Actor Eddie Murphy with his girlfriend Australian model
Paige Butcher courtside at the Staples Center during the
NBA basketball game between the Los Angeles Lakers and
Phoenix Suns. REUTERS/Danny Moloshok
Eddie Murphy was once among Hollywood's top box office
draws, but he now has the dubious honor of being crowned its
most overpaid actor, according to Forbes magazine.
In its annual list, determined by the misalignment between
star salaries and their films' box office take, Murphy, once
a one-man gold mine with 1980s hits such as "Trading Places"
and "Beverly Hills Cop", displaced Drew Barrymore for the top
spot.
"Murphy's career has just collapsed," Forbes said, citing
such recent box office bombs as "Imagine That", "A Thousand
Words" and "Meet Dave".
Weighing box office receipts against paychecks, Forbes
calculated that for every dollar Murphy was paid for his last
three films, they returned an average of just $2.30 at the
box office. Murphy placed second on the list a year ago.
Popular actresses such as Katherine Heigl, and Oscar winners
Reese Witherspoon and Sandra Bullock, made the top five, with
"returns" ranging from $3.40 to $5.
Forbes took issue with Witherspoon's "questionable" choices
such as the star-laden, James L. Brooks romantic comedy "How
Do You Know", which was one of 2010's worst-performing films.
It cost $120 million, much of which went toward star
salaries, but grossed a paltry $49 million.
The cast included two-time Oscar winner Denzel Washington, as
well as actors generally considered solid at the box office
such as Adam Sandler and Ben Stiller.
"Washington's films do fine at the box office but he can
demand an outsized paycheck on those movies," Forbes noted.
His current hit "Flight" was not included for this year's
list.
Washington's return was the same $6.30 calculated for
Sandler, whose comedies Forbes said were consistent
performers -- except when they're not, such as the
disappointing "Jack and Jill".
It was the same with Stiller, whom Forbes said "earns so much
money per film that one miss can make him seem overpaid.
That's what happened with "Tower Heist", in which the actor
co-starred with -- Eddie Murphy.
Will Ferrell, who topped the list for two of the last four
years and came in third a year ago, didn't place.
The full list can be found at www.forbes.com/overpaidactors.
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