Leonardo DiCaprio (right) with Tom Cruise at the BAFTA Awards in February. Photo: WENN.com.
Is Leonardo DiCaprio the world’s last movie star? Ty Burr makes the case:
Tom Cruise can’t open a movie anymore, unless it’s called “Mission Impossible: The Quest for Relevance”… Will Smith can’t do it, as the ho-hum reception for “Concussion” proves. “Black Mass” aside, Johnny Depp appears to have given up trying since his “Pirates of the Caribbean” movies.
…You don’t see Cate Blanchett, Michael Fassbender, or even Ryan Gosling or Christian Bale on the cover of gossip magazines. Do you even care what they do when they’re not onscreen?… They’re movie stars, but they can’t guarantee an audience on the strength of their names and personas. DiCaprio can.
Twentieth Century Fox
Burr’s larger point is that blockbusters (and the superhero genre in particular) has killed the classic Hollywood idea of the bankable movie star. He does offer one contender for the title: Jennifer Lawrence.
Adriana M. Barraza/WENN.com
Read: DiCaprio Is an Old-Fashioned Movie Star in a New Age »