Bankable star
A
bankable star is an
actor famous or charismatic enough to be "capable of guaranteeing box-office success simply by showing up in a movie".
Harris states that a bankable star is one of the "3 minimum ingredients to any film package", the other two being a successful director and a script or a strong story idea. The involvement of a bankable star in a film gives investors confidence that they will achieve a return on their investments, by ensuring that the film is widely distributed and that at least some people will pay to see it (i.e. that it will "open").
Harris adds that obtaining a bankable star for a package is not easy, because of the dearth of such stars, stating that at any point in time there are no more than "a dozen or so" stars whose mere involvement will ensure that a film will be made.
Epstein states that bankable stars — or, more generally, "bankable elements" — are how "hookless" films (i.e. films without a compelling concept that makes people interested in them in their own right) get made, giving
Dances with Wolves as an example of a movie where the involvement of
Kevin Costner as the bankable star guaranteed that the movie was made. Robbie concurs, stating that some movies are
high-concept (i.e. they have what Epstein terms "hooks") whereas others are simply
star vehicles for bankable stars.
The
Hollywood Reporter has published several results of polls for
Hollywood's top 10 most bankable stars, the most recent two being one in
1999 and one in
2002. The 2002 survey polled "114 executives at both major studios and independent companies, financiers and various industry players from around the world". Voters were asked which stars "did the most to attract financing to a film, ensure its global distribution, and deliver that hugely important opening weekend based on the strength of their good name".
James Ulmer's list of bankable stars is the
A-list.
Hollywood Reporter
These are the top 10 lists of the most bankable stars, with their scores, as published by
Hollywood Reporter.
1999
#
Tom Hanks#
Mel Gibson#
Tom Cruise#
Harrison Ford#
Jim Carrey#
Leonardo DiCaprio#
John Travolta#
Julia Roberts#
Robin Williams#
Brad Pitt2002
#
Tom Cruise (100.00)#
Tom Hanks (100.00)#
Julia Roberts (100.00)#
Mel Gibson (98.68)#
Jim Carrey (98.46)#
George Clooney (95.18)#
Russell Crowe (94.74)#
Harrison Ford (94.74)#
Bruce Willis (94.30)#
Brad Pitt (92.98)
The next female stars, outside of the top 10, were
Sandra Bullock with a score of 87.28,
Cameron Diaz with a score of 84.87 and
Nicole Kidman with a score of 84.65.
# # # # #
*
Hollywood Reporter's on-line results of its Star Power surveys
