What killed the star system in Hollywood?

[MbJ]

I found this piece on THR recently and thought it was very interesting. It basically discussed Adam Sandler and Will Smith's careers from their heights in the late 90s to their eventual dwindling in the 2010s, which corresponded with the phasing out of star-driven vehicles in general.

I've seen other analysts and creative types, such as Max Landis, comment on this as well. How for decades, there was an idea that if a star was big enough, they could pretty much sell any movie on their name recognition alone. That doesn't really exist nowadays, with former big time stars like Tom Cruise having very uneven track records now for films that aren't part of the M:I franchise.

It also seems to affect the younger crop of big names, as many have noted that despite her huge A-list status, Jennifer Lawrence doesn't have a particularly impressive box office track record when you take away the big IP-driven franchises she's been in, like The Hunger Games or the X-Men series. Dwayne Johnson is one of the few actors I've noticed who seems to have escaped this, as just about everything he touches these days seems to turn to gold.

So what do you think led to this situation, where starpower is no longer the big deal it used to be?

 

[the last son]

Technology. Too much things to do.

 

[Erzengel]

Gone is the time of the 80s/90s big name vehicles.

Now it's all about franchises.

 

[Schlosser85]

It’s not really “names” that draw the box office profits anymore.

You also see studios realizing this at least to an extent with more big films that don’t have big names headlining.

 

[Milk Tray Guy]

Gone is the time of the 80s/90s big name vehicles.

Now it's all about franchises.

Yeah, I think this is a large part of it. You know darn well that these days when an idea is pitched one of the first questions will be 'How many sequels can we get out of this?'. Every studio is looking for their shared universe, their new 'brand name'. It's all about the property.

 

[Iceman]

The age of the movie star is well and truly over. It's not the worst thing ever in my book as it gives opportunities for lesser known actors (of which there are many good ones) who haven't yet had their lucky break to go for the big roles. Plus also saves a significant part of the budget of films from being used up by paying for the movie star leads.

 

[Schlosser85]

The age of the movie star is well and truly over. It's not the worst thing ever in my book as it gives opportunities for lesser known actors (of which there are many good ones) who haven't yet had their lucky break to go for the big roles. Plus also saves a significant part of the budget of films from being used up by paying for the movie star leads.

Some lesser-known character actors are as good or better than half the big "stars". Sometimes you discover someone who's really a find. Plus it's nice to not have the same handful of actors in every movie.

 

[Da-Scribe]

I haven't read the article yet, but I think things changed the moment unknowns started getting cast in high profile movies. So now you have these guys like Tobey Maguire, where people see him and will always think Spider-Man, at least for a time. All these fresh faces just become their characters now, rather than people associating the characters with a specific actor. Like Will Smith in MIB was still Will Smith in all of our minds, not Agent J.

 

[Erzengel]

Will Smith has had a different road that most other actors Rap Star, TV Star, Best Picture Nominee Actor.

Sometimes just being a star overrides their roles. It usually takes me 45 minutes into a Tom Cruise picture to get me to forget that he's Tom Cruise.

 

[DarthSkywalker]

 

[Guts]

Even though it doesn't make any sense at all. This thing blew up five planets at the same time. So this kills star systems along with its need to absorb stars to operate.

 

[Kahran Ramsus]

The Internet killed it. It is now so much easier to find out what is likely to suck and what is likely to rock than it used to be. It is much harder to polish a turd these days when word gets out to the world immediately. So stars can't carry bad films on their name nearly as much anymore. If they do good or interesting stuff, people still tend to show up.

Another factor is it made it harder for stars to get away with things and audiences are less forgiving for poor behavior than they used to be. Look at Kevin Spacey. He went from big star to international pariah overnight. That wouldn't have happened 30 years ago. And other big stars such as Tom Cruise, Russell Crowe, and Mel Gibson were also hit badly for misbehaving in the new millennium. Audiences just don't idolize these people the way they used to once they have seen who they really are. Clark Gable didn't have to deal with TMZ.

 

[KRYPTON INC.]

I think the poor return on investment played a role. With the general budget bloat in films it just got harder to justify handing over tens of millions of dollars over to someone just for their presence.

 

[terry78]

I think Cruise is the only real "star" left that opens movies on name value. If he's in a movie he will always have billing in the trailer.

 

[jmc]

I confess....it was me. ....t:

In all seriousness, the stars of the future are coming from the online world.

 

[Tacit Ronin]

I think Cruise is the only real "star" left that opens movies on name value. If he's in a movie he will always have billing in the trailer.

Dwayne Johnson and Leo Dicaprio.

 

[terry78]

Yeah, those guys also. And Damon I guess.

 

[Tacit Ronin]

What destroyed the star system in hollywood? The points system.

 

[Teelie]

Kahran Ramsus and KRYPTON INC. both have it I think. A combination of the internet spreading that a bad movie was bad and the over-sized budgets really did in the star driven movie. Being franchisable helps too although not everything can or will have a sequel.

An expensive bomb was not going to recoup its money when people find out the day it comes out it's a terrible movie, no matter what name you stick on it. Especially one meant to create more movies.

Tom Cruise and The Mummy is an excellent example of everything that's gone wrong in Hollywood. They had the big name, the budget, the sequel/expanded universe ready but did a **** job on the story and failed to make it good so everyone quickly found out via the internet this movie sucked.

 

[terry78]

Hollywood has a very love/ hate relationship with the web.

 

[scarlet-witch]

I'd like to think it's because audiences want better things from their movies nowadays aside from just a name. But yeah, probably the internet.

 

[Web-Head]

The internet and to an extent things like Rotten Tomatoes. Like others said, it's much easier to find out if a movie is worth going to see now and a big name alone won't sell it.

Even Tom Cruise didn't really bring people in with Jack Reacher 2 and Mummy.

 

[GunBlade]

Social media.

 

[Monsieur Xavier]

The part about W.Smith and his idea for an After Earth franchise was very interesting.
I would say that A listers featuring in crappy and expensive movies killed it.
I would not blame it on the Internet though but I agree that site like Rotten Tomatos didn't help either, on the other hand a bad score doesn't means bad BO. The DCUE movies are mostly panned by RT but are still making decent profit.
Anyways, I'm just an average movie goers so what do I know.

 

[DarkShadow10]

I'm surprised that nobody said the obviously real reason why star power is fading is due to a mixture of various things, such as websites like Rotten Tomatoes, the use of Social Media in everyday usage, and the rise of (admittedly) various superhero franchises such as Spider-Man, X-Men, Batman, and the Marvel Cinematic Universe.