In less than two decades, Kim Kardashian has gone from Paris Hilton’s stylist to reality superstar to billionaire businesswoman. The global brand she has built encompasses two popular reality television shows, a clothing line valued at $4 billion and 364 million Instagram followers.
Now the 43-year-old entrepreneur, who first became famous after a sex tape with singer Ray J surfaced in 2007, is trying to parlay her far-reaching fame into movie stardom.
It could be the most challenging role she has ever attempted. With only a few narrative TV shows and film cameos under her belt — besides starring in “American Horror Story: Delicate,” her last credited acting gig was as the voice of a fancy poodle in the 2023 animated feature “Paw Patrol: The Mighty Movie” — Kardashian would seemingly need a lot of help to transform herself into her idol, Elizabeth Taylor.
And yet some Hollywood studios are willing to give her a shot. Kardashian recently brokered two deals for dueling original features, an untitled thriller at Amazon MGM Studios and another for a comedy called “The Fifth Wheel” at Netflix. She is also set to star in and executive produce a Hulu legal drama from Ryan Murphy.
“Studios are more open to working with Kim Kardashian now because she’s evolving beyond reality TV,” said Pilaar Terry, Managing Partner and COO of POV Agency. “She’s shown she’s not just about fame. Studios see her as more than just a celebrity. She’s got this diverse appeal that they want to tap into because she’s proven to move the needle on everything from engagement to sales.”
More than anything, studios are betting that Kardashian’s name could draw her legion of followers to theaters — much like the Swifties did for Taylor Swift’s concert film last year. “If you look at it from name recognition around the world, Kim is a bigger star than Taylor Swift,” a top agent told TheWrap. “Netflix, Amazon, Ryan Murphy or whoever are trying to utilize that fact to create popular content.”
Despite the challenge, Kardashian’s pivot is not unprecedented. “She’s diversifying her portfolio,” said Randi Matthews, CEO and founder of the marketing company Multi-Hyphen Media. “It’s just like when singers make the transition into acting. She wants to challenge herself. She wants to do something that she hasn’t done before.”
From faux reality to acting classes
“Keeping Up With The Kardashians” (Miller Mobley/E! Entertainment)
Despite more than a decade of being filmed in the largely faux world of reality TV, Kardashian has little formal acting experience. She is a single mom to four kids, runs a burgeoning fashion empire and has a huge commitment to the Kardashian family reality show.
“Keeping Up With the Kardashians,” the show that made her famous, has aired in more than 150 countries. At its peak, season 7 in 2012, the show averaged over 3.7 million total viewers per episode across platforms, according to internal data provided by E!.
When the family transitioned their reality brand to Hulu with the new series “The Kardashians,” Disney CEO Bob Iger said the show became the most viewed unscripted series in Hulu’s history. “It’s not because she’s a good actress,” said Matthews. “It’s because she converts and holds audiences.”
With her clothing company Skims, Kardashian has flashed her marketing prowess. In 2022, Skims made Time’s list of the 100 Most Influential Companies, and last year it became the official underwear partner of the NBA and WNBA.
To prepare for her film pivot, Kardashian is taking acting lessons, a family friend and Hollywood insider said, though that’s almost irrelevant. “Who knows if she can really act?” the insider said. “It almost doesn’t really matter because she’s most likely going to be playing herself.”
That’s in stark contrast to music pop stars like Selena Gomez and Justin Timberlake, who were talent-scouted at a young age and trained as Disney kids. Gomez, 31, has more than two dozen film credits, with appearances in movies like 2012’s comedy-crime “Spring Breakers” and Woody Allen’s “A Rainy Day in New York.” Timberlake, 43, has nearly two dozen film credits, with star turns in “Alpha Dog,” rom-com “Friends with Benefits” and a prominent supporting role in the Oscar-winning “The Social Network.”
Gomez, who has an even larger IG following than Kardashian at 429 million followers, has lately had more on-screen success in the Hulu series “Only Murders in the Building,” while Timberlake has stepped away from films and was most recently seen in the Netflix noir “Reptile.” Neither has proven to be a big box-office draw.
Other huge entertainers, including Swift, have struggled in the film world. Swift’s minor cameo in David O. Russell’s recent feature “Amsterdam” got a drubbing on social media and the singer has been sitting on an untitled movie, her directorial debut, for over a year now. Britney Spears and Madonna also dabbled in films and, at least in Madonna’s case, got some critical success only to end up walking away when fans just didn’t show up for the films.
Timothée Chalamet and Selena Gomez in “Rainy Day in New York” (Signature Entertainment)
But none of them are a woman in her early forties attempting to enter the world of serious acting.
Still, some industry executives are optimistic Kardashian will find success. “It’s a good move for her right now,” said Samantha Flynn, Principle and Chief Strategy Officer for Junipr Public Relations. “These streaming companies are willing to fork over and pay a lot of money for content.”
Flynn equates Kardashian’s situation to Phoebe Waller-Bridge’s overall deal with Amazon MGM, where the studio is supporting a creative with a track record of success with funds to follow their passion. While sources said legacy studios were also in the bidding for Kardashian’s projects, streamers find her more appealing: They see her as a quick and easy way to get more people to become paid subscribers.
An ability to convert fans
Kardashian’s ability to convert fans is why it was a smart move for her to sell her film ideas to a streaming service. Considering how much of her life she lives online, streamers are interested in her potential to turn out Gen Z viewers, who consume so much entertainment online, diminishing the studio’s risk of failure by banking on her, said Matthews.
Traditional studios like Warner Bros. and Disney see Kardashian as less of a trusted indicator of success and may struggle to understand her audience. But they could take a wait-and-see approach, letting the streamers take the initial gamble. “If Kardashian proves she can deliver hits and pull in audiences from all walks of life, there’s a chance these legacy studios would think about joining forces with her on future ventures,” Terry said. “It’s all about proving herself and showing she’s got what it takes to make it in the big leagues.”
Success for Kardashian also would be measured differently by streamers. Though they tend to be opaque — only Netflix has attempted serious transparency – streamers don’t rely on traditional benchmarks like box office returns, so Kardashian likely won’t be expected to bring in a certain dollar amount to illustrate a return on investment.
It’s not because she’s a good actress. It’s because she converts and holds audiences.
Randi Matthews, CEO of marketing company Multi-Hyphen Media
Still, other influencers have done big deals with streamers with mixed results. Netflix has partnered with Barack and Michelle Obama and with Prince Harry and Meghan Markle. As TheWrap previously reported, the $100 million deal with the Sussexes hasn’t exactly done gangbusters for the streamer.
What’s different in this case is that in the package Kardashian has put together for both streaming deals the companies aren’t just getting Kardashian herself, but proven collaborators. Comedy writers Paula Pell and Janine Brito are part of Kardashian’s package deal on “The Fifth Wheel” and producer Bruna Papandra is working with Kardashian on her Amazon thriller. Because her collaborators are already proven and in demand, it could cushion the risk being taken on Kardashian herself.
But does Kardashian have that movie star mystique?
It’s difficult to say when every moment of Kardashian’s life has been chronicled by reality TV cameras, through multiple marriages and her numerous beauty treatments ranging from a Vampire Facial to discussing the benefits of vaginal lasering.
Kardashian’s idol, Elizabeth Taylor (Getty Images)
“Kim is a master at marketing herself and her image,” the Kardashian friend said. “Think of all the scandals, divorces and bad press she’s endured, but she’s still at the top of her game.”
Not unlike Liz Taylor, who was a scandal and paparazzi-generating machine in her day.
But with her children and extended family routinely tied into her career, the opportunities for streamers to feed off Kardashian’s sprawling circle is another reason to stay in business with her.
“She opens up subscriber venues for them,” said Matthews. “Love her or hate her, she has cultivated an audience. She has cracked that code.”
