If America is falling into the recession economists fear it is, Angelina Jolie may prove more important than ever.

To the country's celebrity magazine editors, that is. Shrinking wallets could mean shrinking readership, and nobody moves magazines like Jolie, according to Forbes.com's second annual analysis of the top-selling celebrity faces.

In Pictures: Top-Earning Cover Stars

"The idea of spending $3.99 on a magazine when you don't know what your economic future is is very, very difficult," says Star magazine Editor-in-Chief Candace Trunzo. "It makes it that much more important for us to present a cover that is so appealing that they can't help but buy it."

For the newsstand-dependent celebrity weeklies, compelling covers are absolutely crucial, making editors' choices of cover stars more important than ever. How these magazines fare in the face of economic hardship remains to be seen, since none of them, with the exception of People, were around in their current forms during the last big downturn in the early 1990s.

So expect to see a lot more of Jolie. We analyzed the newsstand sales for the six biggest celebrity weeklies -- People, Star, US Weekly, In Touch Weekly, Life & Style and OK! -- over a year-long period ending June 30, eliminating non-celebrity and "collage" covers as well as special issues with exceptionally large rate bases.

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