The primetime television industry is dying. From the writer’s strike a few years passed to Tina Fey’s swipe at NBC at the Emmy’s, it’s something that has been much discussed in recent months. According to Forbes, some ladies are still managing to pull a profit from an industry that is losing money daily. Their top 10 highest earning actresses on primetime TV (calculated before taxes and other expenses) earned an estimated $116 million between June 1, 2008 and June 1, 2009. Unsurprisingly, Tyra Banks tops the list.

A combination of “America’s Next Top Model,” “The Tyra Show” and cameo appearances (like on “Gossip Girl”) earned Tyra her money on screen, but with her work behind the camera producing shows like “True Beauty” and the since cancelled “Stylista,” Tyra has managed to pull in $30 million in a year. Not too bad for someone who used to be the face of Victoria’s Secret, going as Forbes puts it, from “supermodel” to “super-personality.”

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If someone were to ask you whom the best investment a studio could make for their leading lady in a film, your best guess probably wouldn’t be Naomi Watts. But according to Forbes, the actress best known for her role in “The Ring” offers the best bang for her buck, even more so than Angelina Jolie.

Forbes compiled their top 10 list based on the 100 biggest female stars in Hollywood who have starred in at least three films in the past five years that opened in more than 500 theaters. That rules out most art films, to translate the business lingo. They then calculated each star’s earnings per movie based on their upfront pay, earnings from box office receipts, and DVD and TV sales. This was weighted against a calculated operating income for each film. Still following?

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This week Forbes released its annual Celebrity 100 list ranking the world's most powerful celebrities, including a rundown of the silver screen's highest paid actresses. The top 10 was fairly predictable (actress/ambassador Angelina Jolie took the No. 1 spot), but there were a few surprises (uh, where's Julia Roberts?). Take a look at the full list below:

1. Angelina Jolie, $27 million
2. Jennifer Aniston, $25 million
3. Meryl Streep, $24 million
4. Sarah Jessica Parker, $23 million
5. Cameron Diaz, $20 million
6. Sandra Bullock, $15 million
7. Reese Witherspoon, $15 million
8. Nicole Kidman, $12 million
9. Drew Barrymore, $12 million
10. Renee Zellweger, $10 million

Being the curious folks that we are at Hollywood Crush, we started wondering how this list would shape up 10 years from now, when many of today's tweeners will have come of age and cinema staples like Angelina and Jennifer might be slowing down. While we have no idea how to calculate dollar amounts (we're journalists, duh!), here's a list — and accompanying flipbook — of our best guess at who will be at the top of the marquee in 2019. Read more...