Crowe, Kidman top Forbes list of most overpaid actors
Last Updated: Friday, December 14, 2007 | 2:47 PM ET
CBC News
Russell Crowe and Nicole Kidman have topped a Forbes list of the most overpaid actors in Hollywood.
Forbes's ranking of actors who aren't worth the money they're paid was calculated by estimating the ratio between the amount the actor earned for a film, and the income generated by the picture from worldwide box office and DVD sales.
Russell Crowe triumphed in the ring with Gladiator, but not so with Cinderella Man.
(Associated Press)
Crowe, at the top of the list, dominated the fight in Gladiator, but his recent films have not been box office successes.
Cinderella Man was released twice without gaining an audience, and Master and Commander and A Good Year also failed to draw viewers, meaning the studios earned just $5 for each dollar paid to the Australian star.
Crowe has a chance to redeem himself this year with American Gangster, which is doing well at the box office.
Not so for Kidman, whose Golden Compass appears set to be a bust, just like her past two projects, Bewitched and Margot at the Wedding.
Also on the list are three of Hollywood's most bankable funnymen, Canadian-born Jim Carrey, Adam Sandler and Will Ferrell.
Carrey, once a reliable money-maker with The Mask and The Cable Guy, has flopped recently with Fun with Dick and Jane and The Number 23.
Ferrell did well with Talladega Nights, but followed up with the less successful Stranger Than Fiction and Bewitched.
Sandler has failed to make the switch to box office success in more serious films such as Spanglish and Reign Over Me.
Jennifer Lopez is notable for her role in Gigli, the only film in the calculation that didn't make back its budget at the box office. She also starred in flops such as Monster-in-Law and Shall We Dance.
The full list of overpaid actors:
- Crowe
- Kidman
- Carrey
- Ferrell
- Lopez
- Sandler
- Cameron Diaz
- Denzel Washington
- Will Smith
- Tom Cruise
