Showbiz mining gold in gray.(From the pages of Weekly VARIETY)

A decade ago, an action film with a cast of mostly 50-and-older stars would have been unthinkable. But Summit's "Red" and Lionsgate's "The Expendables" have combined domestic grosses of nearly $200 million.

The success of those films is helping Hollywood change its attitude after ignoring the over-40 crowd for decades. There's a slowly growing recognition that the baby-boomer demo can't be ignored.

The 2011 sked includes Universal's "Cowboys and Aliens," which stars Daniel Craig (aged 42) and Harrison Ford (68), and the fourth "Mission: Impossible," with Tom Cruise (eternally young, but actually 48).

Chris Fenton, partner at management-production company …