Just When Was Matt Damon Larger Than Tom Cruise?

"Are Tom Cruise and Matt Damon beginning to change places?" reads the headline around the La Occasions blog 24 Frames. Following a disappointing returns for that opening weekend of 'We Purchased a Zoo' and also the remarkably muscular box-office for 'Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol,' Steven Zeitchik posits that Cruise has usurped Damon around the A-list -- an unexpected, thinking about Cruise was quickly becoming a box-office pariah 4 years ago. Good question -- specifically for a sluggish news week -- but does not it appear a little premature? In the end, was Matt Damon ever a real box-office draw? Think about these details: Damon's greatest financial hits, in chronological order, happen to be 'Good Will Hunting' ($138M), 'Saving Private Ryan' ($216M), 'Ocean's Eleven' ($183M), 'The Bourne Identity' ($121M), 'The Bourne Supremacy' ($176.2M), 'Ocean's Twelve' ($125M), 'The Departed' ($132M), 'Ocean's Thirteen' ($117M), 'The Bourne Ultimatum' ($227M) and 'True Grit' ($171M). Except for 'Good Will Hunting,' you can result in the argument that Damon wasn't instrumental in almost any of individuals films becoming achievements. He's the 3rd lead within the 'Ocean's' franchise behind Kaira Pitt and George Clooney he does not element in 'Saving Private Ryan' before the third act, despite being the titular private 'The Departed' and 'True Grit' are ensembles that do not always reflect Damon's singular star energy. Only 'Bourne' stands as proof of his solo box-office bona fides, as well as that may be asked. In the end, did Damon make 'Bourne' or did 'Bourne' make Damon? (This can get clarified next August, when 'The Bourne Legacy' with Jeremy Renner comes to theaters, sans Damon.) This isn't to express Damon is not (A) among the best and many pleasant stars of his generation and (B) a "superstar." To begin with, he stars in movies (duh, but nonetheless) for an additional, films like 'The Informant!' ($33M), 'The Adjustment Bureau' ($62M), 'The Good Shepherd' ($59M) and 'The Gifted Mr. Ripley' ($81M) might have never done in addition to they did without Damon's face around the poster. It is simply that evaluating Damon and Cruise appears specious at best -- particularly when even Cruise's recent "tanks," 'Knight and Day' and 'Valkyrie,' gained over $200 million worldwide. Think about it by doing this: if 'We Purchased a Zoo' had starred Tom Cruise, wouldn't it have made a lot more than the $13 million the film gained with Damon in the helm over Christmas weekend? (Put one other way: could it be any question that Tom Cruise is behind Cameron Crowe's greatest box-office hits?) So, no: Tom Cruise and Matt Damon aren't "beginning to change places." They never switched to start with. [via LAT/24 Frames] [Photo: Fox] Follow Moviefone on Twitter Like Moviefone on Facebook