“Unfortunately, I am not going to be able to be of any help,” Stan Rosenfield, a spokesman for George Clooney, said in response to a query about Mr. Clooney’s pay for his work in Paramount Pictures’ “Up in the Air.”

Image ‘Inglourious Basterds’ Brad Pitt attracted hefty upfront fees. Credit... François Duhamel/Weinstein Company and Universal Pictures

That film was made for about $25 million. It was possible only because Mr. Clooney, according to people briefed on the film’s finances but speaking anonymously to avoid conflict with the star or Paramount, took an initial fee that was roughly a tenth of the $20 million that Leonardo DiCaprio, a frequent Oscar contender, has received in the past.

Once upon a time, the biggest stars were rewarded with deals that paid them a percentage of so-called first-dollar gross receipts; that is, they began sharing in the profits from the first ticket sale, not waiting until the studio turned a profit. Now studios often insist that even top stars forgo large advance payments in return for a share of the profits after a studio has recouped its cash investment.

The fashionable deal now is called “CB zero.” It stands for “cash-break zero,” and refers to an arrangement under which the star or filmmaker begins collecting a share of profits after the studio has reached the break-even point.

Such deals can be extremely lucrative when they give stars a substantial share in home-video revenue. So Sandra Bullock, who cut her usual $10 million fee to just $5 million for “The Blind Side,” another of this year’s nominees, will eventually make $20 million or more from the movie because it was a hit. Mr. Clooney similarly stands to make additional millions when all the revenue from “Up in the Air” is finally counted.