Theater Owners Name Sandra Bullock 2009's Top Star

[JaneAusten]

Theater Owners Name Sandra Bullock 2009's Top Star

http://abcnews.go.com/Entertainment/wireStory?id=9457235

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - In the eyes of U.S. movie theater owners, Sandra Bullock shined as 2009's top Hollywood star at the box office, as the actress nicknamed "America's Sweetheart" scored with audiences after a two-year absence from screens.

Quigley Publishing Company's annual list released on Thursday of top money making stars, based on a poll of hundreds of theater executives, had Bullock beat out such stars as George Clooney and Denzel Washington, on the strength of her roles in "The Proposal" and "The Blind Side."

Romantic comedy "The Proposal" made $315 million at worldwide box offices following its June release, and football drama "The Blind Side" has made $193 million only in the U.S. and Canada since its November 20 release, with its roll-out in other countries still to come.

Bullock, who also starred in the 2009 comedy "All About Steve" with its $34 million take in the U.S. and Canada, is the eighth woman to top Quigley's list of top money making stars, which the company has put out each year since 1932.

Quigley Publishing said the list does not rank stars only on how much cash their films made, but on what theater owners say about who attracts audiences on their star power alone.

For instance, "Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen" was the top movie at U.S. and Canada box offices in 2009 with more than $400 million, but many in Hollywood attribute that to the appeal of the franchise itself and the toys it's based on.

The last woman to top Quigley's list was Julia Roberts in 1999. She failed to make Quigley's 2009 top 10 this year, after her turn in romantic comedy "Duplicity" bombed at the box office.

Bullock scored her first smash hit with 1994 action movie "Speed" and became one of Hollywood's biggest stars, but before "The Proposal" she had not starred in a film since 2007.

"Public Enemies" star Johnny Depp came in at No. 2 on Quigley's top 10 list, followed by Matt Damon, George Clooney, Robert Downey Jr, Tom Hanks, Meryl Streep, Brad Pitt, Shia LaBeouf and Denzel Washington.

Copyright 2010 Reuters News Service. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

Top Ten Stars of 2009 (in terms of money)

Sandra Bullock

Johnny Depp

Matt Damon

George Clooney

Robert Downey Jr.

Tom Hanks

Meryl Streep

Brad Pitt

Shia LaBeouf

Denzel Washington

Can I just say keep kicking butt ladies. How gratifying it is to see a women OVER 40 on top and a WOMEN WHO IS 60 on this list.

Take that Hollywood.

[DRW50]

Both Sandra and Meryl were down in the dumps for a while, career-wise, especially Meryl, so I give them tons of credit for thriving, not just surviving.

Hollywood will find a way to sneer at them and assure us that it's some fluke...all while giving Travolta or Will Ferrell another huge check.

[cct]

How do you define down in the dumps? Both Meryl and Sandra have been steady-working since their breakouts in Deer Hunter and Speed, respectively. Sandra has selected to be choosy since she was the mid-nineties answer to Julia Roberts and has been quoted saying so. When she wants to, she works.

As for Meryl, name the year, and I'll tell you the movie. You don't get 12 Oscar noms when you're down in the dumps.

Now if you're talking box office, that might be a different story. Although Bullock seems to have come into her own this year, she certainly opens movies. Premonition and its ilk wouldn't have made half the money it made had Bullock not chosen to star. Word of mouth quickly spreads on movies like that, and bankable star or not, they flop.

Meryl doesn't exactly gravitate to blockbusters. She happened to star in a movie based on a hugely-popular musical about a hugely-popular musical group. Why? Woman director. Now this year, she's been in two commercial type movies. Also women directors. (Nora Ephron for Julie and Julia and Nancy Meyers for It's Complicated). In between she also did Doubt, Rendition and Lions for Lambs; none of which burned up the box office.

[EricMontreal22]

I was gonna ask too. Sandra did have a time I think when people maybe didn't feel she was relevant but, while I get why they're touting this a mini comeback, she never was doing truly badly--and IMHO Meryl never was doing even somewhat badly. A couple of flops like Music of the Heart did *nothing* to change the public and critical view of her career--if anything she has slowly and consistantly risen as someone who critics loved to someone that audiences would pay tons of money to see.

[JaneAusten]

Touche to all of this. Sandra Bullock who I don't consider a great actress, has had a very successful career. Not every actor or actress has one box office smash after another but she's worked pretty constantly and most of her films seem to do well at the box office. She's a very likable amiable actress on screen and has a certain everyday charm and appeal to her I think fans really like. It's just impressive to me that at the age of 46 she is the top draw over all those "popular" men at the box office. Kudos to her.

Meryl Streep is a phenomenon. She's never been a big box office draw until recent years when low and behold, she's become box office gold at 60. But she's alwayw worked steadily. No suprisingly, she is by far my favorite actress ot just for her talent, but the fact that she doesn't do plastic surgery and she will look anyway she needs to to sell a part. The image of the stereotypical hollywood actress just doesn't fit her and I love her for that. I'm glad the audience has discovered her. She's wonderful and charming on screen.

[cct]

I'm not sure the audience has finally discovered Meryl. I think they've always liked her. She's just chosen a string of commercial projects lately for more audience to be exposed to her, beginning with Prada. This happened in the early nineties too with Death Becomes Her, River Wild, and Bridges of Madison County.

Up until recently, Meryl was an Oscar Darling. The movies she chose were distributed on a smaller scale. Nobody except me was rushing out to see The Hours. The audience respected her from afar as An Actress, but not a girl next door, like, strangely enough, Bullock.

There is a effervescent side to Meryl that comes out when she chooses to do comedy. She hadn't really done comedy until Death Becomes Her, and I think she found it to her liking more than she thought it would be; she often remarked on it in interviews. The movies in which she is "bankable" lately happen to be comedies, and that effervescence transfers into her demeanor, her interviews and her screen presence. Thus, a hitmaker is "born."

[Y&RWorldTurner]

Meryl's often talks about the "Hollywood era" of her career in the late 80's and early 90's, when she did a string of commercial films that were often comedies. That wasn't a particularly successful era in her career, and she admits she probably did it after being boxed in as the "dramatic actress that took on a new accent with each role." She also said at that point, she was getting older, and thought she'd cash in more on the commercial end of things, and moved her family to LA. However, she got over it all and eventually moved her family back to the East Coast, where they remain.

[EricMontreal22]

Fair enough but it wasn't like there was ever a time anyone thought of Meryl as box office poison (though Death Becomes Her was a bomb wasn't it?)

*edit* Boxofficemojo says it did pretty well, 50+ mill in the early 90s but due to how expensive it was wasn't seen as a hit.

[JaneAusten]

I think I misspoke or perhaps the comment was misundertood. Meryl Streep has been a well respected actress for many many years by many. I just don't know that the roles she chose and movies she chose were "box office winners". In all honesty, not all box office successes have great recogized Oscar caliber performances or not that the academy really rewards. So while she's had a bevy of great performances and the masses are aware of her talent and ability, she wasn't really sought out in movies by the average movie goer. She and De Niro I think are alike in that both were great accomplished actors for years and have achieved box office appeal in comedies that are more appealing to the masses, her for Prada, J&J, and It's Complicated and some earlier films and him for Analyze This and Meet The Parents in recent years. For me it's nice to see that the average movie goer seeks her out in films that have more mass appeal. Couple that with the fact that she's 60 years old, makes it even more gratifying to see.

[EricMontreal22]

Agreed except I think DeNiro has made many far worse movie choices--with Meryl, ev en if the film isn't gold I can always get why she took the role. With some of DeNiro's (more and more frequent) duds, I can't.

[JaneAusten]

The issue with DeNiro is I think at this point in his career, he takes roles to help finance his other projects with his production company and film festival, Tribeca more than anything. At least that's my impression is that he has other interests. I loved him in Analyze this and Meet the Parents but his other selections have a lot lot lot to be desired and have been disappointing to say the least. I keep hoping for one last great performance from him in one last project with he and Scorcese. Wishful thinking I know.

[Y&RWorldTurner]

None of those commercial movies she did in the late 80's and early 90's were box office hits, or notable box office hits, though, in some cases, her performances were singled out as the best thing about those films.

[EricMontreal22]

I never thought about Tribeca, etc. Certainly the actor he's often spoken about in the same sentence with, Pacino has made almost as many bad movies in recent years. And I certainly can't begrudge him movies like Analyze This or Fockers--maybe not great but fun and surely a lot of fun to make. Godsend, Hide and Seek, Righteous Kill (! horrible) and, though i haven't seen it, from all reports Everybody's Fine, on the other hand... (and that's just off the top of my head)

[EricMontreal22]

Which ones do you mean? Wasn't Postcards from the Edge? OK She-Devil wasn't but even commercial John Waters doesn't feel too commercial to me. River Wild was a hit. (I sound like I'm nit picking--and I am, I'm just curious cuz I can't really think of any)

[JaneAusten]

Funny there was an interview Coppolla did about 2 years ago which coincided with the release or re-release of something related to Apocolypse Now where he took shots at both Pacino and DeNiro for exactly that, their choices of recent years and how they've both let their talent goto waste. DeNiro especially has created so many memorable roles over the years, it's just disappointing to see him settle for some of these subpar films and his performances didn't even do anything to elevate those films. With Meryl Streep, a film may be subpar or average, but she always adds more to the film with her performance, elevating the film.