Movies without movie stars

It is an exaggeration to call these movies without movie stars. It is probably more accurate to call them movies where the movie stars are secondary. But Universal seems to have finally broke the code on how to be successful without having a movie star who takes most of the money.

1 Jurassic World Uni. $590,638,000
3 Furious 7 Uni. $351,032,910
6 Pitch Perfect 2 Uni. $183,123,000
8 Fifty Shades of Grey Uni. $166,167,230
14 Minions Uni. $115,200,000

It seems that Buena Vista Pictures (Disney), which was the original studio to make movies where the studio was the star, is losing out to Robert Downey's and Johny Depp's who are walking away with much of the film's profits:
2 Avengers: Age of Ultron BV $455,222,000
4 Inside Out BV $283,638,000
5 Cinderella (2015) BV $200,684,467
16 Tomorrowland BV $91,480,000
29 McFarland, USA BV $44,482,410


Chris Pratty made $1.5 million he earned for Guardians of the Galaxy. Pratt’s Jurassic World salary hasn’t been revealed,but it presumably was under $10 million. He will make it up in the sequel, but it's a far cry from Downey's $80 million take for Iron Man in Age of Ultron.

Furious 7 has no movie stars? Surely Vin Diesel, Dwayne The Rock Johnson, Kurt Russell, and Jason Statham count. Maybe your point is that those guys don't command the salaries that Johnny Depp, Robert Downey, and George Clooney do. Diesel earned $15 million on Furious 6. Dwayne Johnson made $32 million on Furious 5.

Maybe Minions doesn't belong on your list. It has Sandra Bullock, Jon Hamm, Michael Keaton, & Steve Carell.

Quote: Pacomartin

Pratt’s Jurassic World salary hasn’t been revealed,but it presumably was under $10 million. He will make it up in the sequel,

What's left to do in a sequel? Dinosaurs ate my homework?

Maybe dinosaurs could become intelligent, take over the world and in the future a returning astronaut who thinks he's in another planet can lead a human revolt... Oh, wait! :)

It could be a comedy based on that, if the Velociraptor sapiens conserves some high technology and exhibit humans in a park called Anthropocene World. No, I don't think it's funny...

Quote: reno

Furious 7 has no movie stars? Surely Vin Diesel, Dwayne The Rock Johnson, Kurt Russell, and Jason Statham count. Maybe your point is that those guys don't command the salaries that Johnny Depp, Robert Downey, and George Clooney do. Diesel earned $15 million on Furious 6. Dwayne Johnson made $32 million on Furious 5.

Quote: Pacomartin

It is an exaggeration to call these movies without movie stars. It is probably more accurate to call them movies where the movie stars are secondary. But Universal seems to have finally broke the code on how to be successful without having a movie star who takes most of the money.

I said I was exagerating. But Universal seems to have discovered how to make a film where the big actor does not hold the studio for ransom. MI3 is a good example. The film grosses $400M worldwide, so the studio's take is less than $200M. Subtract from that a $150 million production budget (half of which is Tom Cruises salary) and promotion costs, and the film barely breaks even.

Tom Cruise bankroll
Mission: Impossible (1996) $70,000,000 (gross participation)
Mission: Impossible II (2000) $75,000,000 (gross participation)
Mission: Impossible III (2006) $75,000,000 (gross participation)
Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol (2011) $12,500,000 + % of back end

Fast Five has a production budget: $125 million. If Dwayne Johnson makes $32 million that is only 25%. So salaries of the entire cast are probably half to 2/3 of the production budget. A Worldwide boxoffice of $626m means the studio certainly makes a profit.

If they had similar percentages on Furious 7.

Quote: Nareed

What's left to do in a sequel? Dinosaurs ate my homework?

If a movie makes a billion dollars in less than 2 weeks, by definition you don't run out of ideas for a sequel.

Quote: Pacomartin

If a movie makes a billion dollars in less than 2 weeks, by definition you don't run out of ideas for a sequel.

And when the sequel bombs, there's no shortage of 20/20 hindsight criticism. I'm merely beating the rush.

The Expendables 3 made 100mil less than the
orig and they're doing 4 next year with a 70
year old Stallone. He sure don't look 68 in
3.

BTW does anyone else think Mission: Impossible should be rebooted in order to be faithful to the original TV show?

The show's stories were suspenseful and featured a lopsided battle of wits with the opposition. Asimov called them "elaborate practical jokes." Many times it was sooo satisfying when the villains realized they'd been had (they didn't always). Often they had impossible but clever gadgets. What it was not was an action-packed snoozer with literally impossible stunts. That is, it wasn't dumbed down like the movies (BTW I only saw the first one. I was so disgusted I refused to watch the rest).

Quote: Nareed

(BTW I only saw the first one. I was so disgusted I refused to watch the rest).

I love the MI franchise, I've seen them
all many times. Slick entertainment.

I don't suppose it is possible for a production studio to have a hit with every film, but Universal has come close so far this year. Out of 11 films, it has had 2 bombs.

But the other 9 films have have almost tripled their production budget on domestic ticket sales alone.

1 Jurassic World Uni. $616,902,775 Production Budget: $150 million
3 Furious 7 Uni. $351,032,910 Production Budget: $190 million
5 Minions Uni. $239,520,410 Production Budget: $74 million
7 Pitch Perfect 2 Uni. $183,560,925 Production Budget: $29 million
9 Fifty Shades of Grey Uni. $166,167,230 Production Budget: $40 million
21 Ted 2 Uni. $78,656,490 Production Budget: $68 million
31 Trainwreck Uni. $44,245,025 Production Budget: $35 million
35 The Boy Next Door Uni. $35,423,380 Production Budget: $4 million
40 Unfriended Uni. $32,482,090 Production Budget: $1 million
Total Domestic $1,747,991,235 Production Budget $591 million


52 Seventh Son Uni. $17,223,265 Production Budget: $95 million (Jeff Bridges & Julianne Moore)
64 Blackhat Uni. $7,889,395 Production Budget: $70 million (Chris Hemsworth & Viola Davis)
Total Domestic $25,112,660 Production Budget $165


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