Isn't it a bit odd that Pitt is one of the five biggest movie stars, and yet to the best of my memory he has never carried a blockbuster as the certified, A-1 lead protagonist.

Has there ever been a Brad Pitt hit? He was the co-lead in Seven and Interview with the Vampire. Snatch and the Ocean's films were ensemble casts. I would even go so far as to say that Ed Norton was the lead in Fight Club.

he's a good actor but he's almost too "pretty" to get but so much "critical acclaim"

Mr. and Mrs. Smith too...i mean, that had 2 leads...but i think he had the stronger role in that one..she was just lara croft...again

would Babel count too? or Seven for that matter (that had 3 big names though)

and Benjamin Button shouldn't be overlooked

he won an award for Legends of the Fall i think

I'm not sure how well Spy Game did but that was Redford's lead im sure

He seems to prefer acting in ensemble pieces, even if he is the lead. He also picks a lot of non-traditional roles.

I think the only really profitable film he's been the "lead" in was Mr. and Mrs. Smith. That's all. But like I said, it's not his profitability that makes him a star.

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Michael Clayton

O Brother, Where Art Thou

i mean...all 3 of those were well-received...

Danny Ocean will be his most memorable part of course

I'm assuming the original poster was speaking in commercial terms.

cause the budges for most clooney flicks are relatively low

and make a shitload of $$ on the dvd sales

edit:

Michael Clayton - As of February 8, 2008, the film has grossed $45 million domestically. The film in total grossed $92.6 million worldwide.

O Brother - $71,868,327 (worldwide)

That's generally regarded as the barometer.

The other two were moderate hits, both critically more than financially.

movies have not cracked $100 million.

Perfect board-cysing material can be found here:

http://boxofficemojo.com/people/chart/?id=georgeclooney.htm
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What it is? you know, they know..

Them's hit numbers, they are. And like dude said, that was just domestic, not with DVD etc.

But we didn't talk about budgets. We said hit.

what in the hell makes Meet Joe Black a 90 mil production?

Wait...

they aren't aiming for teen or action blockbuster type movies...

they tend to aim for the dramas...the award-winners...

i mean...very few are looking for Tobey Maguire to do much beyond spider-man...

While we judge people on domestic takes, studios look at guys who can sell a film overseas and are famous faces that can draw in foreign crowds. Brad Pitt is usually good for 100 million overseas so Hollywood still considers him a "bankable" star, even if his films don't do that well here.

The guy who is more inexplicable than Pitt is Bruce Willis. His non-Die Hard films don't usually do that well here or overseas.

22 million for Hostage
15 for Perfect Stranger

>Isn't it a bit odd that Pitt is one of the five biggest movie
>stars, and yet to the best of my memory he has never carried a
>blockbuster as the certified, A-1 lead protagonist.

he doesn't tend to take on a ton of blockbuster type movies, he isn't the action star or comedian we've come to associate with his celebrity status. he is one of the few non-comedic (though he is actually one of the best comedic actors around) actors we love to watch because of his quirks and almost always makes the movie HIS. fight club does not work the same without him. burn after reading just isn't the same without him. i don't know that i want to see mr and mrs smith with another actor- save for john cusack, who is very much the same kind of actor.

>Has there ever been a Brad Pitt hit? He was the co-lead in
>Seven and Interview with the Vampire. Snatch and the Ocean's
>films were ensemble casts. I would even go so far as to say
>that Ed Norton was the lead in Fight Club.

out of each of these movies, you poll 100 people, the large majority of people will think of brad pitt first and foremost. i'd say 65%, easy. hell christian slater is now an afterthought in vampire, and kirsten dunst is usually thought of as the girl who grew up to become a highly unlikeable mary jane watson. he might do an even split with clooney in oceans, and though norton outplayed him in fight club his eccentric performance is usually the thing that stands out in peoples mind. whats the first thing that comes to mind about snatch? a bad ass pikey who knocks people out with one punch.

every single time twelve monkeys comes up, people talk about brad pitt and the crazy eye. hell even in movies they bring that performance up. so why he is very rarely a lead, his presence is usually a major reason why the films are as succesful as they are, because even the box office under performers tend to do excellent on dvd. i know plenty of people who own meet joe black. fucking everyone bought fight club. who doesn't own an oceans dvd? out of all of them, oceans is the lone film that could survive without him, but really... who wants a rusty free oceans movie? little shit like the fact that he's always eating makes him vital to the odd character of the movie.

I'll fuckin' kill ya, man.