back when Premiere Magazine was still around and they regularly covered them. The bulk of these awards were pretty obvious, kind of like the Billboard Awards - if an album was the top selling one of a given year on the Billboard charts, the odds that said album would win a Billboard award were, oh, even money. The ShoWest awards were handed out by theater owners, so in turn, the producers and stars whose films made the most money at the box office were - whaddaya know - winners.I seemed to think that Cruise had been handed out a "star of the decade"-type award for his combined box office during either the 80s or the 90s, but that wasn't the case. Tom Hanks won a "Box Office Star of the Decade" award in 1999, but no one won one for the 90s, and Harrison Ford won "Box Office Star of the Century"...in 1994. Interesting choice, there.
Anyway, while researching all this, I was reminded of another award that they handed out - the titular "Star of Tomorrow" award, handed out sporadically until 1990, when an award was then handed out annually to one or more male and female stars. Since it's always fun to look back at the past predictions of others and chuckle, I saw an opportunity. Thus, I'll go through every award handed out (the first was granted in 1978) and offer a grade, as well as commentary where I see fit.
Make no mistake - I don't pretend to think that predicting who the stars of tomorrow - box office or otherwise - is a simple task, but still...some of these. Wow. You'll see:
| Year | Sex | Actor(s) | Comment | Grade |
| 1978 | M | Mark Hamill | Easy pickings for the committee this year; however, outside of SW, Hamill has had no effect on the box office whatsoever | B- |
| 1983 | M | David Keith | An Officer and a Gentlemen proved to be a fluke; Keith has carved out a nice career as a character actor, but not much beyond that. | C+ |
| 1983 | F | Shelley Long | Though I've never liked her, she's certainly been a star, and for many decades (on TV if not film). | A- |
| 1985 | M | Eric Stolz | Known quantity, has "starred" in many a film, but never an A-lister. | B+ |
| 1985 | F | Kelly LeBrock | Can you say one-hit wonder? Ok, that's not true - Hard to Kill FTW - but close enough. | C |
| 1989 | F | Carey Lowell/Talisa Soto | Law & Order / …Mortal Kombat? Apparently, they put way too much stock into the potential success of Licence to Kill. | C+/D+ |
| 1990 | M | Johnny Depp | A+ | |
| 1990 | F | Winona Ryder | B+ | |
| 1991 | M | Richard Greico | LOLOLOL | D- |
| 1991 | F | Robin Givens | The Boomerang doth come back. | C+ |
| 1992 | F | Nicole Kidman | Thanks, Tom! | A |
| 1992 | M | Stephen Dorff | A yo-yo, this one. Making a comeback (again) with Sofia Coppola's next film, Somewhere. | B- |
| 1993 | M | Brad Pitt | Um, yeah. | A+ |
| 1993 | F | Juliiette Lewis | His former GF…not so much, but not bad. | B+ |
| 1994 | M | Chris O'Donnell | Still hanging around, but has never lived up to the potential of Scent of a Woman. | B |
| 1994 | F | Tia Carrere | Still hanging around, but has never lived up to the potential of Wayne's World. | B- |
| 1995 | F | Julia Ormond | Was supposed to be THE next big star after Legends of the Fall. Then Sabrina bombed, as did her career pretty much. | C+ |
| 1995 | M | Will Smith/Martin Lawrence | Too easy. | A+/B+ |
| 1996 | F | Cameon Diaz | I figured this for a no-brainer on their part, but after The Mask in 1994, Diaz starred in mostly indies. Either way, she's a mega-star. | A |
| 1996 | M | Greg Kinnear | B+ | |
| 1997 | F | Claire Danes | My So-Called Career. | B- |
| 1997 | M | Howie Long | Not as funny as Grieco, but the former NFLer's acting career stalled quickly, if it even ever took off. | C- |
| 1998 | M | Matt Damon | I don't know about them, but I knew he'd be huge immediately upon seeing School Ties in 1992. Ok, that's not true at all. | A |
| 1998 | F | Minnie Driver | B | |
| 1999 | M | Giovanni Ribisi | He's a solid (and respected) actor, but he's yet to become any sort of box office star. | B- |
| 1999 | F | Heather Graham | Had a good stretch there for awhile. | B- |
| 2000 | F | Hilary Swank | 2-time Best Actress. 'Nuff said. | A- |
| 2000 | M | Michael Clarke Duncan | Anyone else see him play the heavy in Daredevil. Anyone? | C |
| 2001 | M | Heath Ledger | Everyone knows his name, but he wasn't a box office star until after he'd died. | B+ |
| 2001 | F | Shannon Elizabeth | Now THIS is a one-hit wonder. | C- |
| 2002 | M | Josh Hartnett | WTF happened to this guy? He and James Franco taking each other's parts? | C+ |
| 2002 | F | Naomi Watts | The Cate Blanchett of Whichever Country Blanchett's Not From. | B+ |
| 2003 | F | Alison Lohman | It's not too late, but the train is still waiting at the station. | B- |
| 2003 | M | LL Cool J | Where did this come from? He'd been a known quantity for at least 15 years, and had been acting regularly for a decade prior. | C+ |
| 2004 | F | Jennifer Garner | She's a star, but how big? The jury's still out. | B |
| 2004 | M | Ryan Gosling | See Ribisi, Giovanni. | B |
| 2005 | M | Hayden Christensen | What an obvious choice, and it still has backfired terribly. | D |
| 2005 | F | Jessica Biel | A- | |
| 2006 | M | Brandon Routh | Strike one. | C+ |
| 2006 | F | Jennifer Hudson | Strike two. | C+ |
| 2007 | F | Emma Roberts | Too young to say for sure. | TBD |
| 2007 | M | Shia LaBeouf | Not much older, but certainly has a nice box office record on his resume. | A- |
| 2008 | F | Abigail Breslin | Getting there, maybe. | B |
| 2008 | M | Emile Hirsch | See Gosling, Ryan. | B- |
| 2009 | F | Briana Evigan, Leah Pipes, Rumer Willis, Jamie Chung, Audrina Patridge, Margo Harshman | AKA the 'stars' of Sorority Row. I guess this award is for sale annually. | F |
| 2009 | M | Chris Pine | Another safe bet - who know how it'll turn out. | TBD |
| 2010 | M | Alex Pettyfer | I've never even heard of this guy. Looks like he's the star of Beastly, along with… | D- |
| 2010 | F | Vanessa Hudgens | …this Disney/naughty video chick. Yup, the award is officially for sale. At least I've heard of her… | C+ |
5 people have chosen wisely: on "ShoWest Stars of Tomorrow"
If Rumor Willis makes it it will only be because of her parents. Because she's weird looking and really not a very good actress. But in this day and age, apparently you don't need to know how to act.
Poor Rumor she got Demi's nose and Bruce's everything else. Bad for being a sexy leading lady, but don't think that gives her a pass into stardom.
Ribisi-Gosling-Hirsch: LOL, exactly right!
Garner shouldn't be as big a star as she is, her quality is in sharp decline. Lohman needs to catch that train! I've always wanted so much more for her. Her 7 Gretchen Mol.
Too true, Amanda, but I'm not holding out hope for Rumer.
RW - It's hard to peg where Garner's head is at. Seems like she could be a star, but she hasn't demonstrated the desire (to my eyes at least). I'm 'meh' on Lohman - she's never really done anything for me. "Her 7 Gretchen Mol?"
"Her 7 Gretchen Mol?" It really helps to proofread my comments.
I meant "Her & Gretchen Mol" As in, I wanted so much more from both Alison & Gretchen. I know Mol wasn't listed, but she was one of those up and comers who never quite made it.
I really liked Lohman in Matchstick Men, Where the Truth Lies and of course Drag Me to Hell. Lately, Ellen Page has been snatching all those eternally-youthful girl roles away.
Ahhh, gotcha. I always hated Mol, even since she played the wet blanket in Rounders/was hyped as the Next Big Thing. In truth, she's really not bad, and has been on a comeback over the last 5 years or so, so good for her.
I'll give you Matchstick Men for Lohman. They played on her youthful looks quite well there, even if she was a bit annoying in it. I have yet to see Drag Me to Hell, but I admit I forgot about that and will give you credit there.
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