oblivion was alright imo

here's how i'd rank the a listers - not a list of talent just ability to carry a movie with star power right now

DiCaprio
Cruise
Smith
Pitt
Jennifer Lawrence
Clooney
Depp
Norton (but nobody ever wants to work with him)
Keanu Reeves
Tom Hanks
Bradley Cooper

One of the best things about being a Tom Cruise fan is how polarizing it is. He drives some people crazy. I'm not sure why. All I have to say at the PLO game is something like, "Looking forward to the Jack Reacher movie, but it won't be the same without Tom Cruise," and it's off to the races.

He's too small to be Jack Reacher! I need a tall, muscular man; a real man's man if I'm going to sit and watch for that long.

Cruise seems to have the highest blockbuster potential out of anyone mentioned, ainec.

I don't see any problem with walking out of a movie I'd it's not enjoyable, the reason why doesn't matter.

The Rock is probably #1 right now.

Leo is #1 ainec imo. He's been in his own tier for many years. Brad Pitt has been the only real competitor he's had over the last couple decades imo. Tom Hanks, Cruise, and Denzel passed their torches long ago.

I'm surprised to see Will Smith getting such a high rating from people, regardless of the Oscars incident. His stardom probably peaked with Ali in 2001; I'm not sure I've seen or cared about a movie he's done since then and feel like he wasn't very culturally relevant heading into the past Oscars.* Also, no love for Ryan Gosling or Bradley Cooper? I'm ambivalent on Cooper but Gosling seems to have that "it" factor that elevates one to mega-stardom.

*EDIT: Okay, I just looked at his filmography, and unfortunately I did see one of his movies post-Ali: The Pursuit of Happyness. It sucked.

Will Smith hasn't been a box office draw for quite some time now.

Leo is a huge movie star obv, but his movie selection is impeccable. The Rock brings in the big bucks regardless of reviews.

gosling 100% belongs on the list

hanks & smith are fading, especially hanks, but both can still anchor entire franchises, they can just attach their name to a project and it gets greenlit

norton is an enigma, for all his star power and talent, hewhile he may be exaggerating, says he couldn't have gotten his motherless brooklyn project made without getting bruce willis to sign off on it - he needed another star in order for the greenlight

guys like cooper and gosling are chosen to star in certain projects but guys like cruise and dicaprio are on whole other levels where they are the ones running the show because all the film needs to become a hit in their involvement - cruise has been running his own mini studio for decades - i wouldn't be surprised at all if in his last years he turns into an executive

Ryan Reynolds has to be high on the list also.

Also, shame on Tom Hardy for his selection the last few years (and for never making another season of Taboo!). He had that amazing run during the early - mid 2010s and then stopped being in movies I had any interest in seeing. Excellent actor imo.

no range, if he were in a cruise/dicaprio/hanks/pitt film he'd be the quirky fun loving sidekick who plays second fiddle every single time

Who said anything about range? We're talking about box office potential, not acting ability, and he is undeniably a massive draw.

Are we just speaking of star power, or just A-list actors all together... I mean, regardless, Joaquin Phoenix has to be on top of this list, even if his stardom has faded recently... Daniel-Day Lewis, Tom Hardy have to also to be in the top 3, but less stardom shine, of course.

true but you could say the same of dozens of actors

ryan reynolds can't simply agree to be in a film and suddenly it's going to have a $200 million budget and be a global success

he fits a niche

No you couldn't.

And his name being attached absolutely guarantees a big budget. $200m is obviously a ridiculous number to throw out though, because almost no movies outside of Marvel demand budgets that high, and certainly no actor would ever have that kind of pull lol.

Perhaps not the flashiest star power, but ScarJo has to be up there as well in terms of talent/draw on the female side.

It would be hilarious if he also got bald and fat, he'd be just like his character in Tropic Thunder.

Agree they both may be better actors technically, but they are not "movie stars" in the old-Hollywood mold the way Cruise still is. The type of actor who can open a movie just by their name above the title.

I also think Cruise's acting skill is severely underrated because he happens to work mainly in big-budget action films. He has the charisma and ability to carry a film by himself. He has also done excellent work in smaller more "serious" roles such as Magnolia.

I saw a trailer for a movie called Bullet Train with Brad Pitt, where it looks like he's going for the summer blockbuster action-hero part. Can he pull off as well as Cruise? I doubt it.

Strong disagree. I thought Edge of Tomorrow was great.

I didn't mind the fan service, but I completely agree with the bolded statement above.

Even though I am a huge Sopranos fan, and had been excited to hear about Many Saints of New York when it was in production, I didn't bother to see it when it first came out due to it's almost universally poor reviews. I finally watched it on my AA flight to Vegas last week and it was even worse than I was expecting.

If we are just talking about guaranteed box office, the Rock definitely has to be on this list. He is super bankable.

Is Sean Penn considered an A lister?

40 years ago this week…

agreed, was probably a big mistake to leave him out, but he's one of the only a listers with a lower range than ryan reynolds, he can only play himself so his options are very limited despite whatever he does will have a big draw

so i left him out for same reason i left out reynolds, projects choose him, he doesn't choose projects

the rock can't simply pick up a script, says he's committed to it and out of nowhere 100+ million financing and an A list director appear out of nowhere to make it a reality - the rock is instead given a range or movies where he fits in perfectly as the rock

a lister in talent for sure but like norton he's difficult to work with so people would rather look elsewhere and he doesn't have the star power to carry a blockbuster, a sean penn film is far from guaranteed to be a financial success, he's like daniel day lewis, a fantastic actor who can dominate but he can't make a mediocre film a hit just by his presence - he needs to be in an amazing film in order to capitalize on his skillset

I don’t know if the Gray Man will have a significant theater only window, but if so Ryan Gosling jumps to #2 on this list IMHO.