Top 10 after the jump…
1. SAM WORTHINGTON
B.O. avg $349.6 million
Age 34
Lead roles 3
B.O. cume $1 billion
Headlining the biggest hit in history is one reason he tops this list — Avatar accounts for two-thirds of his grosses. But Worthington also helped carry Clash of the Titans ($163.2 million) and Terminator Salvation ($125.3 million), making him a bankable choice for filmmakers seeking a thirtysomething leading man who knows his way around a greenscreen.
2. Daniel Radcliffe
B.O. avg $244.7 million
Age 21
Lead roles 7
B.O. cume $1.7 billion
Paint a lightning bolt on his forehead and he’s unbeatable. The question will be whether Radcliffe can draw an audience once he graduates from Harry Potter. (The 2007 indie December Boys, his first starring role outside Hogwarts, was released on only 13 screens and grossed $51,000.)
3. Taylor Lautner
B.O. avg $186.6 million
Age 18
Lead roles 4
B.O. cume $746.5 million
Remember when he almost got replaced after the first Twilight movie? Then Lautner packed on 30 pounds and — voilà ! — a career. His first post-Twilight film, the ensemble love story Valentine’s Day, made $110.5 million.
4. Jaden Smith
B.O. avg $170.1 million
Age 12
Lead roles 2
B.O. cume $340.2 million
How will kids learn the value of a dollar unless they get a part-time job? For Will Smith’s son, who starred with Dad in The Pursuit of Happyness, acting made more sense than mowing lawns. The Karate Kid earned $176.6 million, and a sequel is already in the works.
5. Robert Pattinson
B.O. avg $161.8 million
Age 24
Lead roles 5
B.O. cume $809.2 million
Pattinson has shown his box office chops (and choppers) in the Twilight saga. In last spring’s Remember Me ($19.1 million), though, he had considerably less bite.
6. Orlando Bloom
B.O. avg $155.8 million
Age 33
Lead roles 8
B.O. cume $1.2 billion
He burst onto the scene as an elf in the Lord of the Rings trilogy (not counted here, since he was a supporting player), then sailed into box office glory with the Pirates of the Caribbean movies. But outside of F/X-driven tentpoles, he’s had some trouble. (Kingdom of Heaven and Elizabethtown were both duds.)
7. Shia LaBeouf
B.O. avg $144.8 million
Age 24
Lead roles 9
B.O. cume $1.3 billion
Sure, the Transformers films make up half of his grosses, and Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull accounts for another big chunk ($317.1 million). But LaBeouf has also shown his appeal in thrillers like Disturbia ($80.2 million) and Eagle Eye ($101.4 million).
8. Tobey Maguire
B.O. avg $138.2 million
Age 35
Lead roles 10
B.O. cume $1.4 billion
Maguire already had a pretty decent résume — Pleasantville, The Cider House Rules, Wonder Boys — before he started squirting webs out of his wrists. Post-Spidey, his clout has been less super: 2009’s Brothers grossed $28.5 million.
9. ZOE SALDANA
B.O. avg $132.3 million
Age 32
Lead roles 9
B.O. cume $1.2 billion
She has sizable parts in two of the biggest sci-fi franchises in the universe right now — playing a Na’vi in Avatar and Uhura in Star Trek. All she needs to do next is connect with audiences beyond her Comic-Con base.
10. Hayden Christensen
B.O. avg $107.3 million
Age 29
Lead roles 8
B.O. cume $858.2 million
He made his name as Darth Vader in the final two Star Wars prequels, but that’s a tough act to follow. Grosses for films like Awake, Jumper, and Takers have been strong, but more earthbound.
-Entertainment Weekly
