who have been in more/bigger/successful films than those guys who are no where close to that list.

[NumberCruncher]

I wonder how much he made for GotG because, with the (notable) exception of Downey, the MCU is not on the list.

Marvel is notoriously cheap in their pay scales. RDJ gets away with a fat paycheck because Marvel Studios' saving grace was the Iron Man franchise, but the rest of the MCU actors don't take home huge amounts. I assume the trade-off is that it seems everything Marvel touches turns to gold, so if you're an actor, you're clamoring to be in a Marvel movie as long as you don't mind signing your freedom away for the next 6 movies.

Edited August 6, 2015 by NumberCruncher

[Princess Sparkle]

The only one I'm surprised by is Vin Diesel.  Does he have a sweet deal on the Furious franchise?

I think it's because in addition to starring in the Furious films, his company is one of the producers of the films.  So he gets his acting salary PLUS a cut of the profits, and those films are insanely profitable.

[caracas1914]

yikes not sure this is the right thread but Esquire basically called Miles Teller an annoying dick.

Well he did volunteer the info to the journalist that the highball glass resembled his penis.

[Wiendish Fitch]

I finally figured out what people find so punchable about Miles Teller (other than the rumors that he's a jerk): he looks just a like a younger, dark-haired James Spader. The sleepy eyes, prominent nose, pouty mouth, he does look like he should be picking on the unpopular poor kids. 

 

Too bad he's not 10 years older, he could have been a great Nick Dunne in Gone Girl.

Edited August 6, 2015 by Wiendish Fitch

[Danny Franks]

yikes not sure this is the right thread but Esquire basically called Miles Teller an annoying dick.

Well he did volunteer the info to the journalist that the highball glass resembled his penis.

 

I read the recap of that profile on Salon. He does indeed come across as a dick, and seems unapologetic about it. No harm in calling him out.

 

On the back of that, I noticed that the photos of the cast at the premier showed Mara, Jordan and Bell being very affectionate and touchy feely, while Teller seemed a bit detached from them. Might not be anything, but I wouldn't be surprised if his attitude rubs cast mates up the wrong way.

[NumberCruncher]

I'm glad I'm not the only one who detected a douchey vibe from Miles Teller. Sounds like he's not doing himself any favors in all his interviews either. Listening to him try to soften the forthcoming terrible reviews for his new movie by basically telling us all that our tastes will just be too basic and unsophisticated to understand and appreciate it pretty much sealed the deal for me.

[caracas1914]

Yes, the trialers for DEADPOOL look good, but it's like after 10-15 flops if Ryan Reynolds finally gets a hit it's more like the odds favor him getting a decent result eventually.

[ChelseaNH]

I think it's more that Reynolds finally found the right project/role.  Every performer needs to know what their sweet spot is.

[caracas1914]

Tell that to any actress in HW over the age of 30 when roles suddenly dry up.

I should qualify this by saying I don't think Ryan Reynolds has shown any deep talent or genuine charisma, unlike , say even Colin Farrel, or any number of talented actors out there who don't get 15-20 opportunities at the brass ring.

Edited August 7, 2015 by caracas1914

[cynic]

I feel like the only person in the world who doesn't like the Deadpool trailer. Admittedly, I'm not the target audience, since I don't read comics and am not into superheroes, but it honestly looks bad and like it's trying to hard to be cool and snarky. The buzz is great though, so good for Ryan Reynolds, but ehhhhh.

As for Miles Teller, yeah, total douche.

[methodwriter85]

I'll always love Ryan Reynolds for Definitely, Maybe, but it's absolutely incredible how many flops he's been allowed to have and still get leading roles.

 

Miles Teller is this generation's John Cusack, who I also love on-screen but who also gives off a major douche in real-life vibe.

[NopeNope]

I know he's not a movie star yet but what do you think of Corey Stoll ?

He's very handsome in an unconventional way and crazy talented IMHO.

 

His IMDB credits lists four very interesting projects : the adaptations of American Pastoral and The Seagull, big budget new Matthew McConaughey Gold and (I know...) the 2016 Woody Allen movie.

 

I don't know, he's just so interesting to watch.

 

[absnow54]

Miles Teller is this generation's John Cusack, who I also love on-screen but who also gives off a major douche in real-life vibe.

Yes! I've enjoyed his movies and think he's a really talented performer, but he needs to put a lid on his public persona, because it's becoming really off putting.