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When the stars are paid tens of millions; that also pushes other costs up — particularly marketing. (Studios have to promote the movie hard, to recoup the cost of the stars.)

The change from film to digital distribution (digital in theatres that is); will fundamentally change the economics of film making.

The cost of the 2,000 or 3,000 prints required for a “block buster” is over $10 million. That's on top of the film stock used in shooting, and the higher cost of post-production work in film, compared to digital media.

The high cost of distribution leads a studio to spend millions on “A”-list stars, who have a track record of selling tickets. That, in turn, leads to higher marketing costs, etc. etc.

The use of over-paid “A”-listers as voice actors for animated films is particularly extravagant. As the cost of producing animations drops with advances in computer animation & when full digital distribution kicks in — there won't be the perceived “need” to have big name stars on the marquee. The main advantage of the stars in an animation is the promotional work they do — appearing on the talk-show circuit to talk up the movie. When the costs of production and distribution are lowered, the need for such high-profile promotion will drop.