Knowing he would get too much of a raise if he asked, Tommy Lee Jones rides the cash tidal wave. He allows the industry standard to increase his paycheck. Even after years of little salary increases screenwriters are also felling the effects, usually with multi-script deals with one studio. More and more every day studios believe the only way to launch a successful film is to have big name stars. Even television does this.
Every season there are a bunch of star vehicles sitcoms and dramas that fail miserably.
The best way to stop all this madness is this, studios and actors need to go the Jimmy Stewart route and forgo huge salaries in favor for a percentage of the films total box office gross. It can go one-way or the other. The actor would have to try their hardest and hope the marketing department does their job. This way budgets could stay under control and hopefully better content would come out of Hollywood. A good performance would hopefully equal lots of money.