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Forbes: Hollywood's Most Overpaid Stars
Will Ferrell tops list of actors who cost more than their box office worth.
Last Updated: Thursday, November 19, 2009 | 4:25 PM ET
By Dorothy Pomerantz, Forbes.com
Will Ferrell's film Land of the Lost, co-starring Danny McBride, right, and Anna Friel, cost an estimated $100 million US but earned only $65 million US worldwide. (Universal Pictures) 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 US and earned only $65 million US 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 US worldwide box office) and Talladega Nights ($162 million US box office). Ferrell's 2008 film Semi-Pro earned only $43 million US. Step Brothers did better with $128 million US, 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 US. 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 US.
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 US.
List parameters
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.
Murphy, Cruise cited
Drew Barrymore, seen here in a scene from the HBO film Grey Gardens, was the only actress to make the top 10 list. (HBO Canada)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 US 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 US worldwide. This year's Imagine That did even worse, bringing in $18 million US. Murphy escaped being named the most overpaid star thanks to 2007's Norbit, which earned $160 million US. For every dollar Murphy was paid, his films earned an average $4.43 US.
Cruise ranks sixth with a return on investment of $7.18 US. 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.
Drew Barrymore was the only actress on the list (ranked seventh), while Canadian funnyman Jim Carrey rounded out the top 10.
