He is, simply, the most successful director of the last 50 years. In 2003, he parlayed the '60s valentine Catch Me if You Can (released Dec. '02) into a $338 million worldwide-grossing hit, and is reteaming with Tom Hanks for 2004's The Terminal. His TV-producing resume hasn't been quite so impressive (although Taken did win that Emmy), but he made inroads in the computer-gaming world as the creative force behind the WWII role-themed Medal of Honor. All eyes, though, are on 2005 and a little picture known as Indiana Jones 4.
3 TOM HANKS ACTOR-WRITER-DIRECTOR-PRODUCER AGE 47
Hanks has no movie for 2003. Doesn't matter. Studio heads still agree he's the one actor who can get anything greenlit. The guy has likability (only two of his films in the past decade grossed less than $100 million), talent (five Oscar nods, two wins), and brilliant radar. Next year he stars in the Coen brothers' remake of The Ladykillers, and is reteaming with Robert Zemeckis for the CGI-animated Polar Express and with Steven Spielberg for The Terminal. The latter has him stuck in an airport interminably. Anyone think he can't make that riveting?
4 RON HOWARD & BRIAN GRAZER COCHAIRMEN, IMAGINE ENTERTAINMENT AGES 49/52
Nobody mixes art and commerce into a smoother cocktail, making Oscar-courting movies that still manage to rake in millions. The Missing, Howard's first directing gig since A Beautiful Mind, and The Alamo (as producers, despite Howard's exit as director) are generating Academy hopes. But the pair are not above courting flat-out commercialism: Dr. Seuss' The Cat in the Hat could be a Grinch-like blockbuster. Their TV wing is more of a mixed bag: 24 remains a hit for Fox, but NBC's Miss Match looks like a misfire.
5 J.K. ROWLING AUTHOR AGE 38
For the world's most popular author, selling 5 million copies of Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix in the first 24 hours in June -- outgrossing even The Hulk that weekend -- cast a Silencio! spell on skeptics who wondered if three years between books equalled diminished magic. (Now: How long until Book 6?) Warner Bros. virtually lives off that magic: Potter films continue to anchor the studio's franchise-driven strategy (HP3 is due June '04), which is why the studio pays Rowling so much mind. Despite her openness to less slavishly literal adaptations, when she tsk-tsks an idea, producers obey.
6 OPRAH WINFREY TALK-SHOW HOST-PRODUCER-PUBLISHER-GURU AGE 49
Winfrey once again extended her talk-show contract, ensuring her reign as daytime TV's queen through at least '08. She bagged Arnold and Maria for her 18th season opener, got Madonna to cry the following day, and reintroduced her book club, which somehow turned John Steinbeck's meaty East of Eden into a summer blockbuster. The Harpo-produced Dr. Phil enters season 2 with boffo ratings. Further proof that her reach knows no bounds: McDonald's is working with her trainer, Bob Greene, to promote a ''healthy'' Happy Meal. Stedman action figures not included.
