We haven’t just lost movie stars, we’ve also lost real voice actors. A voice actor used to be an actual role but for the last 20 years it’s been “famous person do voice”.

I'd argue a large chunk of the Black Adam audience were more interested in seeing Brosnan as Dr. Fate than Johnson as Black Adam.

The Rock knows that if Shazam and Black Adam ever meet in a movie Shazam will have to win because he’s the hero, and the Rock’s ego will never allow him to lose to Zachary Levi.

I think Henry Cavill could be a movie star, but Hollywood is against him, for some reason...

As the great Michael Caine once said, “I’ve not seen the movie, but I have seen the house it paid for and it’s magnificent.”

Social media has killed the movie star... knowing what these adult pretenders think made people realize they aren't really the people we thought they were

Oh man, when Drinker said that The Rock was the closest we have to a movie star, that felt like a gut punch from how true it is.

I've been saying this for years. The Rock's biggest movies are all ensemble movies. His movies where he's the sole main character don't do that well.

Helen Mirren gets a well deserved pass. A family friend's father is her driver in the UK. She thought he was fantastic due to his historical knowledge as he would basically give a story on each and every monument they would go passed. She ended up gifting him quite a lot of capital to start his own premium driving business. Took no stake in the company. Just wanted to do a nice thing. So she is a good person at heart

Nowadays we have actors acting like they're righteous activists, yet they don't have any rights to tell everyone else to do better. 🙄 Double standards...

Social media did more to destroy star actors than anything else. Social/youtube celebs are arguably bigger than actual celebs these days

People do go to see Tarantino films specifically because he is the director. Star vehicle films are nothing to mourn, what is lacking is good writing.

Guess they got themselves caught between a “rock” and a hard place.

Anthony Mackie said the death of the movie star thing years ago. He knew what was happening even then

Keanu Reeves is the only actor I will always go see in theaters :)

I am a fan of the Rock, and had fun with Black Adam. But the best thing about that entire movie was Pierce Brosnan as Dr. Fate, he was really the best thing on screen at any given time, and I would absolutely love to see him play that role again. He was incredible.

The state of DC films breaks my heart - DC superheroes were my childhood. Sure, the X-Men and Spider-Man were there, but they were always second fiddle to BTAS, Static Shock, and Justice League. And then, in my teens/early 20s, we got the Nolan Batman movies. Christopher Nolan was ultimately a mixed bag - he delivered two amazing Batman movies with a mixed bag of an ending. At the same time his refusal to have his movies coexist with other DC heroes got in the way of a DCEU that could have followed the example of the DCAU and grown organically, rather than constantly trip over itself chasing the MCU.

What I find most interesting is that these rumours, innuendos and accusations only help to solidify the things that were being said about him in the Fast and Furious Franchise.

His personal life aside, but Tom Cruise is pretty much our last true movie star. He genuinely cares about entertaining the audience and theater reactions. Top Gun: Maverick and the MI franchise is proof.

Can’t believe they didn’t mention DiCaprio, although he isn’t making as many movies nowadays. People definitely give extra attention to movies he is in.

What I see here are three actors - Johnson, Levi and Cavill - who actually seem to give a toss about their characters, and the audience. They may not get it right - and Johnson didn't - but as Cavill says, that's passion, not toxicity. Bear in mind that Johnson actively pitched Black Adam for a decade, and that gave us a movie that wouldn't otherwise have been made. C for content, but A for effort.

I think the Rock's interference was minimal, he just didn't want Black Adam to be the villain in the next Shazam film. Tom Cruise is the last movie star. People will go to see his movies because of him.

Tom Cruise's Mummy movie was the beginning and end of the Universal cinematic universe.

Just gonna quote: “The Rock and Henry Cavill have the same agent who’s the Rock’s wife”

Gary's comment on KZfaq enthusiasm is spot on. Forget Twitter or any other social media. It's all about people watching trailers and upvoting them. Reaction videos, etc.

I've said it once and I'll say it until I die, I'm a big wrestling fan. The Rock was far better as a wrestler than he is as an actor.

Yea, The Rock forced them to use a terrible script for Shazam II. It was his idea for them to avoid using Mr. Mind.

I think Nick Cage deserves an honourable mention. A large reason I’m going to see Renfield is because I want to see Cage as Dracula.

I think Brad Pitt is a movie star. He draws people. Johnny Depp too (once the Amber Turd dust settles).

DRINKER! Please PLEASE review Daisy Jones and the Six. The substance abuse and inconsistent quality would make for good critical material. Its also an interesting use of a genre as well as a book-adaptation. Love to hear your thoughts

The only thing bigger then the DC Extended Universe is The Rock's ego. He wanted top star billing without sharing any of the glory. Instead he wound up being top crab in the DCEU bucket. Maybe bottom of the barrel is a more fitting analogy.

Keanu Reeves and Tom Cruise are our last Movie Stars.

The Rock brought backstage wrestling politics with him to Hollywood.

Guys I gotta share a first world problem I have. Last year I inherited like... 12000 old marvel and DC comics from between 1988-1996. As I've gone through and priced everything out, and examined pricing trends for certain issues... Then cross referenced that with the MCU release dates over the last decade... I've come to two conclusions. One... I really wish I had gotten my hands on these at the beginning of the MCU... Two... The poor performance of the late stage of both the DCU and MCU, have done a lot to tank the value of a lot of comics. Shazam and Hawkeye comics are NOT increasing in value upon movie release like say, iron man comics or the infinity gauntlet saga did. These new movies aren't increasing demand for the source material... That's very telling. It's a real shame too, because I have a hunch it's at least partly responsible for Western comics losing out so badly to eastern manga in the last few years. The western comics industry needs new fans, new blood, new money... But none of today's kids are seeing these movies and wanting to go out and buy the comics because of it. There's a lot to talk about regarding the actual comic industry leaning so hard into wokeism, and pushing away prospective and long time fans alike as a result all on its own... But even the classic issues where that isn't an issue are barely keeping up with inflation... That's the movies fault 100% Damnit man... If the MCU was still as good as it was 6-8 years ago... I'd be sitting on literal gold... As it is... I got silver so I'm good but... Damn.

You can also have a big star in a movie and the movie flops. Also, it's the movie and the good story that makes the star and I also believe that Social Media has harmed the movie star persona.

I think Vin Diesel was on the verge of being the movie star around the Riddick films. I believe that probably came into play with his disagreements with the Rock in the fast and furious. You can't have two main men and I think Vin thought the Rock was stepping on his toes.

There's an interview I watched with CM Punk, an old interview where he talks about the Rock and how he went to set up their match and while the card is fifty percent Punk vs Fifty Percent Rock, when went to talk to Rock, Rocks people had already written up Punks promos for him. Punk said that this isn't the way he did things and pushed back a little to get Rock to actually sit down across from him to talk and work out their match. It seems from that interview, mind it comes from Punk so take that with whatever amount of skepticism you want to take it with, that Rocks gotten used to getting his way around the set. He draws the lines and dictates the terms because his star power allows him that access. If people don't push back on him, him and his 'people' will probably run roughshod over the entire production, like they seemingly did with Black Adam.

I’d go and see a Tarantino, or Guy Ritchie movie on name alone…I know they’re directors, not an actors, but they’re still a draw imo…

It's cause Producer Guy is terrified of Dwayne Johnson.

SMH.... Weak take by Connors.... "We used watch movies because of the stars like Stallone or Arnold not just for the IP. Only Cruise is close to that today but his movies are hit and miss"... Hit and miss? Like Stallone and Arnold didn't have stinkers?? WTF?

You can tell The Rock was a total diva while making Black Adam because all he does during the whole movie is hang from a wire on a blue screen. It required no physical effort from him at all.

A point you made about Shazam 2 beig inoffensive could be the reason why DC is releasing these movies. They will edit the movies so none are offensive and build momentum by not showing "The Message".

Edgar Wright is a draw for me, i'll see anything he writes and directs

To be fair I can’t imagine the Rock’s Black Adam going against the movie version of Shazam lol

DC: Dying Currently

Thank u for giving bite sized chunks of the convo

The moment Celebes went on social media and started opening their mouth, people started hating them….no one hates Keanu because he doesn’t do bla bla bla …. He uses his brain when he speaks

i would say keanu reeves is a star with his john wick movies

Did you deliberately leave out Keanu Reeves?

I would say that Tom Cruise is the last Superstar actor standing right now. You don't have to like the guys personal shit cause I don't. It doesn't affect me...or you. But the guy can make some great movies and sell it with his name for the most part. Not everytime(The Mummy), but most times.

Henry Cavill could be a movie star, if Hollywood didn't hate his guts.

DiCaprio also is a true movie star

We still have Tom Cruise, Chris Pratt, and Keanu Reeves. That’s about it for traditional movie stars

Does this get uploaded as a long form podcast on anything other than KZfaq... I'd love to be able to listen while I work.

The Rock thinking he can act is a biggest joke of hollywood today.

Hollywood movies are legacy media now.

I would argue Keanu still delivering some box office draw with his name alone (ignoring the last Bill and Ted offering of course)

Season 2, Ep 3. was as far as I got. I remember fast forwarding through it after about 20 minutes of boredom, just to see if The Witcher showed up... he does in like the last 5 minutes to give Ciri a pep talk or something. That was it for me! It turned out exactly how we feared.

The Rocks interference is already part of Pitch Meeting lore so it might as well have happened… Wowowow

The Rock can do good work, but using him as a singular attraction has consistently disappointed. Doom (2004)? Skyscraper? The Witch Mountain remake? It doesn’t help that Johnson has about as many credits as a traditional tough-guy as he does as an ironic tough guy (think “the quarterback”)

It would have been nice if they brought Shazam up to his level in regards to maturity. The Rock definitely wanted more serious tones for what he viewed as his hero. Keeping Shazam out makes some sense since in they didn’t put in leg work to make the Shazam story hold more weight. The two are a bit like oil and water in the way they were approached. I would love to see Zachary Levi sink into a more serious role as Shazam as well.

Not only is The Rock a meh actor a best, hes the SAME GUY IN LITERALLY EVERYTHING.....he even dresses he same in every single movie.

I had a feeling Black Adam would flop before it even came out. Not only are audiences suffering from "superhero fatigue" but they're also suffering from "The Rock fatigue".

This story has been told, but it would have been great seeing Black Adam vs. Shazam and Soupy. Magic versus cold breath and laser eyes, backed by a damaged teen's imagination for the win. Or tie probably...

Would Keanu Reeves be considered a movie star?

Which live was this taken from ? I can't figure it out

I'd say Leo and Ryan Gosling r still movie stars. Like I'm going to see whatever movie they're in

How can you not mention Keanu Reeves He's in a movie people will see it just for him

This has nothing to do with this video :) Really interested in getting the Rambo prequel comic you've written (A new kind of war)... BUT... money is a bit tight right now. Any chance of just buying an electronic version of the comic when it comes out this summer?

The Rock was banking on this being his retirement plan. He saw how RDJ made BANK of his time with the MCU. Rock is 50. His time as an action star is ticking away, and he’s not stupid. He thought he’d get a trilogy and other movies out of this and he isn’t. He tried the same shit with Fast and Furious. He was mad about being a supporting character and wanted more, and demanded a spin-off. That spin-off isn’t getting a sequel. He can’t make anything on his own. He has to jump into other people’s franchises because he’s not talented enough or bankable enough to create his own thing. He’s a snake oil salesman who tries to convince the world that he’s a bigger deal than he actually is.

The Rock is definitely a movie star. "I'm going to see the new Rock movie" is 100 percent a phrase I have heard countless times

Keanu Reeves is the closest thing we have to a movie star these days people will go see pretty much whatever he's in because he's in it

2023 - the year we praise movies for not being complete garbage.

i'm personally looking forward to armor wars. sounds like an awesome concept

Dwayne Johnson's wife is in charge of casting

I was really impressed with Rocks performance in Jumanji. He’s strong in every movie and basically the same guy Every-time but in Jumanji he’s hilariously awkward strong. He’s so impressed yet trying to accept his skills now that he’s this beast in a video game was finally something different to see him portray and he did it right.

I'm tired of what The Rock is cooking. It was never good in the first place. 🤪

The DCU wasn't smelling what The Rock was cooking......

The "movie stars" are getting old, it'll take a couple more years to have another wave, I hope Anthony Starr could be one

Keanu Reeves is a movie star, I think. People right now are going to see _John Wick 4_ not only as fans of the series, but as fans of Reeves. Too, the film is executed based on Reeves' strengths.

I love that the ringing endorsement for Shazam is that: It was boring, formulaic, and forgettable, BUT at least it didn't personally attack me.

Brad Pitt and Leonardo DiCaprio are the two movie stars I still go to movies for. Can’t believe they didn’t get mentioned at all

Dwayne Johnson is a big diva i bet.

Why does the Rock have so much power when most of his movies suck.

Remember, it took the Rock 8 years to finally do Black Adam and he refused Shazam 1 too. He's trash.

Dwayne sunk the future of the DCEU like a rock.

Keanu reeves is a movie Stat and a draw

The fact the the rock played an ancient, middle eastern character, and every single other middle eastern character in this movie spoke English with a middle eastern accent, the rock, spoke exactly like the rock speaks, no attempt or effort made at all, and he spoke like the rock of someone told him to do an impression of himself. Nobody wants to see that. If you made a cut of this film that didn’t show the rock at all, just everything else, it would be infinitely better.

I mean, is it a problem we don't have traditional movie stars? I would say having less baseless cults of personality is a good thing. The reason today's actors aren't as "big" is that the social-media driven world, where everything is online and connected constantly, allows us to see the flaws in these famous people. So instead of mindlessly guzzling their press releases and obsessing over particular roles they play, we end up with a more nuanced picture overall. If the many "big stars" of yesteryear had as much scrutiny and ability to mess up they would be viewed in a similar light.

I missed the stream yesterday, where is the WHOLE stream?

Older actors admitting they have no idea what it going in superhero movie is TIGHT!

Another one I would say, is Keanu any time Keanu Reeves in the movie I want to see it and this is just my gut feeling but give Jenna Ortega some time and she’ll def be a movie star

One thing is for certain Rock's ego is bigger than him and his bald head. And gives hogan's a run for its money

Competition has also been a big factor in Shazam 2 and it’s underperformance. With Creed III and John Wick 4 bookmarking it, it’s not a surprise that DC’s lackluster brand power couldn’t save them.

Deadpool 3 can't come soon enough

The Rock: I don’t want Shazam’s arch nemesis to be Shazam’s arch nemesis. Me: 🤦‍♂️

Zaslav and Gunn caused Black Adam and Shazam 2 to bomb. When you announce a reboot when you still have films in the pipeline they automatically become irrelevant. The Rock is just the patsy to be the excuse for their failure just like Snyder. Gunn was going to happen no matter what because WB has had a hard-on for him since GOTG1. They ruined Suicide Squad by making it a GOTG knock off. They let Gunn do his version of Suicide Squad and it was worse because he did nothing different. WB gave him the keys to the kingdom allowing him to do Peacemaker and that upcoming animated series.

The guy at the beginning was just straight stealing what Tarantino said in a recent interview, word for word.

Chris Pratt is absolutely a draw, magnetic personality, incredible funny and good looking and tons of people will support anything he does.

Agree with Gary, the time all the new James Gunn DC projects come out comic book films won't be making the money they have before and less people will be interested