Big-name movie stars are no longer the draw they once were and their current salaries reflect that reality, the New York Times observed today (Thursday), pointing out that when the estimated salaries of all 10 acting nominees are combined, the total is only a little larger than the $20 million Julia Roberts received for 2001's Erin Brockovich or Russell Crowe for 2004's Master And Commander . The newspaper quoted film industry lawyer Peter Dekom as saying that nowadays stars "attract an over-30 audience, which is going to the movies less in an impaired economy." The "fashionable deal" these days, the Times noted, is referred to as "CB zero" for "cash-break zero," meaning that a star begins collecting a share of profits only after a studio has made its production costs back -- a far cry from the time when stars received a percentage of the first-dollar gross receipts.

04/03/2010