He's got the talent. He's got the fans. And now Timothée Chalamet has the box-office coin to prove he's one of the biggest draws in the movie business.
After years of building an impressive filmography through the indie film world in movies like "Call Me by Your Name," "Lady Bird," and "Little Women," and heeding the words of Leonardo DiCaprio ("No hard drugs and no superhero movies") Chalamet, 28, has recently found himself a repeat visitor to the top of the box-office charts.
He's the face of recent hit releases "Wonka" and "Dune: Part Two," which are currently in the top five of highest-grossing domestic titles in 2024.
Both titles have also surpassed the $200 million milestone domestically, something no other titles released this year have done so far. In fact, no movie has topped $200 million at the domestic box office since "Oppenheimer" did it in early August during the Barbenheimer craze.
While having two major films released less than three months apart could make a star risk being overexposed, fans clearly haven't gotten enough of Chalamet. Sure, it helps that both his projects were based on beloved IP with built-in fanbases — "Wonka" is a fresh take on the character from Roald Dahl's "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory," while "Dune: Part Two" is based on Frank Herbert's sci-fi series — but Chalamet's success can't be credited to familiar IP alone. Without his on-screen magnetism, both these films would be far less compelling — and if the box-office numbers are any indication, audiences know it, too.
Watching Chalamet now is almost the equivalent of seeing a young Tom Cruise in the 1980s in movies like "Risky Business" and "Top Gun," imagining where his talents could take him in the decades to come.
Just how rare is Chalamet's recent box-office dominance? Not counting animated releases or Marvel titles, the last actor to have two films that grossed $200 million domestically this close together was John Travolta in the late 1970s, when he starred in "Saturday Night Fever" and "Grease," which opened six months apart, according to Indiewire.
Chalamet pulled it off in half that time (though, to be fair, movie tickets cost a lot more now than they did back in the '70s).
"The question often arises as to who will be the next young movie star; someone who can combine the acting chops, inherent likability, plus the bonus of box-office bankability, and the answer is undeniable, it's Timothée Chalamet," Comscore senior media analyst Paul Dergarabedian told Business Insider, noting that Chalamet's personal worldwide box office total is over $2.5 billion to date.
"Chalamet has been making great choices over the years, methodically and carefully building a well-earned reputation as an actor who is appealing to global audiences," Dergarabedian added. "He's shown a range that has allowed him to thrive in films of any genre and with budgets big and small."
Chalamet is currently filming an upcoming biopic on Bob Dylan, which will certainly raise his profile even more as he portrays one of the greatest musicians who ever lived.
In a time when Hollywood is desperately trying to determine the next generation of bankable stars, Chalamet is looking like a sure bet.
"With decades of work ahead of him, the sky's the limit for this rising young star," Dergarabedian said.
