Why are A-list stars' salaries more than directors' unless the director would be someone like Spielberg?

Question

I asked this question on Wikianswer and I got this answer: "Because actors are snooty pigs who can hold more money than directors, whose pockets are filled with scripts. "

Actually I can't accept such an answer because as a future writer/director I can not look at actors as snooty pigs. So what do you think?

Answer 1

Because unfortunately in most cases people are drawn to movies based on what "hot" celebrities are featured in them.  This is especially true with a lot of the drivel that Hollywood churns out that has little content or entertainment value, so studios bank on Cameron Diaz or Keanu Reeves to bring in the bucks. They are the meal-tickets and get paid accordingly.  There are very few directors that have celebrity status and are capable of bringing in movie-goers, and fewer still who could actually draw a larger audience than an A-list actor.

Answer 2

To be honest... Actors are big babies. Seriously! They know that when they're good their name will bring in the viewers not so much a producer or screenwriter. Some directors can bring in the crowd, but not as well as most A-list actors.

Answer 3

That's because most people don't have any idea what a director does, but they will assume that a movie will be good because it features an actor or actress they like. Simply put, producers regard actors and actresses as bigger box office draws that almost all directors (Frank Capra, Alfred Hitchcock, and a few others are the exceptions which prove the rule. A few producers have even managed to gain name recognition with audiences in the past (e.g. Darryl  F. Zanuck), but there is nothing like well known lead actors to bring in an audience. A few actors and actresses are paid much more than they deserve because they are considered worth their higher fees when it comes  to counting admission tickets sold.