It may even pick up with more high-scoring games, edge-of-the-seat finishes, and big-bang batting by the stars.

BBC: Why is the Indian Premier League floundering?

According to Forbes' first-ever list of Ultimate Star Payback, the movie stars who deliver the best bang for the buck aren't the industry's top earners.

FORBES: Magazine Article

Directed by Shane Black, who previously worked with Downey Jr on Kiss Kiss Bang Bang, the film co-stars Gwyneth Paltrow, as Pepper Potts, and Sir Ben Kingsley as the Mandarin.

BBC: Iron Man 3 triumphs at US box office

Many objects in the very first population of stars to shine shortly after the Big Bang are thought to have been monsters like R136a1.

BBC: Astronomers detect 'monster star'

The cosmos was born in the Big Bang about 13.7 billion years ago, and the first stars in the universe are thought to have lit up about 100 million years afterward, when gas finally gathered in clumps dense enough to collapse under their own gravity and ignite nuclear fusion.

MSN: We could soon detect the first stars in our universe

"Ding was brought up differently to the other stars, " said Ma Bang.

BBC: SPORT | Other Sport... | Snooker | China in Ding's hands