Forbes magazine has released their annual list of Hollywood’s most overpaid stars, and sometimes-funny funnyman Will Ferrell is number one.
The rankings are calculated by factoring in the production costs of an actor’s movies over the past five years against how much boxoffice, DVD and other revenue they generated in order to come up with an operating income for each film. That number is that stacked up against an actor’s salary and there you go. All in all, for every $1 spent on a Will Ferrell movie, it will bring in a $3.29 return.
Ferrell had a particularly forgettable 2009 with his one big film, the expensive “Land Of The Lost,” arriving with the all the enthusiasm of a wet fart in cinemas this summer where it barely eeked out $65 million against its $100 million dollar budget (that doesn’t include marketing).
10 Most Overpaid Actors
1. Will Ferrell
2. Ewan McGregor
3. Billy Bob Thorton
4. Eddie Murphy
5. Ice Cube
6. Tom Cruise
7. Drew Barrymore
8. Leonardo DiCaprio
9. Samuel L. Jackson
10. Jim Carrey
Frankly, only in Hollywood could a more than triple return on your investment be considered a “failure.” This list is more just an easy way for Forbes to get some annual web traffic than to be a meaningful discussion of anything. For Jim Carrey, he earned $8.62 for every $1 that was spent on his salary. He’s overpaid? Really?
We have a feeling that if Forbes ran a list of the most profitable actors, the list would pretty much be the same, just in reverse. But saying they’re “overpaid” sure sounds a lot sexier.