The turnover rate in the Hollywood industrial complex has to be something like every 30 secs.
Stars are born, put through the ringer and spit out. But of course, there are levels to this here. There’s your icons (one in a million) and then there are those who will only be extras. Some make it to commercials. Others find their way onto local media. The lucky ones might appear on a tv show–A walk on, a small line, maybe a bit part. To get a regular gig on a series of any kind is a triumph in itself.
Sure. You’re part of an ensemble cast so you gotta share screen time. Your character is charming and a bit of a goof but he’s not one of the main principals. At first. Imagine getting your own storyline. I couldn’t imagine how elated that would make you. It’s not a ratings juggernaut but it’s a critics darling and the fanbase is fairly loyal so it gets more than its fair share of pub and social media love. But you know, that kind of love can only stave off the network for so long. The writings on the wall and everybody’s read it. Time to branch out.
Somehow someway, you bulk up and find yourself the star of an unlikely vehicle for one of the hottest studios in the game right now–Marvel. While, not technically a studio, Marvel has done something that hasn’t been seen since Pixar dropped a string of number ones and that’s put out one $100 million plus winner after winner. Iron Man, Captain America, The Avengers, Wolverine, X-Men, Spiderman–If it has a Marvel stamp on it, it’s gonna blow.
But this isn’t some regular, run of the mill superhero script. First, it’s set in outer space and that’s always a gamble (see John Carter, Jupiter Ascending, Ender’s Game, etc). Then the cast isn’t all that well known, save for Zoe Saldana who’s barely recognizable in all the makeup). And one of your castmates is a cgi raccoon. It’s just a weird concoction of zaniness that just so happens to friggin’ pay off. Guardians of the Galaxy goes on to gross $330+ million.
When you star in a movie that grosses over $100M you automatically get to star in another movie–that’s just the way it is. And if it’s over $300M, then you get to star in a beloved franchise reboot that happens to feature even more cgi costars. And imagine that movie, Jurassic World, goes on to gross $1 Billion dollars faster than any other movie (between 2-3 weeks). That’s kinda cool right?
This is Chris Pratt’s life.
Oh and he’s like this close to being the new Indiana Jones, so yeah, he might just be one of the lucky ones.
Tags:
chris pratt, ford, harrison, marvel, movies
