Are small, independent, DTV films a sign that an actor's star is fading?

I’m watching Cooties right now and enjoying it in a mindless way. I’ve been looking forward to it for months. It’s a fluffy, utterly inconsequential, mildly funny, ridiculous zombie/outbreak movie which all hangs on the schadenfreude of watching annoying and unlikable children getting killed in many hilarious ways.

The movie stars Elijah Wood, Rainn Wilson, and Jorge Garcia, amongst others. My question is this: Do you think starring in small indepdendent DTV films like this is a sign that a previously A-list actor (like Elijah Wood) is on the way down and desperately needs a paycheque, or is it a sign that an actor has already made it and so has the freedom to do small, fun projects the total budgets of which wouldn’t pay for the catering on the set of Lord of the Rings?

The last film I saw Rainn Wilson in was the criminally underrated Super, which was also a tiny, independent, and thoroughly entertaining film. I haven’t seen him doing any big Oscar-bait stuff since The Office ended, which argues that he’s either broke and needs money badly enough to take anything which crosses his agent’s desk, or that he has so much work that he can afford to take oddball roles in films almost no one will see.