Are movie stars a thing of the past?

"A" list movie stars like Denzel Washington, Julia Roberts, Eddie Murphy, John Travolta, Russell Crowe, Tom Hanks and Adam Sandler have failed to deliver at the box office this spring and summer, according to the NY Times. (Click HERE for a link to the story by Brooks Barnes, "Starring in Summer's Big Hits, Virtually Nobody" in today's NY Times.) Big movie stars have always in the past saved the movies, even the not very good movies. Everyone has a theory for the recent changes in this trend from faulty scripts and timing of movie releases to the increase of social networking (Twitter and Facebook) where moviegoers can tell their friends right away if a movie is worth their time or not. But if the movie is a good one, they don't have to worry, right? And then.... what about the big sports stars? Will this trend follow for them as well? What do you think.