Stars Losing Gravitational Pull, Hollywood Finds

Ticket sales were down, and these movies help explain why

(NEWSER) - This was not a banner year for Hollywood, with domestic box office revenue down 4%, breaking a string of record highs. These films were part of the reason why. The Hollywood Reporter compiled a list of 2011's biggest flops, and there were some doozies—we've listed some of the standouts below. As you're looking at the numbers, remember that grosses are split with theaters, and that the budgets don't include marketing, so films that appear to have broken even are actually big losers. More»

Feud alert?

(NEWSER) - Matt Damon seems so nice, and yet the beloved actor finds himself smack dab in the middle of a possible (and relatively polite) Hollywood feud. And Damon himself started it, when he discussed his three Bourne films with GQ . The writer, Tony Gilroy, was given a deal for the third film requiring just one draft—and the result was not impressive. "It's really the studio’s fault for putting themselves in that position," Damon says. "I don't blame Tony for taking a boatload of money and handing in what he handed in. It’s just that it was unreadable." More»

See, they really were just like us...once

(NEWSER) - Even Tom Cruise had a newspaper route—in his pre-Hollywood days, of course. The Daily Beast uncovers the summer jobs of 15 celebrities:

• Amy Adams: The Enchanted star was, briefly, a Hooters girl after high school, but she says she “wasn’t cut out to be a Hooters waitress.”
• Brad Pitt: His first job in Hollywood involved wearing a chicken suit at El Pollo Loco.

First futures market for films about to begin

(NEWSER) - 3D isn’t the only immersive movie experience out there—soon, filmgoers will be able to play Hollywood mogul and bet on box office in the nation’s first film industry futures exchange. Cantor Futures, expected to gain regulatory approval next month, will allow anyone to buy contracts starting at $50, with $1 equal to $1 million in domestic box office. More»

Men prefer Clint, women like Johnny Depp in Harris poll

(NEWSER) - Americans love Clint Eastwood—he's the nation's favorite movie star for the fourth time in the annual Harris poll. Eastwood topped the men's list, as well being the favorite of Republicans and Independents. Democrats preferred Denzel Washington, while women liked Johnny Depp. The overall winners, not broken down by gender or politics, from Entertainment Weekly : More»