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Kim Hollis: With the $36 million debut for Salt, where does Angelina Jolie place with regards to top female stars? Is she at the top, or is it someone else, like Katherine Heigl, Jennifer Aniston, Julia Roberts or Sandra Bullock (or someone else we're not considering)?

Matthew Huntley: As far as female action roles are concerned, I would definitely place Angelina Jolie at the top. The only other actresses that comes to mind for this title are (maybe) Scarlett Johannson, Halle Berry or Zoe Saldana, but even they seem like a stretch. Generally speaking, though, as the top female performer across all genres, I wouldn't necessarily place Jolie at the top, because she doesn't always sell tickets for dramas. I believe Meryl Streep has more clout in that department, and Streep's power can also translate to comedies. Other actresses to consider are Cameron Diaz, Nicole Kidman, Gwyneth Paltrow, Reese Witherspoon and Kate Winslet. Although they don't have as much universal influence, they'd still be a reason viewers go to a movie.

Josh Spiegel: I'm with Matthew here. Movies like Changeling and A Mighty Heart do well to enhance Angelina Jolie's prestige in Hollywood, but they don't bring in big bucks. Meryl Streep is the top performer in comedies and dramas, closely followed (recently) by Sandra Bullock. But action movies are pretty much Jolie's bread and butter. I can't think of a lot of other actresses who could pull off this role.





Tom Houseman: If you were going to tell me there was a movie opening this weekend, and all you were going to tell me was the lead actress, whose name would most impress me? I'd have to say Angelina Jolie. Sandy is hot at the moment, but looking at her recent work other than Blind Side and The Proposal, she's only headlined one movie since Miss Congeniality that broke $55 million domestic: Two Weeks Notice. I think Meryl would be a close second to Angelina, but Ms. Jolie is the clear winner in this category for me, not just in action, but overall.

Tim Briody: She's at the top because she's the only female actress of those you mentioned who can do action right now. There isn't another B+/A-list actress that I can think of right now who could go all Linda Hamilton on us, so Hollywood would have to present us with someone who isn't as big a star or is playing something out of their wheelhouse, and I'm not sure the public would accept that.

Reagen Sulewski: I think it's unquestionably Jolie, in the fact that she can do basically anything. Bullock once upon a time could do some small action (think Demolition Man and Speed) but I don't think anyone would buy her in that kind of role anymore. Meanwhile, Jolie can do Serious Drama about as well as anyone else that's her contemporary.

David Mumpower: I think I agree with the sentiment that while Bullock's 2009 was the stuff of myth and legend, it was fluke more than trend. Meanwhile, for all of the praise Heigl gets for being the up and coming romantic comedy lead, she's still only had one movie open to $30 million and that was Knocked Up, which didn't explode because of her. Zoe Saldana is the new person in this conversation, but she is impossible to judge as of yet since her three most recent films are two slam dunk blockbusters, Star Trek and Avatar, and one low budget/low expectations action film, The Losers (now available on DVD/Blu-Ray!).

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