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Wednesday
10Sep2008

Nicole Kidman Once Again Hollywood's Most Overpaid Actor

DateWednesday, September 10, 2008 at 6:03PM
We weren't going to cover this story when the headline first caught our attention. But you see, Forbes has compiled another list of the most overpaid actors and while Nicole Kidman topped the list again - something we knew from a few months ago - there are some surprises in the top ten, which appears to have been reconfigured from earlier in the year.

Forbes bases its list on the past three films released prior to January 1st of this year. They don't factor in animated movies - in which the stars aren't really the draw - supporting roles, or actors whose ceiling is under $5 million per movie. These are movie stars in movie star roles. So it's no surprise Kidman was number one for the second straight year. According to the magazine, for every dollar she earns, her movies make...a dollar. That's a terrible figure, almost hard to believe. If she makes $15 million on a movie, it makes $15 million. Those movies are losing money.

There are others on the list that stand out, however, either because I didn't realize they made that much money, or I didn't think their movies did as poorly as apparently do. The number in parentheses is the amount of money each actor's last three films have made on average for every dollar the stars take home.

1 - Nicole Kidman ($1)
2 - Jennifer Garner ($3.60)
3 - Tom Cruise ($4)
4 - Cameron Diaz ($4)
5 - Jennifer Lopez ($4.10)
6 - Jim Carrey ($4.11)
7 - Nicolas Cage ($4.16)
8 - Drew Barrymore ($4.38)
9 - Will Ferrell ($4.67)
10- Cate Blanchett ($4.97)

You know that somewhere in Malibu, a producer just read that list, shakily set down the night's second glass of scotch, and muttered to himself, "Shit, I was going to get all of those people in my remake of Airport '77."

AuthorColin Boyd | | in , , , , , , , , , | Print ArticlePrint Article | | Comment3 Comments |

Reader Comments (3)

This list is kinda unfair. I totally agree with Nicole Kidman though, she's straight-up box office poison, and I'm sure "Australia" will bomb this year too. But some of the actors here don't really correspond; what were Jim Carrey's last three movies, "Number 23", "Bruce Almighty" and "Dick and Jane" (Yes Man will totally make bank this year though and raise his cost a bit). Will Ferrell had one legit bomb in the past year, and as did Tom Cruise. I guess they are being paid too much though...

Wednesday, September 10, 2008 | Unregistered CommenterVince

But what if we combine them!?! So long as I don't use Nicole and I get 5 or 6 I'm then getting a return of 20-25 per dollar spent.
I want to see the reverse list, the actors who generate the most profit.

Thursday, September 11, 2008 | Unregistered CommenterOrinn

Last year, that actor was Vince Vaughn.

Thursday, September 11, 2008 | Registered CommenterColin Boyd

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