Top Money-Making Stars of 2010
Since 1932, the Quigley Publishing Companyhas polled movie theater owners to find out which actors and actresses they consider the biggest box office draws.
Movie executives read the trades every day, and agents negotiate the deals, but theater owners actually see customers plunking down their hard-earned money on movie tickets night after night. Their experience makes them uniquely qualified to say which performers are likely to actually draw customers.
Which Hollywood names get people to brave the snow and buy a ticket? Click ahead to see exhibitors’ choices for the top money-making stars of 2010.
By Daniel Bukszpan
Posted 30 Dec 2010
10. Anne Hathaway
In 2008, the Quigley Publishing Company designated Anne Hathaway their “Star of Tomorrow,” a rising star with great future earning potential. Today, she makes her debut on the list at number ten, thanks to her appearances in the romantic comedy Valentine's Day, Love and Other Drugs and Tim Burton’s 3D adaptation of Alice in Wonderland.
Although all three films received mixed reviews, critics praised Hathaway’s performances in each of them, and altogether, they earned over $475 million at the US box office and almost $1.3 billion worldwide.
9. George Clooney
George Clooney holds the number nine spot this year on Quigley’s list. The Ocean’s Eleven star appeared in only one film in 2010, the thriller The American, which earned $36 million domestically and $65 million worldwide.
His next appearance is in The Descendants, a film by Sideways director Alexander Payne that is currently in post-production and scheduled for a 2011 release.
8. Leonardo DiCaprio
Leonardo DiCaprio makes his sixth appearance on the list, coming in at number eight. After being absent from movie screens in 2009, he returned this year in Shutter Island, a thriller that reunited the actor with the Oscar-winning director of The Departed, Martin Scorsese.
However, DiCaprio's biggest role this year was in Inception, the fifth highest-grossing film of the year. The two movies combined made more than $421 million domestically and more than $1.1 billion worldwide.
7. Denzel Washington
Denzel Washington moves up to the number seven spot from his 2009 ranking of number ten. His ranking last year was based on his appearance in the Tony Scott thriller The Taking of Pelham 123.
This year, another film about a train, Unstoppable, has put him on the list again. The thriller reunites Washington with director Scott and has received positive reviews all around. The Oscar-winning actor also appeared in the action film The Book of Eli, and together the two films have earned a total of almost $174 million domestically and $292 million worldwide.
6. Tom Hanks
Tom Hanks has appeared on this list sixteen times, and this year he appears at the number six spot, just like in 2009. What makes this remarkable is that in 2010, he didn’t actually physically appear in a film.
His sole performance was in the animated blockbuster Toy Story 3, in which he reprised his role as the voice of the cowboy doll Woody. The sequel earned over $415 million, making it the highest-grossing film of the year, and its worldwide haul of almost $1.1 billion has made it the highest-grossing animated film of all time.
5. Steve Carell
2010 was a busy year for Steve Carell, and his appearances in three of the year’s popular comedies have put him on the list for the first time. The Massachusetts-born former mailman appeared in Date Night with Tina Fey and Dinner for Schmucks with Zach Galifianakis, and both films performed well despite lukewarm reviews.
He also provided voice work for the animated blockbuster Despicable Me, which earned back more than three times its $69 million budget at the domestic box office alone. Taken together, Carell’s films earned $423 million in the US and $779 million worldwide.
4. Matt Damon
Although he’s down one notch from his 2009 ranking, Matt Damon still places high on this year’s list and holds the number four spot.
The Oscar-winning star of The Bourne Ultimatum, who has also won “Best Ass-Kicker” honors at the 2008 Spike Guys' Choice Awards, starred in three of 2010’s best reviewed films, the thriller Green Zone, Clint Eastwood’s Hereafter and the Coen Brothers’ adaptation of True Grit, which has taken in an impressive $49 million at the US box office in its first week of release.
To date, Damon’s 2010 output has earned $117 million domestically. Worldwide box office figures for Hereafter and True Grit are not yet available.
3. Robert Downey, Jr.
In 2010, Robert Downey, Jr. appears on Quigley's list for the third consecutive time. Last year he achieved a ranking of number five, and this year he comes in at number three, thanks to appearances in Due Date and Iron Man 2, the blockbuster sequel to the 2008 film.
Due Date performed well at the box office, but the bulk of Downey’s box office was courtesy of the mighty Iron Man 2, which earned over $312 million in the US and $622 million worldwide. In the coming years, the actor has sequels lined up for both the Iron Man and Sherlock Holmes franchises, so he’s likely to appear high on this list again.
2. Angelina Jolie
Angelina Jolie takes the second place spot this year, despite the fact that her two 2010 films, Salt and The Tourist performed below expectations.
The action film Salt had the bad luck to be released the same weekend as Inception, which kept it from the number one spot. Still, its second place numbers weren’t bad, and it took in $118 million at the US box office and almost $294 million internationally.
Sadly, the same cannot be said of The Tourist, her poorly reviewed co-starring vehicle with Johnny Depp. Despite the star power involved, the film has earned only $41 million domestically in three weeks of release, and $78 million internationally.
1. Johnny Depp
Johnny Depp holds the top spot, marking his sixth appearance on the Quigley list and his third time at number one.
He appeared in two films in 2010, The Tourist and Alice in Wonderland. While The Tourist was not a hit, Alice in Wonderland was the second highest grossing film of 2010, behind only Toy Story 3.
Taken together, Johnny Depp’s 2010 films have earned $375 million domestically and over $1.1 billion worldwide, figures which provide more than enough justification for his place at the top. In 2011, Depp is scheduled to star in the next installment of the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise, so we should probably expect him to return to this list next year.
Stars of Tomorrow
In addition to ranking the top money-makers of 2010, theater owners were also asked the names of actors who they believe we should keep an eye out for in the coming years. The two performers named in the 2010 Quigley list’s Stars of Tomorrow category are Zach Galifianakis and Michelle Williams.
Galifianakis appeared in four 2010 comedies, Dinner for Schmucks, Due Date, It’s Kind of a Funny Story and Youth in Revolt, and he appears in The Hangover: Part II, which is scheduled for release on Memorial Day weekend in 2011.
Michelle Williams, on the other hand, was chosen for her work in the dramatic films, Blue Valentine and Shutter Island. Her next project is 2011’s My Week with Marilyn, in which she plays Marilyn Monroe.