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Steven Soderbergh's upcoming murder-in-a-doll-factory movie, Bubble (if you don't have a doll parts phobia yet, watching the trailer should fix that), will be the first feature by a mainstream filmmaker to put the controversial "collapsing windows" distribution theory to the test i.e., eliminating the gap between a theatrical release and its pay-per-view and DVD releases. But the director's radical re-envisioning of the Hollywood model doesn't end there: He too sides with studio executives who are advocating massive upfront pay cuts for talent in exchange for them receiving a larger share of the back end. According to him, a star salary cap is not only cost effective, it will improve the quality of the movies:

"Let's say you had a salary cap of $5 million," he said. "Then you find yourself in the situation where a lot of people could potentially come up with $5 million to pay an A-list actor, then their [the actor's] decision is going to have to be based on 'which is the best of these scripts that I'm going to get paid $5 million to make?'"


Soderbergh said this levels the playing field, giving everyone the same access to talent and the same ability to make a good film.

We can only hope Hollywood's $20 million club sees Soderbergh's reasoning and sacrifices a large chunk of their salaries in exchange for improving the overall product. If they don't, there's a good chance that quality entertainment like Ocean's 13 through 28 will never see the light of day.