Forbes say Will Ferrell is Hollywood's most overpaid actor

A study in Forbes makes a great case for one-note, high salary comedy actor Will Ferrell being Hollywood's most overpaid thesp after two years of underperforming hits and flops. Their study suggests "for every dollar Ferrell was paid, his films earned an average $3.29" which compares to Shia LaBeouf's"$160 return per dollar"... though on that scale the study is slightly flawed as no-one saw Indy IV and Transformers 2 because LaBeouf was in it. Land of the Lost is a movie that is at least $35 million in the red for Universal.

This summer's Land of the Lost was one of those epic Hollywood disasters that...ended up costing an estimated $100 million and earned only $65 million 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 worldwide box office) and Talladega Nights ($162 million box office). Ferrell's 2008 film Semi-Pro earned only $43 million. Step Brothers did better with $128 million, 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.

Will Ferrell's next live action movie on his slate is a re-teaming with Step Brothers writer/director Adam McKay for the macho comedy The Other Guys. In the movie he plays an elite cop in a New York City police precinct who along with his partner Mark Wahberg, regularly catch the bad guys, drive fast cars and get the girls. Movie is set up as an American version of Hot Fuzz, but much more grounded in reality. Co-starring in this mega cast comedy are Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson, Samuel L. Jackson, Eva Mendes and Steve Coogan with cameo's from Michael Keaton, Craig Robinson and Paris Hilton. And if that one bombs, with that premise, with that cast, then serious, serious questions must be asked about Ferrell's career. Post that, one would think it won't be long until he brings this character out again... All the original crew from Anchorman want to make a sequel but getting all the guys schedules to work out so they can film it, is another thing entirely. The Forbes list criteria followed by the rest of the list below... 2. Ewan McGregor, "For every $1 McGregor earned in a starring role his films brought in an average $3.75". Good actor, just not particularly great at picking the right roles. Also, he's never felt to me as someone who carries a Hollywood star factor. 3. Billy Bob Thornton, "For every $1 Thornton was paid, his films earned an average $4". 4. Eddie Murphy, "For every $1 Murphy was paid, his films earned an average $4.43" which surprises no-one. I would actually put him first because only Norbit's surprising $159 million worldwide box office return has kept him from statistically being there. 5. Ice Cube, "For every $1 Ice Cube was paid, his films earned $4.77". Hey... I thought this list was just about actors? Who calls Ice Cube an actor? 6. Tom Cruise, "For every $1 Cruise was paid, his films earned and an average $7.18"... The Cruise-meister has made some awful career choices and has been hit by a lot of bad luck press (some of it, admitelly, brought on by himself) lately, but he's got a romantic comedy with Cameron Diaz coming that should put him back on track. Hope so anyway. 7. Drew Barrymore, "For every $1 Barrymore was paid, her films earned an average $7.43". Only actress to make the list. 8. Leonardo DiCaprio, "For every $1 DiCaprio was paid, his movies earned an average $7.52". But he's the best actor of his generation in Hollywood and gives a performance 100 times more worthy of what they pay him. His movies make money too, even Body of Lies made decent cash, it's just he gets paid a lot. Chris Nolan'sInception will completely change his standing on this list next year when it blows the roof off the box office. 9. Samuel L. Jackson, "For every $1 Jackson was paid, his films earned an average $8.59". Actually maybe he should be first over Eddie Murphy and Will Ferrell. His name means nothing in Hollywood anymore, he has whored himself out in too many pictures year in, year out, that a Big Sam appearance is as worthless as a Jessica Simpson one. And as a leading man, his career is dead in the water. Soul Man, Lakeview Terrace,The Spirit. The amount he gets paid for one day a year stints in the Marvel universe appearing as Nick Fury is frightening. 10. Jim Carrey,"For every $1 Carrey was paid, his films earned an average $8.62". His career is at an all time low right now. To see the full article and the criteria Forbes used to compile the list, click HERE.