Clooney's hits and misses

Michael Clayton

Myles Aronowitz / Warner Bros. Pictures

By Robert W. Welkos, Los Angeles Times Staff Writer He's been dubbed the "sexiest man alive" by People magazine, but can he single-handedly open a movie? Clooney's latest film, the legal thriller "Michael Clayton," goes wide this weekend. The film did well in limited release last weekend, earning an average of close to $50,000 per theater. But looking at Clooney's overall career, one can't help but notice the box office disparity: Clooney's eclectic tastes mean that he has starred in as many flops ("Confessions of a Dangerous Mind" made $16 million) as blockbusters. Still, you can never count Clooney out -- either when he's making a popcorn movie or an intensely personal character-driven film. "He's a master of the tightrope," said Paul Dergarabedian, president of the box office tracking firm Media by Numbers. "But being a risk taker means that not everything is a blockbuster. He's looking at projects that speak to him in his gut." A look at Clooney's ups and downs at the box office:

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'Ocean's Thirteen'

Melinda Sue Gordon / Warner Bros.

"Ocean's Eleven," "Ocean's Twelve," "Ocean's Thirteen" The Steven Soderbergh-directed trilogy was a hoot, raking in $426 million at the North American box office, but let's remember, it wasn't only Clooney's appeal that made the movies hits. Two other actors by the name of Pitt and Damon had something to do with it too. And Julia Roberts didn't hurt when she came on board for a while. As film critic Roger Ebert noted when reviewing "Ocean's Eleven," Clooney "can be powerfully impassive better than almost anybody," and he proved it playing Danny Ocean.

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