Thanks for the ‘facts’ I was referring to..
I stand corrected.

“Yours is the superior intellect”
-Wrath of Khan

Clooney manages to balance his career. He makes one for himself and another for the studio.
The movies he makes that don’t tend to make money are :
a) quite cheap
b) awards films that get enough critical kudos to make them profitable on DVD or abroad.

A perfect example would be Good Night, Good Luck. It only grossed about $30 million – but it only cost about $10 million to produce. Good for everyone involved.

That clear it up?

Niall

Good follow up. But, couldn’t you say the same thing about George Clooney? I think he’s had a few tankers but still makes movies. If three strikes is true, then some actors are immune to it…

@Joshi:

True about the albatross. And like it, someone at FOX has killed theirs…

I really liked Swordfish personally at the time though. Oh, and I loved The Prestige – but that was an ensemble cast.

That’s probably a big reason why they did things like throw in Gambit into Wolverine.

If Wolverine does well, there will be two sequels to it and even if the story is horrid (very likely with Fox), it will still bring in loads of $$$.

Perhaps it is not so much him as an actor but his decision making process in the lead roles he accepts. The movies you mentioned above held absolutely no interest for me when i saw the trailer and it had nothing to do with the lead actor.

There are only a hand full of actors/actresses that based on them being in the movie alone, I go and see it.

I’d say that Sam Jackson is an actor and not a leading man. He’s often the sidekick or the supporting actor – not the star. That’s not to say he’s never top billed though (or been the lead).

@ Vic,

I agree – contrary to what people now seem to believe following these Wolverine articles, I am a Jackman fan and I’ve pretty much seen all his stuff on the bigscreen. Even Someone like You!

However, at some point people will stop paying him top dollar once his movies have some sort of low grossing pattern.

Niall

Thanks for clearing that up. I find it interesting that Jackman (who I hear is a REALLY nice guy) is so popular yet the non-Wolverine movies he appears in don’t seem to reflect that.

Vic

Going by the three strike rule in Hollywood – The Fountain grossed $10 million, Deception grossed $4.5 and Australia eeked out $48 since it was released (from a $130 mil + budget)They’re all US grosses.

I’d say that Jackman needs Wolverine if he wants to be seen as bankable. In fact, as much as I like him he has never really headlined a major hit on his own.Van Hesling is the closest and that limped tp $120 million and was pretty much sold on concept and not the star.

I hope that clears up the “teetering on life support” comment.

Niall

Yeah, I thought that was a bit over the top… probably should have snipped that line out before publishing the post.

Vic

But it’s true, granted, some people didn’t like Australia, but there’s no doubt his career is doing fine, he may not be A-List, but he’s a decent actor who never seems to be out of luck.