Star Power Shuffle

All those rumours we heard of Hugh Jackman on his cell phone in Detroit battling the studio to bring aboard Darren Aronofsky to helm 'Wolverine 2' seem to be true as the ink is shuffling through the scratching pen. It used to be that the director was the star of the show but now it seems no matter how well respected you are as a filmmaker the studio system still exists however backwards...it seems that the studio heads make movies with the directors used as instruments. This is called MBA filmmaking. A group of business grads who tackle the 3 piece suit positions at studios; we can't blame em, they do need to look out for their stakeholders - and mathematical equations that determine your box office worth are balanced against the possibility of a film making a certain amount at box office. So what equation beats that? The Hugh Jackman equation. He is a powerful actor who can stand tall and remain determined that a fellow auteur friend of his becomes the captain of his ship. So perhaps, it's the actors that hold the 21st Century power in decision studio decision making of a film, whereas it used to be the filmmaker himself?