LOS ANGELES: In the eyes of US movie theatre owners, Sandra Bullock shone as 2009’s top Hollywood star at the box office, as the actress nicknamed ‘America’s Sweetheart’ scored with audiences after a two-year absence from the screen.

Quigley Publishing Company’s annual list released on December 31 of top money making stars, based on a poll of hundreds of theatre executives, had Bullock beat out such stars as George Clooney and Denzel Washington, on the strength of her roles in The Proposal and The Blind Side.

Romantic comedy The Proposal made $315 million at worldwide box offices following its June release, and football drama The Blind Side has made $193 million only in the US and Canada since its November 20 release, with its roll-out in other countries still to come.

Quigley Publishing said the list does not rank stars only on how much cash their films made, but on what theatre owners say about who attracts audiences on their star power alone.

Bullock scored her first smash hit with 1994 action movie Speed and became one of Hollywood’s biggest stars, but before The Proposal she had not starred in a film since 2007.