Hollywood's Most Valuable Actor: Will Smith

[Ale]

Hollywood's Most Valuable Actors

John Burman, 02.10.09, 12:00 PM EST

Our inaugural Forbes Star Currency survey asks industry insiders what they really think of the talent in Tinseltown. These 20 come out on top.

Will Smith won't take home anything shiny at this year's Academy Awards, but members of the entertainment industry say he's tops at mining real gold, a more critical skill given the current economy.

Smith ranks first in our inaugural Forbes Star Currency survey, an exclusive look at what the business side of Hollywood really thinks of more than 1,400 working actors when it comes to ensuring the financial success of film projects.

Smith was the only person to receive a perfect score of 10, edging out Johnny Depp, Brad Pitt, Leonardo DiCaprio and Angelina Jolie, who all tied for second with scores of 9.89. Others in the top 20 include Tom Hanks, Denzel Washington, Meryl Streep, Jack Nicholson and Matt Damon.

It's an all-star cast that shows consistent muscle in attracting financing and generating global box office revenues. They also have hefty celebrity personas that grab press attention, creating valuable awareness for their projects. There's a considerable amount of acting talent there, too.

Consider that, of the top 20 names alone, 16 have been nominated for an Academy Award in the acting categories. Collectively, they have a combined 69 nominations and 15 wins, pending the outcome of the Feb. 22 ceremony, which sees Pitt, Jolie and Streep up for honors.

Are the names in the upper reaches absolute guarantees for box office performance? Of course not. (Just ask George Clooney about Leatherheads). But they will help you get a film made.

The Forbes Star Currency survey was sent to entertainment industry members globally asking them to use a provided scale in ranking 1,400-plus actors as individuals on a range of attributes regarding their participation in a film, including the actor's ability to attract significant financing to a project with their involvement; if their presence guarantees theatrical distribution; if they significantly drive theatrical box office performance; and if their involvement is an essential component in securing rights deals for revenue streams including DVD, pay/free TV, etc.

The survey's debut is Forbes' most recent entry in compiling data and analyzing the business of entertainment. Forbes conducted the survey Sept. 3, 2008, through Nov. 16, 2008, in conjunction with Erdos & Morgan, a New York-based independent research firm that advised Forbes on the survey, as well as handled the tabulation and ranking of the results. The results were converted into scores ranging from 0 to 10, with 10 being the top.

Smith won for good reasons. Look at his numbers:

--His films have raked in more than $5.2 billion at the box office worldwide (through Feb. 1, 2009), according to Exhibitor Relations Co. ($2,313,659,825 in North America; $2,925,750,000 internationally.)

--Seven of his live-action films opened consecutively in the No. 1 spot at the North American box office, from Men in Black II (2002) through Hancock (2008).

--His three top-grossing films alone have pulled in more than $2 billion at the worldwide box office. Independence Day (1996) made $816,969,255; Hancock (2008) collected $623,586,274 and Men in Black (1997) hauled in $589,390,539, Exhibitor Relations Co. figures show.

--He's been nominated for two best actor Oscars for Ali (2001) and The Pursuit of Happyness (2006).

"Will Smith is unique in that he is one of a very few people who is a draw purely on name alone," says Rick Alvarez, longtime Wayans brothers producing partner, including the upcoming Dance Flick. "It almost doesn't matter what genre. The name alone creates a confidence with the audience that they're going to get something that's entertaining whether it's action, comedy, drama."

That's increasingly important these days, says Patrick Gunn, managing director at media investment firm Qualia Capital. "In general, it's a terrible market out there because of what's happening in the financial markets; there's less money for any pictures," he says. "So, the ones without any known elements become harder to make. Having established actors becomes even more critical."

Like Brad Pitt. The Oscar nominee for The Curious Case of Benjamin Button could have gone the way of many promising young actors who get unfairly burdened with being "The Next (fill in the blank)," but Pitt took the torch and forged on, to date crafting a career that doesn't always play to the safe choice. If anything, it's made him a bigger star internationally than at home. Examples include Troy, which made $133.3 million in North America and $364 million in the rest of world and Babel, which took in $34.3 million in North America vs. $101 million internationally.

Depp's another actor who marches to his own drum and makes money, too. The poster child for "indie actor as box office star," Depp's smart career move in taking the Jack Sparrow role in the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise--and his ability to maintain his street credibility in doing so--elevated him to another level in the eyes of the industry and audiences.

Leonardo DiCaprio may not have the gaudy box office numbers some of his peers do, but that boat movie keeps him, for now, as King of the World in the major box office stat. He seems to be OK with that and has not shown interest in chasing one popcorn movie after another.

As for Jolie, who is the survey's top-ranked woman (and a best actress nominee this year in Clint Eastwood's Changeling), Ashok Amritraj, chairman and CEO of Hyde Park Entertainment says: "She has built a larger-than-life persona that captivates you, and she has become a really good actress as we saw in the Eastwood film and, of course, the action films like Wanted and Tomb Raider. Being able to show that she can do it all and adding to that the social work and personal aspects makes her extremely interesting as an actress." No wonder Hollywood loves her.

http://www.forbes.com/2009/02/10/forbes-st...r_currency.html

In Pictures: Hollywood's 20 Most Valuable Actors

Will Smith

Star Currency Rank: No. 1

Star Currency Cumulative Score: 10 (out of 10)

Global Box Office: $5,239,409,825

North American Box Office: $2,313,659,825

Box Office, Outside North America: $2,925,750,000

Three Top-Grossing Films (Global figures):

1. Independence Day (1996): $816,969,255

2. Hancock (2008): $623,586,274

3. Men in Black (1997): $589,390,539

Age (as of Feb. 10, 2009): 40

http://www.forbes.com/2009/02/10/forbes-st...thisSpeed=15000

Forbes Star Currency

Video!

http://video.forbes.com/fvn/starcurrency/j...ow_starcurrency

[Sandy]

Thanks Ale!

I guess you are faster than me posting 'coz while I was posting the same news you've posted yours frst! lol

[Ale]

Hehe, well thanks for sharing anyway, Sandy :thumbsup:

[BigBloss]

he is the man