Will Jimmy Fallon's 'Tonight Show' be a slam-dunk for movie stars?

As the dominant force in late-night television, Jay Leno's "The Tonight Show" was an essential stop for movie stars flogging their upcoming films. But Monday marked the dawn of a new era for "Tonight," one with Jimmy Fallon at the reins, raising the question of whether the new host will succeed in drawing the same A-list talent as his predecessor.
Like Leno, Fallon has a reputation as something of a softball interviewer, which should suit the Hollywood PR machine just fine. Unlike Leno, however, Fallon isn't a late-night institution, at least not yet, and the simple fact that he's not Leno could mean he'll have to work a bit to land the major movie stars — particularly amid all the competition he now faces from Jimmy Kimmel, Jon Stewart and others. (When Leno took the helm in 1992, the late-night field was of course much thinner.)
How frequently Hollywood's big names pop up on Fallon's "Tonight Show" could come down to whether he can duplicate Leno's ratings success. An average of 11.3-million total viewers tuned in to the premiere Monday, which doesn't match the 14.6 million who watched Leno's last episode but does beat out Conan O'Brien's 2009 "Tonight Show" premiere (9.2 million). Bigger numbers, in turn, are of course more likely to help a studio open a film.

Fallon's guest schedule for his first week is a bit light on big-screen talent, in part because this time of year tends to be a somewhat fallow period for movie releases.
Fallon's first guest was none other than Will Smith, one of the most popular actors on the planet and the star of the upcoming romantic drama "Focus." However, Smith didn't talk up his movie projects, instead chatting with Fallon about snowboarding, Olympic curling and skydiving. His most memorable moment on the show was donning baggy overalls and a printed T-shirt alongside Fallon to demonstrate "The Evolution of Hip-Hop Dancing."
Fallon's other guests this week will include comedian Jerry Seinfeld, comic actress Kristen Wiig, "American Hustle" star Bradley Cooper, First Lady Michelle Obama, funnyman Will Ferrell and singer-actor Justin Timberlake.