HOLLYWOOD - Who's the top dog in showbiz?According to Entertainment Weekly's annual list of the 101 most powerful figures in the entertainment business in the issue on sale Friday, it's movie and television producer Jerry Bruckheimer, riding high on his mega-hit feature film Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl and television series CSI: Crime Scene Investigation. Like Steven Spielberg or Tom Hanks, Bruckheimer's name alone attracts interest for his projects, the magazine reports.
"The man is no longer just a canny packager of talent and content with a fat back-end," Entertainment Weekly's staff writes. "Bruckheimer has become a brand."
Along with CSI, Bruckheimer's production team is also responsible for the CBS spinoff hit, CSI: Miami and Without a Trace, the new series Cold Case and Fox's much-touted upcoming series, Skin. Bruckheimer's films, Pirates of the Caribbean (which grossed $299.4 million) and Bad Boys II (which grossed $138.2 million) were both summer hits.
Bruckheimer's spokesman, Paul Bloch, told AP his boss was "flattered" by the honor "but he wants everyone to know it's about the work and the great people he's fortunate to work with."
Rounding out the Top 10 of EW's 14th annual list of Hollywood's top dogs were Steven Spielberg, Tom Hanks, Imagine Entertainment Co-Chairmen Ron Howard and Brian Grazer, author J.K. Rowling, Oprah Winfrey, Tom Cruise, director Peter Jackson, Eminem and Nicole Kidman. Last year's No. 1, Denzel Washington, fell to No. 22.
For the first time, EW also separated the list into two categories: "creatives" and "suits." CBS Chairman Leslie Moonves topped the list of most powerful executives.