Is Matt Damon Still a Movie Star?

Matt Damon's recent box office dissapointment Elysium.

Matt Damon is an A-Lister. There’s no doubt about that. He was the third lead in the Oceans franchise. He’s been in two Clint Eastwood movies. He’s close friends with Ben Affleck, George Clooney, and Brad Pitt. There’s not a single Hollywood party this guy couldn’t get invited to. I mean, People Magazine named him “Sexiest Man Alive” in 2007. Not to mention he’s one of the most talented and dependable actors in Hollywood. Matt Damon has never been bad in a movie, not even in Oceans’ Twelve, where the rest of the cast was there to simply goof around and collect a paycheck. He’s been nominated for two acting Academy Awards for his roles in Good Will Hunting and Invictus. What’s more, he should have been nominated in 1999 for his role in The Talented Mr. Ripley. Matt Damon is a cultural icon and well respected member of the acting community. However, with the recent box-office disappointed of this summer’s Elysium, the question should be asked: “Is Matt Damon still a bankable movie star?”

As disheartening as it may be, an actor’s box office average is a major influence on the longevity of their Hollywood career. First, an actor’s average box office gross will affect their future casting options.  Studios are always looking to help their bottom line, so their only going to shell out money for stars who by themselves bring in an audience. Why do you think Nicolas Cage got to do so many terrible movies over the past ten years? The studios and distribution companies weren’t getting behind movies like Wicker Man and Knowing because they thought Nicolas Cage was going to give a great performance in them. Instead, they saw that other terrible Nick Cage movies like Gone in 60 Seconds and National Treasure had huge box office numbers and wanted to see if Cage could help replicate their performance. As a result, Cage was handed a lot of roles that probably should have gone to Mickey Rourke.

 Also, an actor’s average box office gross will also affect what types of movies they choose. An actor strapped for cash isn’t going to take on small budget projects with great scripts, because the studio won’t be able to pay them their quote. Bradley Cooper was able take on a movie like Silver Linings Playbook, where he was paid way well below his quote, because of his huge payday from Hangover Part II. Same with Channing Tatum, who used the $15 million he received from making The Vow and 21 Jump Street to help finance Magic Mike. What’s interesting is that in both examples I used that actor’s small-budget but well written films were major box office successes. By taking chances on these smaller movies that ended up grossing over $100 million domestically each, Cooper and Tatum coincidently became even bigger stars with higher quotes.

The Cooper and Tatum example also proves a recent trend taken on by studios backing small-budget films. A small-budget art-house film needs a bankable star more so than a big-budget action movie. If a movie has a $20 million dollar budget and Denzel Washington is in it, the movie will make its money back in the first weekend because Denzel Washington’s opening weekend box-office average is around $25 million. Basically, an actor with major box-office appeal can affect the commercial success of a small film and make it a financial winner.

Goodwill Hunting made Matt Damon a star. He had a few notable roles before Goodwill Hunting, most notably School Ties and The Rainmaker, but Goodwill Hunting made him a household name. The film was a critical success, made $138 million dollars, and lives on as an American classic. However, the story behind the film was even better. Damon and his childhood best friend Ben Affleck penned the Academy Award winning script, and also starred in the movie. Damon and Affleck were a great story and the world was their oyster. Damon followed up Goodwill Hunting with supporting roles in Saving Private Ryan and Dogma, along with starring roles in Rounders and the Talented Mr. Ripley. Ryan and Ripley were critical and commercial successes, while Dogma and Rounders both gained a cult following. By the year 2000, although Damon was yet to be the lead actor in a major blockbuster, he was still doing great work. Affleck or Leonardo Dicaprio would have killed for his resume by then. In 2001 Damon had a supporting role among an A-List cast in the smash hit Oceans Eleven. However, it wasn’t until 2002 that Damon became a bonafide A-List movie star. Damon had the title role in The Bourne Identity, a spy film adaptation of Robert Ludlum's novel of the same name. The film’s budget was only $60 million, but the film made $121 million nationally and $92 million in foreign markets. Damon was the lead star in a major box office hit, however it could be argued the popularity of Ludlum’s novel helped quite a bit as well. Nevertheless with Oceans and Bourne, Damon had three successful film franchises which lasted him until 2007. In the years in between, Damon starred in box-office disappointments like Stuck on You and The Good Shepherd. Additionally, Damon had solid supporting roles in the critically acclaimed Syriana and the Academy Award winning smash hit The Departed. However after 2007, without the safety nets of his franchises, Damon was front and center in four straight financially disappointing movies with: The Informant, Invictus, Green Zone, and Hereafter. Not even the two films directed by Clint Eastwood (Invictus and Hereafter) were able to gross more that $40 million domestically. However in 2011, Damon had three mild hits with The Adjustment Bureau, Contagion, and We Bought a Zoo. None of these films made over $80 million, but they at least resolidified Damon as a solid box office performer However, last December Damon made the critical and financial bomb Promised Land. The political nature of the film certainly caused box office problems, but Damon’s star power couldn’t even push the movie to $10 million worldwide.

That brings us to last Friday’s Elysium, a film directed by District 9’s Neil Blomkamp with a $115 million dollar budget that was supposed to be a sure fire hit. However, the film grossed less than $30 million in it’s opening weekend and is already being outperformed by the Jason Sudekis-Jennifer Aniston vehicle We’re the Millers. Still, Damon can’t be entirely blamed for its disappointing box office. The film’s advertisements didn’t exactly have the “wow” factor of District 9’s trailer and the film is loaded with political undertones about healthcare. Additionally, some have argued that science fiction films aren’t  exactly in Damon’s wheelhouse, so it’s poor performance shouldn’t be negatively attributed to his star power.  However, Brad Pitt’s never done a zombie apocalypse film and he helped make World War Z a success. Based on the box office receipts, Damon wasn’t able to move ticket sales at all for Elysium. Isn’t that what stars are supposed to do?  How much money would have Grownups 2 made without Adam Sandler?

Damon is still one of the best actors in Hollywood, but I think the jury is still out on whether he’s a big-time bankable movie star. Of course, his box-office average for starring roles since Bourne ended is still a respectable $55 million. However, Damon has still failed to prove himself in the same league as big-timers like Will Smith, Tom Cruise, Denzel Washington, or Leonardo Dicaprio. Even Brad Pitt, Bradley Cooper, Christian Bale and Channing Tatum have proven themselves more dependable as of late. This matters because I think Matt Damon is one of the most talented actors in Hollywood and I want him to still be able to do movies like The Informant. I respect that Damon takes chances with his movie roles, but soon his film choices might be limited based on recent box office disappointments. I’m sick of watching terrible action movies starring Hugh Jackman and Ryan Reynolds, I want Damon in those roles! With one of the most disappointing summer movie seasons in recent memory about to end, hopefully the American public is reminded that quality acting is vital to a film. The artistic side of the film industry still desperately needs Matt Damon, but it’s entirely possible the financial side will soon dismiss him.

 

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