Actors Whose Films Gross the Most Money

I don't know about most of you, but the actor in movies has a lot to do with my choices in going to the cinema.  As I researched this topic, I was shocked by who is in the Top 50 and even more about the Top 10.  

I do have favorite actors that I always enjoy seeing.  My personal favorite actors are: Leonardo DiCaprio, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Tom Hardy, Charlize Theron, Harrison Ford, and Joaquin Phoenix.  Just to name a view of them.

I will be putting the actor, how much money the films make, the number of films. and the highest grossed film.  All money totals are in million dollars amounts.  So lets get to this list:

          Actor:               $ Amount:    Films:      Highest Film:
50. Anna Hathaway     $2,263.7        23    The Dark Knight Rises

49. Sigourney Weaver   $2,276.4      46            Avatar
48. Steve Carrel           $2,291.6        22        Despicable Me 2
47. Leonardo Dicaprio  $2,334.7      24             Titanic 
46. Sandra Bullock      $2,336.2      34              Gravity
45. Antonio Banderas   $2,374.1     42              Shrek 2
44. Dustin Hoffman      $2,378.6     41              Meet the Fockers
43. Rupert Grint            $2,390.5    13      Harry Potters Deathly                                                                              Hollows Part 2
42. Mark Wahlberg       $2,395.4     35          Transformers 4
41. John Travolta          $2,398.8     44              Grease
40. Nicholas Cage         $2,407.0     56      National Treasure 2

39. Adam Sandler       $2,412.5        30            Big Daddy
38. Elizabeth Banks    $2,443.0        34       Catching Fire
37. Ralph Fiennes       $2,446.5        32      Harry Potter Deathly 
                                                                    Hollows Part 2
36. Jonah Hill              $2,448.9        26         The Lego Movie
35. Daniel Radcliffe    $2,449.2       13      Harry Potter D.H. Part 2
34. Woody Harrelson  $2,456.3       47        Catching Fire
33. Don Cheadle          $2,471.8       32      Avengers: Age of Ultron
32. Bradley Cooper     $2,487.4       23       American Sniper
31. Tommy Lee Jones   $2,494.7     43       Men in  Black
30. Scarlett Johansson  $2,536.3      34       The Avengers

29. Jim Carrey                $2,545.2      27           The Grinch
28. Owen Wilson           $2,545.8      36         Night at the Museum
27. Brad Pitt                   $2,610.1      38         World War Z
26. Julia Roberts            $2,641.7      39          Ocean's 11
25. Emma Watson         $2,681.8      14      Harry Potter D.H. Part 2
24. Matt Damon            $2,722.7      37      The Bourne Ultimatum
23. Helena Bonham Carter  $2,739.6   33   Harry Potter D.H. Part 2
22. Cate Blanchett     $2,786.5       36     LOTR: Return of the King 
21. Stanley Tucci          $2,797.1       48           Catching Fire
20. Ben Stiller               $2,798.2       36        Meet the Fockers

19. Will Smith                $2,814.3      22             Independence Day
18. Orlando Bloom         $2,815.8     17   LOTR: Return of the King
17. Robert DeNiro          $2,909.8     74         Meet the Fockers
16. Liam Neeson            $2,937.1      61        The Phantom Menace
15. Gary Oldman            $3,029.8      36       The Dark Knight
14. Cameron Diaz           $3,031.7      34       Shrek 2
13. Ian McKellen            $3,135.2     31  LOTR: Return of the King 
12. Stellan Skarsgard      $3,168.5    42           The Avengers
11. Bruce Willis              $3,186.4    58          Sixth Sense

Now for the Top Ten...

10. Johnny Deep             $3,229.0    43        Dead Man's Chest

I'm not surprised about him being in the top ten but I figured he would be a little higher.  He was on a roll for a while but with recent flops to his name, he might be slowing down.  He however has another Pirates movie on the way so he could move up a couple spots sooner rather than later.

9. Michael Caine          $3,262.0       56        The Dark Knight

One of three people, that I'm truly surprise to be on this list.  But he has over fifty movies to his name, as well as several big Christopher Nolan movies to his name.  The Dark Knight killed the box office when it was released and he was a stand out in that film....right?

8. Robin Williams         $3,279.9        49        Night at the Museum

I'm surprised that Night at the Museum was his highest grossed movie.  It's sad that he will slowly move down this list from this point on.  But he was a great actor, with a very good talent of making us laugh!

7. Tom Cruise                $3,392.2        35           War of the Worlds

Surprised that it's not one of the Mission Impossible sequels.  He is totally a movie star!  War of the Worlds is a pretty good movie.  I guess I never realized how well it did at the box office.

6. Robert Downey Jr.     $.3,536.3     53             The Avengers

He will be in the top five by the summer next year with out a doubt.  Though the number one spot will not be to out of reach for him.  He has Captain America: Civil War and the Avengers 3 Part One and Two coming out in the next couple years.

5. Eddie Murphy     $3,810.4     38                    Shrek 2

Here's a man that was a huge star and now has completely fallen from the stature he one had.  I'm still surprise he is this high on the list.  But his early work made bank, when he was on his game.

4. Harrison Ford     $3.935.1               40               Star Wars

One of my favorite movies stars ever and favorite movie characters too.  By the end of this year his movies will gross the most of any actor so far.  Star Wars has proven to be an very marketable and continue to be the iconic film franchise.  Han Solo is who we all wanted to be when we grow up.  He is also the only one he shot too!

3. Tom Hanks        $4,264.2          42              Toy Story 2

A surprising name to be on this list.  It's weird to see him this high because you don't really think of him as a guy who is a blockbuster star.  But sometimes the mold will be broken and stars will surpise you.  He was in awesome movies like,: Apollo 13, Forrest Gump, Toy Story, and Saving Private Ryan.  Woody from Toy Story is totally the Luke Skywalker of the series just not as cool as Buss Lightyear (Han Solo)

2. Morgan Freeman      $4,311.8       58           The Dark Knight

 He always seems to be in huge movies as some wise character.  I really enjoy a lot of his roles when he is not phoning it in.  He will always be Red to me.  The Shawshank Redemption is one of my favorite films of all time.  

1. Samuel L. Jackson   $4,587.0    66               The Avengers

At first I was kinda surprise by this cause he seems to be in a lot of supporting minor roles.  But if you look at his filmography, you will quickly find out he is in a ton of huge franchises. I.E.-Jurassic Park, The Avengers, Star Wars, Die Hard, and XXX.  As well as Pulp Fiction and Django Unchained.  

Well thats the list.  It was really interesting to see the actors and where they place with all the others.  Weird not to see guys like Al Pacino and Chris Pratt crack the top 50 yet.  

So I might do Top 25 directors total grosses soon as well.  So keep on the look out for that  

  

SNL 39.15 Review - Lena Dunham, The National

Original Airdate - 3/8/14

Coming into this episode, I'm not sure how many people in the general public knew who Lena Dunham was.  I'll be honest, I knew Lena Dunham as the weird girl that randomly won a Golden Globe last year.  However, Dunham is becoming a household name as her hit HBO series Girls continues to rise in popularity.  SNL even parodied this show in one of the first sketches of the season.  How well would she perform on the live stage though.  Well, it turned out she did pretty well.  The material seemed to be fresher than it had been in recent episodes, which may have something to do with Lena Dunham being a writer as well.  Here's how the episode went.

Cold Opening

There's a lot of stuff going on in the world around us.  One of the biggest controversies out there right now is the situation in the Ukraine and the reaction of Russian president Vladimir Putin.  You know it's an important news story because SNL decided to use their cold opening to talk about it.  President Obama has tried everything to get Putin under control, so he had to bring in some outside help: a man with a particular set of skills.  It was a perfect cameo for the perfect moment.

Monologue

Much like Kerry Washington's monologue earlier in the year, they decided to use Lena Dunham's monologue to explain to the average viewer why their host is culturally relevant.  In the show Girls, Dunham is naked a lot (apparently ... I've personally never seen the show ... However, when they take two different opportunities to make light of this fact, it must be true.).  Since she is naked so much, many people ask her advice about their own sex lives like cast members and her grandmother.  It's not a particularly funny bit (until Kate McKinnon opens her mouth), but it is effective in letting people know who she is.

Weekend Update

This was a fun Weekend Update.  With Colin Jost's sophomore turn at the desk, you can tell he is settling in nicely.  In fact, the fresh blood has infused some new life into the segment.  Jost is willing to be a little edgier than Seth Myers was, which will be a great breath of fresh air moving forward.  The two groups of guests to come to the Update desk made this one of the stronger Weekend Updates of the season.  First was Matthew McConaughey brought to you by Taran Killam.  The recent Oscar winner that was also starring in the new hit show True Detective is an easy target for SNL with his southern drawl, many eloquent acceptance speeches, and a character on True Detective that makes a habit of speaking in a way that makes you unsure whether he is the smartest man or dumbest man in the world (mainly because you can't figure out what he's saying half the time).  Killam does a great caricature of Mr. McConaughey.  Following him was a comeback of Fred Armisen, now working just down the hall with Seth Meyers, teaming up with Vanessa Bayer as Vladimir Putin's friends from growing up.  It's a bit that really never gets old.

Best Sketch

The tone for the show was set with the first sketch following the monologue as it became the best sketch of the show.  Four friends got into the car and were singing along with a song playing through someone's cell phone.  However, that phone was also giving directions to their destination, and the directions would always come whenever Lena Dunham tried to sing along.  It was a funny premise and a solid sketch, however it's twist ending no one saw coming took this one over the top.

Worst Sketch

You know you have a solid show when the hardest thing to do is pick a bad sketch.  For shows like this, the category turns into the least good sketch because none of them were really bad.  The closest thing to a bad sketch was Mike O'Brien going to his girlfriend's women's group where it is revealed that he is an men's rights activist.  As you can imagine, this news does not go over well.  The sketch still has its moments, but it just didn't deliver quite like some of the other sketches did.

Dark Horse Sketch

I have to be honest, I don't know who Katt Williams is.  I've heard about him, I've seen some video clips of him, but I really have no idea what is significant about him.  However, Jay Pharaoh hosting the Katt Williams Show "Pimpin, Pimpin, Pimpin" showed me what he was all about.  This sketch was great because of the impressions that were brought to it.  First, Pharaoh's Katt Williams is scary good.  Next came Brooks Wheelen's Jared Leto accepting his Oscar.  It wasn't a great impression, but he said what everyone had on their minds, "I'd like to thank me band 30 Seconds to Mars for not being good enough to keep me away from acting."  Lena Dunham's take on Liza Minelli was just fun, but my favorite came last: Taran Killam's Harrison Ford.  If you haven't heard, Harrison Ford has become quite old and senile in his public appearances recently, and Killam brings this to life to perfection.  This is the type of sketch in past episodes that they would try to feature as one of their first sketches of the show and be disappointing.  Putting this sketch at the back end puts a sketch like this in the perfect spot to succeed, and it shows the strength of this episode.

Grade

This show surprised me.  I did not expect it to be this fresh and funny, especially considering some of the lack of originality that had been coming out through the recent episodes.  However, with Shasheer Zumata now firmly apart of the cast, Colin Jost settling into his new role, the show finally has stopped worrying about transitioning and adjusting and started with this episode to focus on being funny.  That's what this episode did.  Let's hope this is a trend and not an anomaly.

***A-***

View the entire episode here: