Pitt says big movie salaries 'have died'

Brad Pitt has said that the days of astronomical salaries for Hollywood actors are over.

The A-list actor, who is reported to have made $25 million (£16 million) last year according to Forbes, reckons that such wage packets are a thing of the past.

[Related story: Pitt says he will never have enough cash]

“Yeah, that thing died,” he told Radio 1's Newsbeat when asked if actors could still take home $10 million (£6.2 million) for a single film role.

“That arithmetic doesn't really work right now... that deal's not flying these days. You take the roles for the roles, and you've just got to balance economics like everyone does.”

He adds that while the economic downturn has affected film studios adversely, it means it's now giving opportunities to lesser known talent.

“A lot of the studios have been challenged because of the economic downturn as well so they've been betting on bigger, more tent pole kinds of things.

“At the same time that opens up a vacuum for really interesting new film makers to come in.”

The idea of the 'tent-pole' projects run by the major studios is that they then bankroll the smaller projects.