Top 25 Highest Grossing Actors of All Time: Nos. 5-1

We’ve reached the five highest grossing actors in the history of film this evening and the culmination of my five part series. Hope you’ve enjoyed it! For a reminder of the men and women who makes up numbers 25-6 – you can peruse them at the following links:

Now… to the top five:

5. Eddie Murphy

Career Earnings: $3.8 billion

Franchises: The 48 HRS, Beverly Hills Cop, Nutty Professor, Doctor Dolittle, and Shrek series.

Highest Grossing Picture: Shrek 2 – $441 million

Number of $100M+ Earners: 13. Beverly Hills Cop, Beverly Hills Cop II, Coming to America, The Nutty Professor, Mulan, Doctor Dolittle, The Nutty Professor II: The Klumps, Shrek, Dr. Dolittle 2, Daddy Day Care, Shrek 2, Dreamgirls, Shrek the Third, Shrek Forever After.

Lowest Grossing Picture: The Adventures of Pluto Nash – $4 million

4. Harrison Ford

Career Earnings: $3.8 billion

Franchises: The Star Wars, Indiana Jones, and Jack Ryan series. Mr. Ford also appeared in Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues and The Expendables 3.

Highest Grossing Picture: Star Wars – $461 million

Number of $100M+ Earners: 13. Star Wars, The Empire Strikes Back, Raiders of the Lost Ark, Return of the Jedi, Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom, Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, The Fugitive, Clear and Present Danger, Air Force One, What Lies Beneath, Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, Cowboys&Aliens, Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues.

Lowest Grossing Picture: Crossing Over – $455,000

3. Samuel L. Jackson

Career Earnings: $4 billion

Franchises: The Iron Man, Avengers, Captain America, Star Wars, and XXX series.

Highest Grossing Picture: The Avengers – $623 million

Number of $100M+ Earners: 19. Coming to America, Jurassic Park, Pulp Fiction, Die Hard with a Vengeance, A Time to Kill, Star Wars: The Phantom Menace, Star Wars: Attack of the Clones, XXX, S.W.A.T., The Incredibles, Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith, Iron Man, Iron Man 2, The Other Guys, Thor, Captain America: The First Avenger, The Avengers, Django Unchained, Captain America: The Winter Soldier.

Lowest Grossing Picture: Meeting Evil – $525 (you read that right… five hundred twenty five dollars…)

2. Morgan Freeman

Career Earnings: $4.1 billion

Franchises: The Dark Knight series. Bruce Almighty/Evan Almighty

Highest Grossing Picture: The Dark Knight – $534 million

Number of $100M+ Earners: 16. Driving Miss Daisy, Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves, Unforgiven, Seven, Deep Impact, The Sum of All Fears, Bruce Almighty, Million Dollar Baby, Batman Begins, Evan Almighty, Wanted, The Dark Knight, The Dark Knight Rises, Now You See Me, The LEGO Movie, Lucy.

Lowest Grossing Picture: 10 Items or Less – $83,000

1. Tom Hanks

Career Earnings: $4.2 billion

Franchises: The Toy Story series. The Da Vinci Code/Angels&Demons

Highest Grossing Picture: Toy Story 3 – $415 million

Number of $100M+ Earners: 18. Big, A League of their Own, Sleepless in Seattle, Forrest Gump, Apollo 13, Toy Story, Saving Private Ryan, You’ve Got Mail, Toy Story 2, The Green Mile, Cast Away, Road to Perdition, Catch Me If You Can, The Polar Express, The Da Vinci Code, Angels&Demons, Toy Story 3, Captain Phillips.

Lowest Grossing Picture: Every Time We Say Goodbye – $278,000

**A blogger’s note: With Samuel L. Jackson’s involvement in the Avengers universe, do not be surprised to see him vault to #1 once the Avengers sequel is released next summer.

That’s all for now, folks!

Lucy Box Office Prediction

This Friday, Scarlett Johannson enters Angelina Jolie territory as she headlines the action thriller Lucy, from director Luc Besson. Costarring the Narrator in Chief Morgan Freeman, Universal Studios has shown confidence in the project by moving it from its original August time slot to late July. The marketing campaign has been strong and the trailers and TV spots are effective.

The big question is whether Lucy will be negatively affected by its competition, Hercules featuring The Rock. Both pictures could cause the other to lose out on their full box office potential. What Lucy has that Hercules may not is the chance to bring more females into the fold. Audiences are used to seeing Johannson in action mode following her appearances in Iron Man 2, The Avengers, and Captain America: The Winter Soldier, which is still 2014’s highest grosser.

Add that up and Lucy has a real chance to be a sleeper summer hit and nab the #1 spot over its competitors.

Lucy opening weekend prediction: $28.1 million

For my Hercules prediction, click here:

https://toddmthatcher.com/2014/07/20/hercules-box-office-prediction/

For my And So It Goes prediction, click here:

https://toddmthatcher.com/2014/07/20/and-so-it-goes-box-office-prediction/

Transcendence Box Office Prediction

For cinephiles, this Friday’s Transcendence has been eagerly anticipated not just for Johnny Depp starring in it – but also because it marks the directorial debut of Wally Pfister. He is best known as the cinematographer behind all of Chris Nolan’s pictures, including The Dark Knight trilogy and Inception. The sci-fi thriller is headlined by Depp with a supporting cast including Rebecca Hall, Kate Mara, and Nolan regulars Morgan Freeman and Cillian Murphy.

The participation of Depp makes this high-profile alone, but it’s worth noting he’s had a couple of flops in a row with Dark Shadows and The Lone Ranger. The trailers for Transcendence have surprisingly been rather middling in my view and they don’t really reflect what the film is about. This could hinder its potential with its opening. Warner Bros. is releasing Transcendence the same weekend as Tom Cruise’s Oblivion last year. That title earned $37 million in its premiere and I’m sure the studio would love to see that number here.

Transcendence should easily nab the #1 spot next weekend but I don’t believe it’ll get quite as high as Cruise’s sci-fi entry. Low 30s seems the safe bet.

Transcendence opening weekend prediction: $30.8 million

For my Heaven Is for Real prediction, click here:

https://toddmthatcher.com/2014/04/13/heaven-is-for-real-box-office-prediction/

For my A Haunted House 2 prediction, click here:

https://toddmthatcher.com/2014/04/13/a-haunted-house-2-box-office-prediction/

For my Bears prediction, click here:

https://toddmthatcher.com/2014/04/13/bears-box-office-prediction/

Box Office Results: November 8-10

Disney/Marvel’s Thor: The Dark World opened as expected, posting the fourth highest debut of 2013 with $86.1 million. This is right in line with my $85.6M prediction so I’ll give myself a nice pat on the back for this one! Thor benefited from the continued Avengers momentum and the rock solid opening bodes well for next spring’s Captain America sequel.

While I am pleased with my Thor prediction, the same cannot be said for my estimate for About Time, the rom com with Rachel McAdams. I predicted it would earn $12.8 million, but also noted in my post that it could tank. And tank it did with a dismal $5.1 million debut for only 9th place.

As for the rest of the top five, it was Jackass Presents: Bad Grandpa second again with $11.3 million (I was right there with $11.2M predicted). The animated Free Birds was in the #3 slot with $11.2 million, just above my $10.4M projection. The all-star comedy Last Vegas was fourth with $11.1 million (I said $11M… pat back again). I was, however, off with the performance of Ender’s Game in its sophomore frame. I predicted the sci-fi pic would hold up reasonably well and make $13.6 million. It dropped to #5 with $10.3M. It’s safe to say this one is now a box office disappointment.

And there’s your results! Be sure to check the blog later today for my prediction post on next weekend’s only newcomer, The Best Man Holiday.

Box Office Predictions: November 1-3

It isn’t often you have a weekend showcasing three new pictures that all stand reasonable shots at opening in first place, but that’s the situation we find ourselves for the first weekend of November 2013. We have the sci-fi epic Ender’s Game, the animated Thanksgiving tale Free Birds, and the all-star comedy Last Vegas all debuting. You could make legit arguments for any one of them being the weekend’s champ. You can find my individual prediction posts on all three here:

https://toddmthatcher.wordpress.com/2013/10/27/enders-game-box-office-prediction/

https://toddmthatcher.wordpress.com/2013/10/27/free-birds-box-office-prediction/

https://toddmthatcher.wordpress.com/2013/10/27/last-vegas-box-office-prediction/

The odds-on favorite is Ender’s Game and I have it easily taking the top spot. However, there is the chance it could flop and allow one of the others to leapfrog it. Free Birds could capitalize on its Thanksgiving subject matter. Last Vegas could cash in on the star power of Robert De Niro, Morgan Freeman, Michael Douglas, and Kevin Kline.

Ultimately, though, I’m not betting against Ender’s Game winning the weekend. As for holdovers, it could be a tight race for the four spot as Gravity will likely experience its typical small decline while last weekend’s #1 Bad Grandpa is poised to fall more than 50%.

Outside of the top five, Oscar front runner 12 Years a Slave expands to 400 theaters and could take in $3.5-$4 million.

And with that, my predictions for the weekend’s top five:

1. Ender’s Game

Predicted Gross: $32.9 million

2. Free Birds

Predicted Gross: $21 million

3. Last Vegas

Predicted Gross: $19.2 million

4. Gravity

Predicted Gross: $13.9 million (representing a drop of 31%)

5. Jackass Presents: Bad Grandpa

Predicted Gross: $13.7 million (representing a drop of 57%)

Last Vegas Box Office Prediction

The four stars of Last Vegas are all Oscar winners who have had long and respectable (for the most part) careers. The question is: can the star power of Robert De Niro, Michael Douglas, Morgan Freeman, and Kevin Kline propel this gimmicky sounding exercise to box office success?

You can put me down as highly uncertain. The flexibility on how Last Vegas opens is wide. The pic puts the quartet in a bachelor party setting and The Hangover for senior citizens tag has been thrown around a lot. This is the type of flick that could stall and reach low teens. It could also strike a chord with older audiences and open much bigger than most prognosticators assume – like over $25 million or $30 million. I’m skeptical that Last Vegas reaches those milestones, but I won’t be shocked if it does.

The most sensible prediction is high teens-to low 20s in my view. Still, there’s no doubt that Vegas remains a bit of a question mark to me as neither a $12 million or $32 million debut would totally surprise me.

Last Vegas opening weekend prediction: $19.2 million

For my Ender’s Game opening weekend prediction, click here:

https://toddmthatcher.wordpress.com/2013/10/27/enders-game-box-office-prediction/

For my Free Birds prediction, click here:

https://toddmthatcher.wordpress.com/2013/10/27/free-birds-box-office-prediction/

Oscar History: 2004

In 1976, Martin Scorsese’s Taxi Driver was seen as a strong possibility to win Best Picture at the Oscars until a boxing movie unexpectedly captured audiences attention and took the prize. That would, of course, be Rocky. Fast forward to 2004 where Scorsese’s Howard Hughes biopic The Aviator seemed to be the odds-on favorite for Best Pic until, yet again, a pugilistic tale surprised moviegoers late in the awards season.

Clint Eastwood’s Million Dollar Baby wasn’t even talked about much as an awards contender during 2004’s calendar year. It was released very late in the year, but it turned out to be great timing.

Baby would win the top award over The Aviator, as well as Marc Forster’s Finding Neverland, Taylor Hackford’s Ray, and Alexander Payne’s Sideways.

As for other contenders not recognized, the Academy would ignore Quentin Tarantino’s fantastic Kill Bill and its Volume II after snubbing the first installment the year prior. It’s also worth noting that the greatest Harry Potter flick in the franchise (in my view) Prisoner of Azkaban could have been honored too. And there’s Michel Gondry’s highly original critical favorite Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind. And a favorite of audiences – Mel Gibson’s mega-blockbuster Passion of the Christ. Any of one of these pics should have at least replaced Finding Neverland, which was decent but doesn’t belong in the category.

The Baby boom would extend to Eastwood, who won Best Director exactly a dozen years after winning the same award for Unforgiven. This prevented Scorsese from winning his first Oscar. Other nominees included Hackford, Payne, and Mike Leigh for Vera Drake.

Once again – Gondry, Tarantino, and Gibson are names worth mentioning that didn’t get in the mix.

Jamie Foxx would take Best Actor for his dead-on portrayal of the legendary singer Ray Charles in Ray, winning out over Leonardo DiCaprio in The Aviator, Don Cheadle in Hotel Rwanda, Eastwood in Million Dollar Baby, and Johnny Depp in Finding Neverland.

One major snub was Paul Giamatti for his fine work in Sideways. The Academy yet again snubbed Jim Carrey in Eternal Sunshine.

Hilary Swank won her second Best Actress award in five years for Baby (in 1999, she was victorious in Boys Don’t Cry). Other nominees: Annette Bening in Being Julia, Catalina Sandino Moreno in Maria Full of Grace, Imelda Staunton in Vera Drake, and Kate Winslet for Eternal Sunshine.

Once again, it was Uma Thurman left out for her work in the Kill Bill franchise.

Morgan Freeman would win his first Oscar in the Supporting Actor race for Million Dollar Baby over Alan Alda in The Aviator, Thomas Haden Church for Sideways, Jamie Foxx in Collateral, and Clive Owen in Closer.

Not to keep bringing up Kill Bill, but the late David Carradine should have been nominated.

The Aviator would finally receive some Academy recognition with Cate Blanchett winning Supporting Actress with her portrayal as Katherine Hepburn. Other nominees: Laura Linney in Kinsey, Virginia Madsen for Sideways, Sophie Okonedo in Hotel Rwanda, and Natalie Portman for Closer.

After all my mentions for Kill Bill and Eternal Sunshine receiving snubs, there’s one other 2004 pic that demonstrates the Academy’s constant ability to ignore comedies. So I give you the following snubs –

Best Actor – Will Ferrell, Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy

Best Supporting Actor – Steve Carell, Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy

Best Supporting Actor – Paul Rudd, Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy

Best Supporting Actor – David Koechner, Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy

Best Scene Involving a Cannonball – Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy

Best Scene With a Dog Being Punted – Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy

Best Rendition of “Afternoon Delight” In a Movie: Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy

I’ll be back with Oscar History: 2005 soon, my friends!

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