SHIA LABEOUF
Age 21
Last Seen In Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull
Career Box Office $2.3 billion*
Asking Price $10 million
While Hollywood execs were desperately seeking the next leading man (Is it Colin? Is it Jake?), this scrawny kid star (Holes) was slowly maturing into the Gen-Y mover of their dreams. His first solo outing, Disturbia, opened to an impressive $22 million — an achievement quickly dwarfed by his next film, Transformers, which grossed a massive $708 million worldwide. Steven Spielberg, who executive-produced the latter, took a shine to the kid, casting him in Indy 4. ''He's accessible without being soft,'' says one top studio exec. ''There's a bit of an edge there. I think he's fantastic.'' He's most often compared to a young Tom Hanks, but LaBeouf has built a template closer to Cruise, lining up action franchises and then injecting them with emotion. Now he just needs to prove he's got enough stamina, and good sense, to keep his career ablaze without getting burned by fame or sidetracked by momentary lapses in judgment (see: Walgreens arrest).
NEXT UP FOR SHIA LABEOUF The terrorism thriller Eagle Eye, followed by (no surprise) Transformers 2.
*Worldwide box office; live-action films only; figures provided by Media By Numbers and BoxOfficeMojo.com
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