Hollywood shout is 'cut' on pay for stars

Even Hollywood's hottest stars are being hit by the credit crunch.

Studios are ditching deals that gave top actors a cut of box-office takings whether or not a film made a profit.

For its new Robin Hood film, due out next year, Universal Pictures is thought to have done away with "first-dollar gross deals" despite having attracted A-listers Russell Crowe and Cate Blanchett.

Harrison Ford has agreed a "back-end" deal for Morning Glory, and will only gets a portion of the takings after Paramount Pictures has recouped costs.

Paramount made a similar agreement with actor Steve Carell and director Jay Roach for Dinner for Schmucks. They will pocket between $10 million (£6.8 million) and $15 million each in upfront fees, but will not receive any more until the movie has got back the $65 million it cost to make.

In the past, even films that flopped could land stars big pay cheques. Eddie Murphy raked it in for Twentieth Century Fox's Meet Dave even though it bombed. The film cost about $70 million to make but pulled in only $11.8 million at the US box office.