Hollywood's Most Overpaid Stars

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This summer's Land of the Lost was one of those epic Hollywood disasters that makes outsiders question why anyone is in the movie business. The concept seemed like a good idea: pair funnyman Will Ferrell with a cult kids show from the '70s and hilarity is bound to ensue. Or not. The film ended up costing an estimated $100 million and earned only $65 million at the worldwide box office. Universal studio heads Marc Shmuger and David Linde were subsequently fired

Land of the Lost's dismal box office helped land star Will Ferrell at the top of our annual list of Hollywood's Most Overpaid Stars. Ferrell is no longer the sure bet he seemed after hits like Elf ($220 million worldwide box office) and Talladega Nights ($162 million box office). Ferrell's 2008 film Semi-Pro earned only $43 million. Step Brothers did better with $128 million, but it wasn't enough to help Ferrell--mainly because the star commands a high salary in comedies where he plays his trademark man-child role.

For every dollar Ferrell was paid, his films earned an average $3.29. Compare that to Shia LaBeouf, who topped our list of Best Actors for the Buck in August. For every dollar LaBeouf was paid, his films earned an average $160.

Second-worst? Ewan McGregor. The Scottish actor, best known for his work in films like Trainspotting and Star Wars (where he played a young Obi-Wan Kenobi), doesn't earn as much as some of the higher-profile actors on our list. But his recent movies have performed poorly, making him a terrible investment for producers. For every dollar McGregor was paid, his films earned an average $3.75.

To create our list, we looked at the 100 biggest stars in Hollywood. To qualify, each actor had to have starred over the last five years in at least three movies that opened in more than 500 theaters. (In McGregor's case, we didn't include the 2008 Woody Allen movie Cassandra's Dream, because it played in only 107 theaters.)

We didn't include animated films, because the actors aren't really the draw--and they tend to take pay cuts for voice work.

We calculated each star's estimated earnings on each film, including up-front pay and any earnings from the film's box office receipts, DVD and TV sales. We then looked at each movie's estimated budget (not including marketing costs, which are susceptible to accounting chicanery) and box office, DVD and television earnings to figure out an operating income for each film.

We added up each star's compensation on his or her last three films and the operating income on those films and divided total operating income by the star's total compensation to come up with each return-on-investment number.

Besides Will Ferrell, other big names on our list include Eddie Murphy and Tom Cruise. Murphy (who ranks fourth) has commanded one of the highest quotes in Hollywood for his work in family comedies, thanks to the performance of movies like The Nutty Professor, which grossed $274 million at the worldwide box office.

But lately his return on investment has fallen off a cliff. Last year's Meet Dave was a box office disaster, earning only $50 million worldwide. This year's Imagine That did even worse, bringing in $18 million. Murphy escaped being named the most overpaid star thanks to 2007's Norbit, which earned $160 million. For every dollar Murphy was paid, his films earned an average $4.43.

Cruise ranks sixth with a return on investment of $7.18. The star has worked out unusual deals on past films where he takes nothing up front in return for a large chunk of first-dollar gross--that means on stinkers like Lions For Lambs, Cruise earned even if the studio (in this case, his studio, United Artists) didn't recoup its money. These are just the kinds of deals studios are now trying to avoid.

http://www.forbes.com/2009/11/17/ho...rs-business-entertainment-overpaid-stars.html

 

[Roy Batty]

I think that the role of the A-list star is going to decline in the next couple of years. The success of movies such as Star Trek, Paranormal Activity, District 9 and 2012 has proven that you don't need to spend millions of dollars to hire a big name who will supposedly attract a larger audience just by his name being attached to the movie.

 

[dark_b]

so will this mean that those a-list actors will again start to take their jobs serious and again start trying?

because thats the best part about a big paycheck in hollywood. you get it for doing a bad job.

 

[amazingfantasy15]

I think that the role of the A-list star is going to decline in the next couple of years. The success of movies such as Star Trek, Paranormal Activity, District 9 and 2012 has proven that you don't need to spend millions of dollars to hire a big name who will supposedly attract a larger audience just by his name being attached to the movie.

Of those 4 movies, only District 9 do I agree with.

Star Trek is based part of a franchise, had a bunch of rising stars like Zachary Quinto, John Cho, Simon Pegg, it also had big name director JJ Abrams behind it. The movie had everything going for it.

Paranormal Activity was a fuke much like Blair Witch Project, Hollywood will no doubt try to follow up on it's success and fail miserably. It came out at just the right time and had a brilliant marketing scheme, slowly released the movie to wider audiences.

2012 is a Roland Emmerich disaster movie, I don't get why his movies make so much money, but with the exception of 10,000 BC, he's had a lot of success at the box office.

Distrcit 9 might be the only one you can make a case for, but it also had Peter Jackson's name attached, why no doubt helped put some asses in the seats.

 

[Raiden]

I hope it means that overpaid actors like Eddie Murphy and Will Farrell will be taking some paycuts in the future.

 

[Addendum]

Even better if they stopped making movies

 

[Fresh Prince]

I hope that means we get classic movies again like the golden age of hollywood.

 

[Raiden]

I hope that means we get classic movies again like the golden age of hollywood.

We'll never go back to that bygone era; it's just not the same anymore.

 

[Fresh Prince]

We'll never go back to that bygone era; it's just not the same anymore.

Why not?...All we need is great actors and their are alot in Hollywood and great directors., also alot in Hollywood.

 

[SuperFerret]

I liked Land of the Lost.

 

[Dr. Evil]

Many of the good movie actors have jumped to TV. If you watch a lot of the TV shows (especially on cable), there are a lot of very talented movie actors taking these smaller roles on TV. And most of them have received critical acclaim for those TV roles.

There are a lot of good actors out there, it's just that most of them choose to go in Indy film route. We all know who Paul Giamatti is, and he's a very talented actor. He just does a lot of Indie films. Same for Josh Brolin, Javier Bardem, Peter Saarsgard and others. If those actors do mainstream films and those films fail, they can always go back to do Indy films.

 

[Raiden]

Why not?...All we need is great actors and their are alot in Hollywood and great directors., also alot in Hollywood.

Right now in Hollywood, alot has to do with bottom line and having international appeal, because movies nowadays have to keep an eye out for foreign markets. Also back then, there were very few entertainments available, and movies disappeared after their theatrical run is over. It's just apples and oranges, if you ask me.

 

[Evil Twin]

Let's also remember that the audience for movies has changed enormously over the years and it's very much dominated by teenagers these days. It used to be that many of the biggest hits appealed to adults primarily, The Godfather for instance, and while it hasn't gone away completely, the flashy film with "teen appeal" is more the order for the day than ever.

 

[Fresh Prince]

Right now in Hollywood, alot has to do with bottom line and having international appeal, because movies nowadays have to keep an eye out for foreign markets. Also back then, there were very few entertainments available, and movies disappeared after their theatrical run is over. It's just apples and oranges, if you ask me.

Oh I see.

 

[Roy Batty]

Let's also remember that the audience for movies has changed enormously over the years and it's very much dominated by teenagers these days. It used to be that many of the biggest hits appealed to adults primarily, The Godfather for instance, and while it hasn't gone away completely, the flashy film with "teen appeal" is more the order for the day than ever.

I agree. That's why you wont see many big budget R-rated movies these days like you did in the 80's and 90's. Even some previously R-rated franchises have received PG-13 sequels.

 

[GEO]

I liked Land of the Lost.

I find it hard to believe that Shia LaBeouf is a box office draw. If you put another actor in his place for Indy & Transformers, I doubt you would see a huge drop in theatre attendance.

 

[javphonic]

^what about Disturbia?

 

[Lord Blackbolt]

and Eagle Eye did well too

 

[:eek:]

Sandler Tops Most Overpaid Actors List



By Garth Franklin Wednesday December 24th 2014 06:05AM
Adam Sandler has topped Forbes magazine's annual list of the most overpaid actors in Hollywood, the second time in a row for the comedian.
Forbes’ analysts examine the last three movies the actor was in and compare those combined grosses with his or her combined paycheck. The process generates an 'investment return' figure for each star - the lower the figure, the worse value they are. Sandler came in at $3.20 for every $1 paid.
Don't think this is a snobbish list though, many others who cracked this top ten are either audience and/or critical favorites. All this indicates is that their recent run of films haven't been too kind to their market value. Here's the Top 10 list in full:

1. Adam Sandler: returns $3.20 for every $1 paid
2. Johnny Depp: returns $4.10 for every $1 paid
3. Ben Stiller: returns $4.80 for every $1 paid
4. Ryan Reynolds: returns $4.90 for every $1 paid
5. Tom Hanks: returns $5.20 for every $1 paid
6. Will Ferrell: returns $6.60 for every $1 paid
7. Channing Tatum: returns $6.70 for every $1 paid
8. Denzel Washington: returns $6.90 for every $1 paid
9. Sandra Bullock: returns $9 for every $1 paid
10. Ben Affleck: returns $9.37 for every $1 paid.

Source: Forbes

 

[I'm Old Greg]

You would think these overpaid Stars would give a throwback to all the background actors that work on there films and get paid $8 dollars an hour and treated like scum, fed a boxed meal, and prohibited coffee and craftservice food.

 

[Sawyer]

Kinda surprised to see Channing Tatum on the list.

 

[matrix_ghost]

Kinda surprised to see Channing Tatum on the list.

http://www.forbes.com/pictures/mfl45emhhh/channing-tatum-16/

Almost no one in Hollywood would consider Tatum overpaid but he lands on our list thanks to a combination of a giant backend payday on Magic Mike an an underperforming film in White House Down.