Stars secretly control Hollywood's decisions?

The importance of Hollywood’s stars has never been more pronounced than it is now. Besides being entertaining, they now make significant decisions, influencing what is done, or not done, by studios, producers, and even streaming services.

During this time, casting, project approvals, and, quite frequently, even story bailouts are subjected to the wishes of the A-list celebrities.

As insiders in the industry claim, the popularity of an actor plays a very important part in the go ahead of over a million dollar productions. 

Attaching a name like Leonardo DiCaprio, or Margot Robbie, according to Variety, is enough to put a script from pending to priority. Their popularity in the box office and strong social media following are great assets to have as audience loyalty is a major factor in business decisions.

The Hollywood Reporter notes that celebrities and stars like Reese Witherspoon have influenced the telling of Hollywood stories by establishing production companies that focus on narratives with women in the lead. 

Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson has also used his immense popularity to retire with creative power, and guarantee that the characters he plays resonate with the values he stands for. These instances demonstrate the influence of celebrities decision making on the content of the movies.

Streaming services as well, usually fall victim to the influence of the stars. The multi billion dollar contracts that Netflix has cut with Shonda Rhimes and Ryan Murphy reflect the powerful Shondaland and Murphyverse and how talent-centric influence has shifted paradigms in content production.

As per Deadline, services ensure to have these types of content because these types of talent have proven love from the audience and ensure subscriber retention.

Stars, even in the time of controversies, have influence. The restructuring of some of Will Smith’s projects due to him being ‘cancelled’ after the Oscars demonstrates the fact that one star’s actions can divert millions of dollars.

The decision of the Hollywood makers is not only tangible to art but also to protecting the image associated to their stars.

To summarize, the decision making of Hollywood has now turned into an ecosystem which revolves around the stars. The power is now in the hands of the celebrities. It is our duty to now use the power to control the audience.

It is our responsibility to shift the narrative, control the discourse and dominate the narrative. It is our duty to not just function in this space. It is our duty to take charge and be the leaders of this space.