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If you don't see his movies, he'll run you over. Or smoke in your bathroom.

Kim Hollis: Do you think Shia LaBeouf is a box office draw, or do you believe he's been lucky with his projects?

David Mumpower: I suspect the truth lies somewhere in the middle, but his resume is adding up to a fine early career. He's got Transformers in his back pocket, there is a lot of noise about another Indiana Jones film, and now he's got Eagle Eye to add to Disturbia. He seems to be the primary casting choice for the current genre of "misanthropic nerd saves the day".

Scott Lumley: He's definitely turning into some sort of draw, but I think David's right in that he's been very lucky with some of these projects. What he's doing now reminds me of Orlando Bloom's early career arc. Let's hope his career a couple of years from now spans out a little better than Bloom's has.

Tim Briody: Even without the Transformers and Indy movies, he was certainly not a guy I expected to develop into a solid draw at all. Clearly he's picking a lot of smart projects. If he can avoid any more...unfortunate run-ins with the law, watch out.

Shane Jenkins: I feel like he happens to have been at the center of movies people would have seen anyway. As icky as it sounds, I would be curious to see how he would fare in a romantic comedy, or at least something outside of the action genre. He's got the talent for it, but I wonder if fans would follow.

Kim Hollis: I think it's a combination of having a certain segment of teen audience follow him from the Disney Channel and also having his career guided and molded by people like Spielberg. He really does need to quit trying to be a bad dude, though. (I say try because I just can't buy him as a dick. He's working too hard for some of this attention. Smoking in the bathroom? That's just ludicrous.)





Jason Lee: I don't know who had to sleep with who in order to make it happen, but I definitely agree with Kim in that Shia has been the beneficiary of some influential, guiding hands (like Spielberg) helping his career along. I think Eagle Eye and Disturbia clearly place Shia in an Adam Sandler-ish category: he's a box-office draw, but only in the right type of film.

P.S. Can you believe that this is Shia's fourth straight live-action film to open at #1? Not that he's been personally responsible for all of them, but still.

Sean Collier: I can't help but think the bubble is going to burst, here. He's far too much of a babyface to be a serious leading man - he looks 16 with his first goatee, nothing more. I feel like he'll find a niche, but god knows what it is.

Max Braden: I agree with everything said so far: draw when the production is right. But I think his bubble is going to last a lot longer than Colin Farrell's did. I don't have a problem with Shia being this generation's action star. He's got the same intense energy and good looks that made Tom Cruise a star.

Daron Aldridge: I guess I will have to join almost everyone on the road most traveled by agreeing with Shia's good fortune at the box office being a byproduct of appealing films. Shane's comment in particular rings truest to me that these movies likely would have been hits regardless of the lead actor unless the lead was a disastrous choice, i.e. Dane Cook (who I still blame for hindering the box office potential for the underrated Mr. Brooks.).

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