Will it be a happy new year for these 10 stars with much to prove in 2007?
Drew Barrymore
Last seen: Fever Pitch ($42 million)
Next: Music and Lyrics (Feb. 14); Lucky You (March 16)
The Bottom Line: Last year, Barrymore was seen but not heard, lending her voice to Curious George and TV’s The Family Guy. That wasn’t supposed to be the case. Both Lucky You and Music and Lyrics were originally slated to debut in 2006. But lovebirds will flock to Music and Lyrics on Valentine’s Day if sparks fly between Barrymore and Hugh Grant. If not, expect another disappointing mismatch like Fever Pitch. The odds, though, seem stacked against Lucky You. With interest in poker cooling off, Lucky You may deal Barrymore a bad hand.
Halle Berry
Last seen: X-Men: The Last Stand ($234.3 million)
Next: Perfect Stranger (April 13); Things We Lost in the Fire (TBA)
The Bottom Line: In the five years since Monster’s Ball, Berry‘s done nothing to put to rest the notion that her Oscar-winning performance was a fluke. Instead, she’s seemed more interested in the big paychecks that come with fighting the forces of evil. Perfect Stranger certainly won’t change that perception if it’s just your typical cat-and-mouse game with Bruce Willis. But perhaps Things We Lost in the Fire—which finds her grieving widow seeking solace in the arms of Benicio Del Toro—is a sign of better things to come.
Russell Crowe
Last seen: A Good Year ($7.4 million)
Next: 3:10 to Yuma (Oct. 12); American Gangster (Nov. 2); Tenderness (TBA)
The Bottom Line: Crowe‘s collaborations with director Ridley Scott has yielded the Oscar-conquering and 2006’s A Good Year, which was hardly a French tickler of a romantic comedy. Their Vietnam-era American Gangster reunites Crowe with Virtuosity’s Denzel Washington, which instantly makes this long-in-the-works drug-themed crime saga one of the year’s most anticipated battle of wits. And after the disappointing Cinderella Man, Crowe needs his remake of Glenn Ford’s classic western 3:10 to Yuma to gun down the competition to restore his reputation as Hollywood’s go-to guy for any and all period pieces.
Nicole Kidman
Last seen: Fur: An Imaginary Portrait of Diane Arbus ($223,202)
Next: The Invasion (Aug. 17); His Dark Materials 1: The Golden Compass (Dec. 7); Margot at the Wedding (Oct. 12)
The Bottom Line: Sorry, but paying Kidman a reported $17 million for The Invasion seems like throwing good money after bad. Since winning her Hours Oscar, she’s experienced one indignity after another with her unfunny farces (Bewitched, The Stepford Wives) and bizarre art-house character studies (Birth, Fur). Julia Roberts, she’s not. She desperately needs The Invasion and The Golden Compass—the first in a potential franchise à la Harry Potter—to prove her detractors wrong. If not, she’ll certainly lose her status as Hollywood’s highest-paid actress.
Jennifer Lopez
Last seen: An Unfinished Life ($8.5 million)
Next: El Cantante (July 27); Bordertown (TBA)
The Bottom Line: Lopez was lucky to emerge relatively unscathed from the fiasco that was “Bennifer” and Gigli, given that Monster-in-Law’s success overshadowed An Unfinished Life’s failure. But why would she tempt fate by pairing with her latest love, husband Marc Anthony, for a biography of Puerto Rican singer Hector Lavoe? If we didn’t want to see Lopez onscreen with Ben Affleck, why would we want to see her act opposite Anthony in El Cantante? Then again, given the recent success of Ray and Walk the Line, maybe the Selena star and her hubby will end up making beautiful music together.
Ryan Phillippe
Last seen: Flags of Our Fathers ($33.6 million)*
Next: Breach (Feb. 16); Stop-Loss (TBA)
The Bottom Line: Luckily, Crash has afforded Reese Witherspoon’s ex with an invaluable opportunity to start over following the flops Antitrust and The I Inside. However, Breach’s success hinges on whether The Good Shepherd primes audiences for this fact-based spy drama about disgraced FBI agent Robert Hanssen. The Flags of Our Fathers veteran also returns to the frontlines with Stop-Loss, which hopefully is everything Home of the Brave isn’t. But Phillippe shouldn’t expect much from the long-delayed Chaos, assuming the thriller even receives a theatrical release in the wake of costar Wesley Snipes’ fall from grace.
* Through Jan. 1
Hilary Swank
Last seen: The Black Dahlia ($22.5 million)
Next: Freedom Writers (opened Jan. 5); The Reaping (March 30)
The Bottom Line: Remember how Swank won her Boys Don’t Cry Oscar and then screwed everything up with The Affair of the Necklace and The Core? Unfortunately, history’s repeating itself. Following Swank’s second Oscar for Million Dollar Baby, 11:14 and Red Dust were banished to DVD and her sultry turn in The Black Dahlia went unnoticed. Freedom Writers may help matters. Sure, this is uplifting classroom drama is too much like Dangerous Minds for its own good, but its $9.7 million opening at just 1,360 theaters indicates it should easily make back its $25 million budget. As for The Reaping, going the horror route didn’t do any favors for fellow Oscar winners Halle Berry and Jennifer Connelly.
John Travolta
Last seen: Be Cool ($56 million)
Next: Lonely Hearts (Jan. 13); Wild Hogs (March TBA); Hairspray (July 20)
The Bottom Line: Once he applied Grease to his hair. Now Travolta’s needs Hairspray to keep his beehive tall and straight. It’s no surprise Travolta’s gone drag for this musical makeover of John Waters’ cult comedy. He’s long lamented turning down Chicago. And a Grease-sized smash would go a long way after Be Cool, The Punisher and probably Lonely Hearts, a noir-ish thriller costarring James Gandolfini and Salma Hayek that will likely receive a limited release in March via indie distributor Roadside Attractions. But as bad as Wild Hogs looks, the prospect of Travolta, Tim Allen, Martin Lawrence and William H. Macy hitting the road could be irresistible to any 50something working stiff suffering from a midlife crisis.
Chris Tucker
Last seen: Rush Hour 2 ($226.1 million)
Next: Rush Hour 3 (Aug. 10)
The Bottom Line: What’s worse? That Chris Tucker‘s seemingly sabotaged his once-promisingly career by starring in only three films since 1998? Or that he’s only willing to devote his time and energy to the Rush Hour franchise? OK, he’s earning $25 million for Rush Hour 3. But even Owen Wilson realized that chopsocky it up with Jackie Chan could only take him so far. To be honest, it probably would be best for Tucker if this third time isn’t a charm. Even so much as a mild disappointment might finally knock some sense into Tucker.
Bruce Willis
Last seen: Lucky Number Slevin ($22.4 million)
Next: Alpha Dog (Jan. 12); The Astronaut Farmer (Feb. 23); Perfect Stranger (April 13); Live Free or Die Hard (June 29)
The Bottom Line: Yes, Alpha Dog finally sees the light of day after making its debut at last year’s Sundance Film Festival. But that fact-based crime drama, and The Astronaut Farmer, only feature supporting turns by Bruce Willis. So it’s down to John McClane—as usual—to reverse Willis‘ misfortunes. And Willis is going to need all the help he can get if the erotic thriller Perfect Stranger turns out to be another Color of Night. Still, battling Internet-based terrorists alongside Mac pitchman Justin Long hardly inspires much confidence. Or the hiring of Underworld director Len Wiseman. If this fourth Die Hard doesn’t deliver the franchise’s biggest bangs, then Willis will likely have yelped his last yip-ie-kay-ay.
