Who were the top-billed players in the 20 highest-grossing movies of the decade? Elijah Wood, Daniel Radcliffe, Tobey Maguire, Christian Bale, Shia LaBeouf, Ewan McGregor and the voices of Mike Myers, Ray Romano and Albert Brooks. Also, we grant, Johnny Depp. None of the first nine actors is exactly a box-office magnet, though LaBeouf may get there. And even Depp, People magazine's Sexiest Man Alive for 2009, is identified more with ornery art films than with the Pirates blockbusters. You have to go way down the list of the decade's top hits, No. 25 to be exact, before you find a movie (The Da Vinci Code) with a traditional star (Tom Hanks). Will Smith's Hancock and I Am Legend are even further down.
This was the decade when big stars got small. Smith aside, no dramatic actor can be assured to lure the masses. George Clooney hasn't had a $100 million movie, except for the Ocean's capers he made with Brad Pitt and Matt Damon, since the summer of 2000 (The Perfect Storm). The only reliable names have been in comedies; and, this past year, movies with Adam Sandler, Will Ferrell and Jack Black all flopped — while The Hangover, with no stars, cleaned up. But maybe that film's leading man, Bradley Cooper, is a star in the making? Not if you consider All About Steve, the September romantic comedy that coupled him with Sandra Bullock, her star wattage reignited by The Proposal. Their pairing went quickly into the commode. And though Bullock's next picture, The Blind Side, became a smash, its success had as much to do with the expert plucking of heartstrings than with the name above the title. It's enough to make you wonder why Hollywood still pays actors in the $20 million range when it can spend less than a tenth of that on a lesser-known and still have a hit.