EIGHT Most Bankable Stars According to Movie Theater Chains! Weird List!

EIGHT Most Bankable Stars According to Movie Theater Chains! Weird List!

A few days back several movie theaters chains revealed who are the most bankable stars of the 2020s. How is their selection? Is it a good or weird selection of actors and actresses? Let’s get started!

1. Leonardo DiCaprio: Now of course, Leonardo DiCaprio is one of the top actors of his generation and has been for nearly 30 years now. He’s worked with so many fantastic directors and several of his films have printed money for the studios, specifically Titanic and Inception. But I think calling him one of the most bankable stars of the 2020s is a very weird statement and blatantly false. He’s only put out three movies this decade, one of them was a Netflix original with Don’t Look Up. And then the other two, Killers of the Flower Moon and One Battle After Another weren’t massive box office hits. Killers of the Flower Moon was one of the biggest box office flops of 2023 because they spent $200 million on a 3.5 hour drama that only grossed about $180 million. One Battle After Another did better at the box office, but the budget was also significantly lower. It did of course win multiple Oscars including Best Picture but it only grossed $212 million at the box office. That’s not a terrible box office haul but those aren’t the numbers that qualify him to be one of the most bankable stars currently working. If you wanted to say that he’s one of the most bankable stars of the late ‘90s and throughout the 2000s then I’d agree but not in the 2020s. 

2. Zendaya: There’s a few more actors on this list that I think fit into the category that I’d put Zendaya into. The simple fact of the matter is that she’s been in major franchise blockbuster films for nearly a decade and all of them have printed money. But those films are franchise blockbuster films that sold tickets because of the IP, not because of Zendaya. The reason why Spider-Man: Brand New Day made almost $2 billion wasn’t because Zendaya was in the movie, it was because it was a Spider-Man movie with three different Spider-Men in there. This year, she has four movies coming out, one of them already came out with The Drama, but she also has The Odyssey, Spider-Man: Brand New Day, and Dune: Part III all films that are likely going to be very profitable. It’s also likely that she’ll be the highest grossing actress of 2026. If that’s the case and she earns that title, none of it is because of her it’s because she’s in franchise films that print money or in the case of The Odyssey, she’s in a film with the top director working today. Even her non IP stuff on the decade hasn’t been knocking it out of the park. The Drama had a solid opening, at about $25 million but if she’s labeled as one of the most bankable stars then those numbers should be much higher and the final box office numbers should be much higher than what they’re going to end up being. Even Challengers from 2024, which was a critically acclaimed film, only made $96 million worldwide. She was the face of that film with the most acclaim and success to her name, all in a film that made less than $100 million. She has had financial success in her movie but it’s all because she’s in big franchise IP films.  

3. Brad Pitt: I’d sort of put Pitt in a similar category to DiCaprio as saying he’s one of the most bankable stars of the 2020s is false. If this list was about the 2000s, then I think there’s a conversation to be had. Pitt has starred in more movies this decade but a majority of them have been side roles in cameos. The Lost City and If that get theatrical releases, he had cameos in those so it doesn’t really count. He starred in Wolfs in 2024 opposite George Clooney, but that was an Apple TV+ original, so that doesn’t count. He’s starred in three theatrically released films this decade with Bullet Train, Babylon, and F1. All three of those films have varying degrees of success at the box office. Bullet Train has a star studded cast, beyond Pitt it has Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Brian Tyree Henry, Michael Shannon, Sandra Bullock, and more. That film only made $239 million. That’s not a bad number but considering the film cost about $90 million and it has a bunch of star power, probably not the numbers they were hoping for. Babylon is one of the biggest box office bombs of the 2020s. It’s a film that always has Margot Robbie and is directed by Damien Chazelle, a top level director working today. That film only made $65 million on an $80 million budget. It lost the studio a lot of money and simply doesn’t justify Pitt being on this list. F1 is his highest grossing film of all time, making over $600 million. That was a profitable film that got all sorts of awards. However, I don’t feel like those numbers were because of Pitt’s involvement, I think it helped. I think the movie made that money because the reviews were really solid and it’s just a classic crowd pleasing blockbuster that’s easy for people to enjoy. 

4. Margot Robbie: The big reason as to why she’s on here is probably because of Barbie that made well over $1 billion in 2023. But as to what we’ve alluded to during this blog post is that movie stars don’t sell tickets. The reason why Barbie made over $1 billion and was a cultural event wasn’t because of Robbie. It was because Barbie was an unexplored IP in a cinematic fashion, it also helped that Barbenheimer was this cultural event that elevated the box office of both Barbie and Oppenheimer. This decade she’s even done two comic book movies with Birds of Prey and The Suicid Squad, and both of those films dramatically underperformed. Those films underperforming weren’t her fault, they were due to COVID and Birds of Prey’s theatrical window being shortened and The Suicide Squad releasing after a new COVID strain was revealed. It’s weird and disappointing that she was the star of two different comic book movies that underperformed at the box office. But everything else she’s done didn’t do the box office numbers the studios or the filmmakers were hoping for. Besides those movies she’s had Peter Rabbit 2: The Runaway, Amsterdam, Babylon, Asteroid City, A Big Bold Beautiful Journey, and Wuthering Heights all released this decade. So that’s six additional movies released and combined they made $567 million. A bankable star doesn’t have six movies released in a decade and only make $567 million at the total box office. I know she’s had Barbie, a big hit film that pushes that number up much higher. But when looking at the not so high profile projects, these numbers aren’t great. 

5. Tom Holland: I think Tom Holland’s inclusion is the ultimate example of people not understanding box office analysis. On face value, Tom Holland is a very bankable star because he’s Spider-Man. In terms of box office numbers, Spider-Man is the most bankable superhero. People wanna say that The Amazing Spider-Man 2 was a flop and that’s why Andrew Garfield’s Spider-Man universe didn’t continue. That movie made $700 million, $700 million is Spider-Man flopping. Whenever we get a new Spider-Man movie coming out you know it’s going to make a lot of money at the box office. In that regard, Tom Holland is a very bankable star. But he’s bankable because of the character he plays. Holland is going to have a great July with The Odyssey and Spider-Man: Brand New Day. Both of those films are going to do great numbers at the box office. Brand New Day is almost a lock to make $1 billion. I don’t think The Odyssey will make $1 billion, but it’ll make close to $1 billion like Oppenheimer did. But people aren’t going to go see those movies for Tom Holland, they’re going to see them for Spider-Man and Christopher Nolan. I think it’s hard to make a list like this in the modern era of Hollywood because this list should be filled with actors that sell tickets purely based on their name being on the poster. And that’s just not how movie tickets sell anymore. Movie tickets are sold based on the recognition of the franchise and whether or not people like that franchise. People like Spider-Man and they like Tom Holland’s Spider-Man so they’re going to buy tickets to see Spider-Man, but not necessarily to see Tom Holland. 

6. Ryan Gosling: This is one that feels a little bit like recent bias because of Project Hail Mary and the praise it’s been getting. Project Hail Mary is a great movie and has already grossed $500 million at the box office. But the problem that several of these actors have run into, people are buying tickets because of the IP not the actor. People like Ryan Gosling as an actor, he’s very likable and charming in all of his roles. But if they replaced Ryan Gosling with Ryan Reynolds or whoever, I don’t think Project Hail Mary’s box office would be radically different. Even in 2024, we got The Fall Guy that got great reviews but really underperformed at the box office. It was a movie that just didn’t connect with younger audiences. That film is an IP film but it’s an IP that a whole generation doesn’t even know exists. I know so many people my age (early 20s) when this movie came out that were excited for the film but had no idea it was based on an IP. I think that film had an original flavor to it and that’s why it underperformed, I think it even has a streaming film vibe to it. Within the last two years, he’s put out two movies, one of which is doing great at the box office, the other one struggled at the box office. He also had Barbie this decade, which is his highest grossing film to date, but that movie made $1 billion because Barbie is a brand that people recognize and it was tied to the Barbenheimer event, which was massive. Once again, none of these movies sold a lot of tickets because Ryan Gosling starred in, they sold tickets because they like the IP and the brand.

7. Timothée Chalamet: This is an interesting one because I think of the actors of his generation he’s of course one of the top names. I think his marketing strategy with Marty Supreme made the film do solid box office numbers. Even with that film, he self-promoted that film to success but it still didn’t do fantastic. It became the highest grossing film for A24, surpassing Everything Everywhere All at Once. Right there, he helped an original movie make almost $200 million at the box office, that’s impressive. But, I feel like in order to be a bankable star and be included on the list, your movies have to make more money in order to show that you can sell a movie purely based on your face and name on the poster. From there, he’s another actor that’s done several franchise films from the Dune movies to Wonka. Those films made money, Wonka made over $600 million but it was because it was a Christmas release. And family movies released during Christmas time tend to do well and it’s a franchise and brand that people recognize. I think Timothée fits the criteria more than some of the other actors on the list but I’m still not sold on him being included on the list.

8. Austin Butler: To keep it on theme here, this is another actor that doesn’t make any sense to include on the list. Austin Butler is one of the rising stars of his generation, he had a breakout role with Elvis that made everybody pay attention to him and he’s been getting great roles with great directors ever since then. Elvis was a hit film, it made $288 million but that’s not enough money to be considered a bankable actor. He was in Dune: Part II that made over $700 million, I believe that’s his highest grossing film to date. But once again, nobody went to see that movie for Butler. They went to see it because they love the source material it’s based on. Outside of that, everything else he’s done this decade hasn’t made much of a splash. He was in Caught Stealing last year with Darren Aronofsky. It starred him, Zoe Kravitz, Matt Smith, Vincent D’Onofrio, Liev Schriber, and more familiar faces and made under $50 million. I hate to sound like a broken record but I don’t think it makes really any sense to include him on the list because I don’t know of his films where he’s front and center have made enough money to justify putting him on the list.