Voters in Quigly Publishing Company’s Annual Poll of Motion Picture Exhibitors named Denzel Washington 2012’s “Top Money-Making Star.” Now in its 81st year, the Quigley Poll surveys theater owners and film buyers to name the top 10 box office generating actors for their location. After landing in the poll’s top 10 eight times, Washington earned the number one spot for the first time, based off the turnout for his films Safe House and Flight. Les Miserables co-stars Anne Hathaway and Hugh Jackman came in second and third on this list, with Hathaway being the only woman to make the cut.
Some of Hollywood’s most well-known leading men finished out the top 10, including Mark Wahlberg, Johnny Depp, Leonardo DeCaprio, Brad Pitt, Daniel Day Lewis, Robert Downey Jr and James Bond actor Daniel Craig. Falling into the Poll’s “Stars of Tomorrow” section are Jennifer Lawrence of The Hunger Games and Silver Linings Playbook and Joseph Gordon –Levitt, who starred in Looper while providing strong supporting roles in The Dark Knight Rises and Lincoln.
2012 was a strong year for Washington, as both Flight and Safe House easily doubled their estimated budgets. His role of Captain Whip Whitaker in Flight has earned him a bevy of award nominations, including the Golden Globe Award for Best Actor and the Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor.
Washington is enjoying his title and his holidays in St. Barts with his wife Pauletta. Photographers caught the couple aboard their yacht and later in a restaurant, enjoying the island weather. Denzel and Pauletta have been married for 29 years, which is quite the feat for any married celebrity.
