Is he "The Last Movie Star"

I know what you mean. Drawing in an audience and money making movies really isn't the same like it is with Tom Cruise.

Tom Holland seems like he's going to have a really successful career outside of the MCU. I know a lot of people will go to see anything just because he's in it.

I think yes, he is a last of breed. There are a few of them still around; i would include brad pitt and george clooney in that category. (well, maybe moreso ten years ago; i think cruise has held his huge stature more than they have regarading recent status)

but yes, the movie star is a thing of the past, it seems. the world has just changed too much. everything is different, markets are different, viewers are different, the way people consume content is different, etc.

in the past movie stars got old, but were replaced by younger up and coming movie stars. what's different today is that the 'moviestar' status itself seems to have disappeared.

Not as long as Chris Tucker breathes

Top Gun Maverick captured lightning in a bottle with COVID putting a damp cloudciver the movie going experience. The film itself reflects on the heyday of 80s America so in a way it was a love letter to America's former glory, as artificial as it was but we all look back with rose tinted glasses.

I think Johnny Depp could've come close if it weren't for all the bad press.

He seemed to have had that "it" factor that drew fans to the theaters much like Tom.

Perhaps he'll recapture some of it now with the outcome of the latest court ruling, but he'll never reach Cruise-like status.

Wasn't The Mummy a flop?

Asides from that hasn't Cruise just starred in his own franchise films? Therefore I'm not sure whether he "actually get butts in seats just cause they're in something".

I was interested to see if Top Gun would perhaps resurrect his career in that regard but I'm not sure. If haven't read anything yet about him working on anything which isn't a Cruise franchise...

Alec Baldwin is "The Last Movie Star"

Audiences primarily go to films for the film these days, and not for the star. He chooses films that have blockbuster potential, but I don't get the sense that anyone goes to see the films because he's in them. Leonardo DiCaprio is the same way. He is careful about what roles he chooses, so he tends to be in good films, but it's not clear that they are good specifically because he's in them.