
Forbes recently released the annual list of Hollywood’s Most Overpaid Movie Stars to show you, in these economically challenged times, just who delivers the least bang for their buck at the thee-ater. They used a very scientific formula to arrive at their conclusion:
To compile our list, we looked at each star’s last three films that opened wide before Jan. 1 (in order to give each film time for a DVD release). We didn’t count animated movies, supporting roles or anyone consistently earning under $5 million per movie.
To calculate our payback figures, we took half of each film’s worldwide box office (to roughly approximate the studio’s cut of each ticket). Then we added the first three months of DVD revenues and subtracted the budget to derive the film’s gross income. After that, the actor’s total compensation (upfront pay plus any money earned from sharing in the film’s profits) was divided into the gross income to get the actor’s payback figure for the film. The payback for the last three movies for each actor was averaged to calculate ultimate payback. We deliberately used gross income rather than net income in our analysis because the latter figure is so easily manipulated by studio accountants, with marketing expenses treated differently for almost every film.
Okay, seriously, everything was Charlie Brown’s teacher after the first sentence or two, because I tune out anything math-y. But let’s get to the list, shall we? Because that I can get my head around:
- Nicole Kidman
- Jennifer Garner
- Tom Cruise
- Cameron Diaz
- Jennifer Lopez
- Jim Carrey
- Nicolas Cage
- Drew Barrymore
- Will Ferrell
- Cate Blanchett
Here’s a few examples of just what is going on…for example, Nicole Kidman. Her movie The Golden Compass earned $370M worldwide. Sounds good, right? However, it only took in $3.36 for each dollar shelled out to her. Her movie The Invasion actually lost $2.68 for each dollar paid to her. Overall, her movies averaged about $1 of gross income for every dollar paid Nicole.

So let’s take a look at Tom Cruise, who was once at the top of the movie ladder but who is now slipping farther and farther down the rungs due to both bad movie choices, strange personal behavior, and involvement in the cult of Scientology. Lions For Lambs (show of hands, anyone who saw it) took in $63M worldwide, earning it only $1.88 on its investment in the actor. Overall, his movies average about $4 of gross income.

Here’s one for you…Nicolas Cage, while scoring $456M in box-office receipts for Book Of Secrets, only managed to rake in $73M for Next, which means the movie lost $.50 for every dollar he was paid. Overall, Nic can gross about $4.16.
Anyway, you get the idea. It seems that with their multimillion-dollar paydays, some movie stars just can’t cut it in the dollar department. Nicole can commandeer $15M for a movie, and Cameron Diaz can ask $50M and not blink an eye. Yet numbers don’t lie, and if you’re looking for a good return on your money this bunch might not be your best bet.
But let’s face it…$50M for anything that isn’t a cure for diseases or going towards some sort of humanitarian effort is a waste of money, in my opinion. These people aren’t curing cancer here…they’re acting in movies. Yes, I realize that acting is an art, and some people can do it and some people can’t. Yes, I realize movies, like all entertainment, have their place as a form of escapism to help us take a little vacation from our everyday life. But when people like teachers and paramedics, who actually serve a very useful function in society, can’t even afford to put food on their tables…even doctors’ salaries can’t compare to the cheddar actors and actresses bring home. In my opinion, they’re all embarrassingly overpaid. Even my favorites. I’m not saying they shouldn’t get paid more than the average cashier, but come on…they may be talented, but they’re just people. They put on their overpriced imported trousers one leg at a time. Only without the overpriced and important part. And let’s face it, I can’t afford anything with a big word like trousers, mine are pants.
And remember…when you’ve scraped together enough of your spare change and saved enough out of your paycheck (that didn’t go for bills and groceries) and decided to put off buying the kid a new pair of shoes for another week to actually purchase a couple of tickets to the movies, this is what your money is going for. Are you getting a good return on your investment?