And the Most Overpaid Actor Award goes to...
No.1: Eddie Murphy returns US$2.30 for every US$1 paid. It's been five years since he had a non-animated hit, and his recent movies 'Meet Dave', 'A Thousand Words' and 'Imagine That' have been spectacular bombs.
Eddie Murphy was once among Hollywood's top box office draws, but he now has the dubious honour of being crowned its most overpaid actor, according to Forbes magazine.
In its annual list, determined by the misalignment between star salaries and their movies' box office take, Murphy, once a one-man gold mine with 1980s hits such like Beverly Hills Cop, displaced Drew Barrymore for the top spot.
"Murphy's career has just collapsed," Forbes said, citing such recent box office bombs as Imagine That, A Thousand Words and Meet Dave.
Weighing box office receipts against paycheques, Forbes calculated that for every dollar Murphy was paid for his last three movies, they returned an average of just US$2.30 at the box office. Murphy placed second on the list a year ago.
Popular actresses such as Katherine Heigl, and Oscar winners Reese Witherspoon and Sandra Bullock, made the top five, with "returns" ranging from US$3.40 to US$5.
Forbes took issue with Reese's "questionable" choices such as the star-laden, James L Brooks romantic comedy How Do You Know, which was one of 2010's worst performing movies. It cost US$120 million, much of which went toward star salaries, but grossed a paltry US$49 million.
The list also includes two-time Oscar winner Denzel Washington, and actors considered solid at the box office like Adam Sandler and Ben Stiller.
"Washington's films do fine at the box office but he can demand an outsized paycheque on those movies," Forbes noted.
Denzel's return was the same US$6.30 calculated for Sandler, whose comedies Forbes said were consistent performers—except when they're not, such as the disappointing Jack And Jill.
It was the same with Stiller, whom Forbes said "earns so much money per film that one miss can make him seem overpaid. That's what happened with Tower Heist, in which he co-starred with Eddie Murphy.
No.2: Katherine Heigl returns US$3.40 for every US$1 paid. She leaped from 'Grey's Anatomy' to hits like 'Knocked Up' and '27 Dresses', but her most recent movie 'One For The Money' earned only US$37m.
No.3: Reese Witherspoon returns US$3.90 for every US$1 paid. Last year's 'How Do You Know' was a major flop, earning only US$50m on a budget of US$120m.
No.4: Sandra Bullock returns US$5 for every US$1 paid. 'The Blind Side' was one of the biggest hits of her career, but one of her last three movies also included 2009's flop comedy 'All About Steve'.
No.5: Jack Black returns US$5.20 for every US$1 paid. His animated movies like 'Kung Fu Panda' rake in big bucks, but his live-action movie 'The Big Year' earned only US$7m on a budget of US$40m.
No.6: Nicolas Cage returns US$6 for every US$1 paid. Over the past three years he's been in 10 movies, not counting his animation voice work, but last year's 'Drive Angry' grossed only US$29m worldwide.
No.7: Adam Sandler returns US$6.30 for every US$1 paid. He can still command US$20m per movie, and 'Grown Ups' was a huge hit in 2010, but 'Jack And Jill' disappointed at the box office.
No.8: Denzel Washington returns US$6.30 for every US$1 paid.
No.9: Ben Stiller returns US$6.50 for every US$1 paid. 2011's 'Tower Heist' earned US$153m worldwide but it cost US$75m to make, which means it barely returned any profit.
No.10: Sarah Jessica Parker returns US$7 for every US$1 paid. When she's Carrie Bradshaw in 'Sex And The City', the money rolls in. But 2011's 'I Don't Know How She Does It' cost US$25m to make and barely earned US$30m.
Source: Reuters, forbes.com
Published: 7th December 2012
Comments (0)