Summary

TAPE: EF02/0089 IN_TIME: 21:19:01 DURATION: 1:57 SOURCES: APTN RESTRICTIONS: DATELINE: file SHOTLIST: 1 B-roll Julia Roberts (APTN file, Oscar parties, March 2001) 2 B-roll Julia Roberts (APTN file) 3 B-roll Tom Hanks (APTN file, Oscar parties, March 2001 4 B-roll Tom Cruise (Vanilla Sky UK premiere January 2002) 5 B-roll Mel Gibson (APTN file, Cannes 1999) 6 B-roll Jim Carrey (APTN file, August 2001) 7 B-roll George Clooney (APTN file) 8 B-roll Russell Crowe (A Beautiful Mind premiere, APTN file, December 2001) 9 B-roll Russell Crowe (APTN file) 9 B-roll Harrison Ford (APTN file) 10 B-roll Bruce Willis (APTN file, Prague, April 2001) 11 B-roll Brad Pitt (APTN file) STORYLINE: HOLLWOOD'S BIGGEST HEAVYWEIGHTS TOM CRUISE, TOM HANKS and JULIA ROBERTS have tied for top position in a survey listing Hollywood's most bankable stars Film magazine 'The Hollywood Reporter' polled more than 100 industry executives around the world asking them to rate more than 1,000 actors in their Star Power study Their criteria included potential to pull in the dollars at opening weekend, ability to secure financing and theatrical distribution based on their attacthment to a project Each rating is added together to form a score between 0 and 100 The survey has been going for six years - but this is the first time a woman has appeared in the top position Her credentials for her place include a Best Actress Oscar for 'Erin Brokovich', as well as roles in 'The Mexican', 'America's Sweethearts' and 'Ocean's Eleven' - grossing a combined $4035 million (USD) around the world Her past five films averaged opening weekend earnings of £300 million (USD) The overall industry opening average for American films is $134 million (USD) While Roberts is setting new standards, Hanks and Cruise have both topped the poll before - Hanks last year, and Cruise the year before that All three scored a perfect 100 score rating this year Hanks maintains his perfect rating despite not having a film out since 2000 His most recent was 'Castaway', which earned $1239 million (USD) in N America, and another $191 million (USD) in the rest of the world For his five films between '97 and '01, the two time oscar winner (For 'Forrest Gump' and 'Philadelphia') brought in average N American opening earnings of $226 million The films were 'Saving Private Ryan', 'You've Got Mail', 'Toy Story 2', 'The Green Mile' and 'Castaway' Tom Cruise stars in one of the films tipped for success in 2002, Steven Speilberg's 'Minority Report' His current film 'Vanilla Sky' may be getting mixed reviews, but still opened in N America to the tune of $25 million (USD) gross So far the film has picked up more than $936 million in the States, and more than $347 million in the rest of the world The last four films Cruise made between '07 and '01 brought in nearly $8291 million (USD) around the world - 'Jerry Maguire', 'Eyes Wide Shut', 'Magnolia'and 'Mission Impossible 2', Bewteen them the top three generated $844 million (USD) globally for films they made in 2001 (493 million in North American box office revenue and 351 million rest of the world) The rest of the top ten were all men - with Mel Gibson scoring the next highest rating (9868) He has established his continuing box office status as heartthrob, comic actor and family favourite with films like 'What Women Want', 'The Patriot' and 'Chicken Run' in recent years Jim Carrey was rated at 9846, proving as popular with fans in drama as in comedy Hits that continue to boost his image include 'Man on the Moon', 'The Truman Show', 'How The Grinch Stole Christmas' and his popular comedies like 'Ace Ventura' and 'Dumb and Dumber' George Clooney makes his first appearance in the top ten list, with a score of 9518 He has seen his clout soar since venturing away from TV's 'ER', with movies like 'Ocean's Eleven', 'O Brother Where Art Thou', 'The Perfect Storm' and 'Three Kings' Another newcomer to the Star Power top ten is Russell Crowe, rated with a score of 9474 His Oscar win last year for 'Gladiator' catapulted him to the A-List, while a growing clutch of nominations this year for his role in 'A Beautiful Mind' has boosted him even further Last year he only scored 4646 Harrison Ford ties wtih Crowe, also scoring 9474 Since becoming a household name with Star Wars and the Indiana Jones series, Ford has stayed a firm favourite with fans He has appeared in the list before, and keeps his star power thanks to recent hits including 'What Lies Beneath' and 'Random Hearts' Bruce Willis has also featured in the list before, and this year scores 9430 His new film 'Hart's War' is being tipped as a winner for 2002, while hits like 'Bandits' and 'The Sixth Sense' have kept his Hollywood clout going strong since 'Die Hard' and 'Pulp Fiction' put him on the map Brad Pitt completes the top ten with a score of 9298 The long time heartthrob has had another good year, co-starring with Clooney in 'Ocean's Eleven', playing opposite Robert Redford in 'Spy Game' and teaming up with Julia Roberts in 'The Mexican' The pin up has long since proved his versitility to studios with films like 'Snatch', 'Fight Club', 'Twelve Monkeys' and 'Se7en' Women who narrowly missed the top ten by scoring between 80 and 90 included Cameron Diaz, Nicole Kidman, Meg Ryan and Jodie Foster The hollywood Reporter survey also showed other trends - for instance the increasing bankability of stars born outside America Nicole Kidman, Hugh Grant, Cate Blanchett, Chow Yun Fat, Jet Li, Penelope Cruz, Jackie Chan,and Jude Law are all increasing their earning power in the US box office and around the world Other names proving themselves as up and coming stars include Renee Zellweger, Reece Witherspoon, Kirsten Dunst, Tobey Maguire and Josh Hartnett