Are You Getting Your Money’s Worth From Name Power? (Part One)

Frequently movie advertisers will tease a film by enticing the audience with an actor or actress’ name. Producers believe the celebrity’s name power will get people in the seats. Sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn’t.
Running across a list of the top-paid actors and actresses of 2008, I decided to do a check on the latest movies the top 10 were in and whether they were any good or not. So here is the list with some financial stats and numerical ratings from four Web sites.
The percentage that goes along with Rotten Tomatoes measures the positive reviews of approved Tomatometer critics.
It should also be noted, since most people don’t rate a movie unless they like it, the scales are always rated a little high. So therefore, a movie is average at about 6.5 on a 10-point scale and 3.5 on a 5-point scale. Anything above those numbers means audiences generally liked them and below is a negatively received film.

10. Daniel Craig
Since being named James Bond in 2005, Craig’s paychecks (and name) have become increasingly larger. In 2008, Craig was in two films (one of which was a 007 movie) that both received mixed reviews and ratings.
Defeating megalomaniacs and their evil henchmen while bedding the hottest women in the most exotic locations around the globe onscreen doesn’t always mean success in the real world for the actor as can be seen in Craig’s recent filmography.

Defiance (2008)
Domestic Gross – $29 million
Worldwide Gross – $$50 million
Budget – $32 million
IMdb – 7.3/10
Rotten Tomatoes – 55%; 5.8/10
Netflix – 3.9/5
Box Office Mojo – B

Quantum of Solace (2008)
Domestic Gross – $168 million
Worldwide Gross – $586 million
Budget – $200 million
IMdb – 6.9/10
Rotten Tomatoes – 64%; 6.1/10
Netflix – 3.6/5
Box Office Mojo – B

The Golden Compass (2007)
Domestic Gross – $70 million
Worldwide Gross – $372 million
Budget – $180 million
IMdb – 6.3/10
Rotten Tomatoes –42%; 5.6/10
Netflix – 3.4/5
Box Office Mojo – C+

The Invasion (2007)
Domestic Gross – $15 million
Worldwide Gross – $40 million
Budget – $80 million
IMdb – 6/10
Rotten Tomatoes –19%; 4.3/10
Netflix – 3.2/5
Box Office Mojo – C+

9. Angelina Jolie
An Academy Award winner, humanitarian and collector of babies, Jolie is synonymous with sex appeal. It seems nearly all of her movies are geared toward her physical assets and when movie trailer voice guy says her name, the men in the audience are automatically supposed to think, “Well, I’m definitely going to see that movie if Angelina Jolie is in it.” However, getting her naked in a movie doesn’t necessarily mean box office success as Robert Zemeckis learned after releasing an animated Jolie lizard monster in 2007’s Beowulf. Since a disappointing 2007, she has rebounded and done a good job of earning her paycheck by getting people in the seats and having them leave liking what they saw.

Wanted (2008)
Domestic Gross – $135 million
Worldwide Gross – $341 million
Budget – $75 million
IMdb – 6.9/10
Rotten Tomatoes –72%; 6.6/10
Netflix – 3.6/5
Box Office Mojo – B

Changeling (2008)
Domestic Gross – $38 million
Worldwide Gross – $113 million
Budget – $55 million
IMdb – 8.1/10
Rotten Tomatoes –61%; 6.3/10
Netflix – 3.9/5
Box Office Mojo – B

Kung Fu Panda (2008)
Domestic Gross – $215 million
Worldwide Gross – $632 million
Budget – $130 million
IMdb – 7.7/10
Rotten Tomatoes –89%; 7.2/10
Netflix – 4/5
Box Office Mojo – B+

Beowulf (2007)
Domestic Gross – $82 million
Worldwide Gross – $196 million
Budget – $150 million
IMdb – 6.6/10
Rotten Tomatoes –71%; 6.5/10
Netflix – 3.1/5
Box Office Mojo – B

A Mighty Heart (2007)
Domestic Gross – $9 million
Worldwide Gross – $19 million
Budget – $16 million
IMdb – 6.8/10
Rotten Tomatoes –77%; 6.9/10
Netflix – 3.3/5
Box Office Mojo – B-

8. George Clooney
The man who temporarily killed Batman, Clooney is a likeable guy who has slowly risen to become adored by female fans of his ER doctor role and envied by men for the coolness he portrayed in the Ocean’s series. Although Clooney is the eighth highest paid actor in Hollywood, the movies he stars in aren’t exactly blockbusters, but audiences generally like his movies (excluding Leatherheads).

Burn After Reading (2008)
Domestic Gross – $60 million
Worldwide Gross – $161 million
Budget – $37 million
IMdb – 7.3/10
Rotten Tomatoes –77%; 6.8/10
Netflix – 3.1/5
Box Office Mojo – B

Leatherheads (2008)
Domestic Gross – $31 million
Worldwide Gross – $41 million
Budget – $58 million
IMdb – 6.1/10
Rotten Tomatoes –52%; 5.8/10
Netflix – 3/5
Box Office Mojo – C

Michael Clayton (2007)
Domestic Gross – $49 million
Worldwide Gross – $93 million
Budget – $25 million
IMdb – 7.5/10
Rotten Tomatoes –90%; 7.6/10
Netflix – 3.6/5
Box Office Mojo – B

Ocean’s Thirteen (2007)
Domestic Gross – $117 million
Worldwide Gross – $311 million
Budget – $85 million
IMdb – 7/10
Rotten Tomatoes –69%; 6.3/10
Netflix – 3.6/5
Box Office Mojo – B

7. Reese Witherspoon
Girl-next-door-cute Reese Witherspoon has two honors on this list: being the highest-paid female in Hollywood in 2008 and being the most overpaid person in Hollywood in 2008. The two movies she made last year received awful reviews and ratings. In her defense however, for Rendition she did take a pay cut to help keep the budget low. Had she only taken it a step further with Four Christmases and bowed out completely we might have been saved another horrible holiday movie.

Four Christmases (2008)
Domestic Gross – $120 million
Worldwide Gross – $164 million
Budget – $80 million
IMdb – 5.7/10
Rotten Tomatoes –24%; 4.3/10
Netflix – 3.7/5
Box Office Mojo – B-

Rendition (2008)
Domestic Gross – $10 million
Worldwide Gross – $27 million
Budget – $27.5 million
IMdb – 6.9/10
Rotten Tomatoes –47%; 5.5/10
Netflix – 3.5/5
Box Office Mojo – C