Hollywood’s biggest stars are losing their clout

I'm sympathetic to the big names, but the reality is that the game is changing and they need to reset their expectations (and budgets) accordingly. ScarJo was fully justified in her complaint, because she's caught in the middle of a paradigm shift not of her own making. Her next big deal will likely be of the money-up-front variety.

Who I don't have sympathy for is the auteurs like Villaneuve and Nolan who tout their theater-only aesthetic. Movie makers have been raking in billions from home entertainment for decades now, often more than their big-screen box office. Yes, the theater experience is great, but it seems a little disingenuous to complain about the streaming experience when it's the 21st century equivalent of VHS, DVD and BluRay (which is, of course, a 21 century technology, but work with me here). A lot of us aren't going to see your cinema art on an actual cinema screen; adjust your aesthetic to create a great experience on everything from a silver screen to an iPhone and let us give you our money without denigrating us for not placing our butts in theater seats.

Stars used to be the what sold a movie to the public. A recognizable face and a "brand" which promise a certain genre and level of quality. Today IP brands like "Marvel", "Star Wars" etc have taken that role. So the stars have less influence. IP is easier to mange and trade, and has less risk of doing embarrassing things.

The last line summarizes it all - “…In the new Hollywood, stars are neither made nor born: they are algorithmically generated”