April 20, 2017

This month weâre introducing a new Bankability Index that estimates how much someone is worth to a film based on analysis of the Hollywood Creative Graphâ¢, a network of over 130,000 people with over 6 million connections that represent all the films they have worked on together. By using an analytical technique called graph analysis, the Bankability Index measures the influence of each person in the Hollywood Creative Graph, which we translate into an estimate of the average value added per movie by everyone. Here on The Numbers, we will now publish each month the top 50 people on a per-movie basis, and subscriptions are available for our full report, which contains information on the top 250 people in the business.

Aprilâs chart has a very familiar face at the top. Tom Cruise is number one, and his name is synonymous with consistency: 24 of his last 27 acting roles have been in films that grossed over $100 million at the global box office, going all the way back to A Few Good Men in 1992. Our model values him at about $14.6 million for an average film (i.e., one not in the Mission: Impossible franchise). Thatâs a shade ahead of the second-most-valuable-player, Will Smith, who has added a number of producing credits over the years that help bolster his value. Heâs not quite on the hot streak he was back in the day, but heâs still someone who brings people into theaters, and we value him at $14.4 million per film. Denzel Washington rounds out the top three with a value of $12.3 million per film.

The list isnât restricted to actors though. In fact the rest of the top ten is mostly devoted to people who make a living behind the camera: Clint Eastwood is the most valuable director, at $11.7 million per film; John Williams the most valuable composer, at $11.4 million; Kathleen Kennedy the most valuable producer at $11.3 million; and Andrew Stanton, of Pixar fame, the top screenwriter, with a $11.1 million value-per-movie.

See the complete top 50 for more, including the identity of the most valuable actress (who, to be fair, gets a boost from producing and directing roles too). Weâll be updating the chart, and adding new features on a monthly basis going forwards, with much more to come for our subscribers.

Bruce Nash